water leak

[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Guys and gals-- I have aproblem with a water leak in my 87 Supra TS6M comp. And need your advice ! The leak is in the area of the left heat riser and the motormount,where the heat riser connects to exhaust pipe goes through the floor beside the left stringer. The water is coming through at the stringer on the motor side along the base of the stringer to the exhaust pipe and into the sump area. The question: how do I get to the pipe to check whwre the leak is located ? Does this model have a muffler ? Have been told they are fiberglass a and subseptibe to cracking. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! Awesome boat ! Thanks John D. :)

[OUI]

The discription of where the water is coming from was a little difficult to visiaulize. Is the water coming from a crack in the stringer casing at the bottom of the boart or from the PVC exhaust port?

[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Oui--Thanks for the repley,sorry if my discription was not clear. The leak appears to start just abeam of the left rear motor mount(which is perfectly dry) but on top of the stringer(not at the base as previously mentioned) and up against the doghouse base,the water trickles along the base for about 2 inches to the exhaust pipe,around the motor side of the pipe(where it goes through the floor) and down into the sump. It is not coming out of the stringer covering. Could there be a crack or hole in the exhaust pipe or muffler (if equipped) in the compartment on the gunnel side of the stringer under the floor that houses the exhaust pipe causing thewater to seep through the doghouse base which sits on top of the stringer?If this compartment is filled with styrofoam like the othercompartments in thr boat the foam would impede the flow of water I would think ?This flow is approx 1 gal 1hr when the boat is just sitting in the water.It would appear that I have got it narrowed down, and I know what Iam talking about- I don't !-this is just an assumption--I dont want to start cutting up the floor to access until Iam absolutlysure what Iam chasing,and what Iam going to get into when I get there ! The closest dealer is 300mi away.He suggeste the muffler might have a hole and spraying water,does that make sense?How do I get there ? suggestions would be appreciated Many thanks John D.

[OUI]

My first thought was that you had a leak in the trasmission oil cooler or the intake hose near the oil cooler, and that still sounds like that might be the case. Try turning on the motor with the dog house off or open and see if you see any spraying water coming from anywhere. With the motor running you're creating preasure and you should see the leak if its coming from a mechanical problem and not from a leaking boat.

[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Oui-- Thanks again for your quick reply ! Have had the engine running ,purrs like a kitten- I wish the leak was coming from an area that I could see- however there are no leaks whatsoever from the engine or tranny-- The boat is out of the water right now,Its raining ,so within the next fe days will put it back in and closely observe where,how long it takes for the water to come In -will keep you posted -many thanks , perplexed John D. :(

[OUI]

While it's out of the water stick a hose in the bilge and fill it. You should be able to see where the water is coming from so you can stop the leak.

[ACF]

I think OUI's idea is a good place to start, but filling the bilge may not get water into the area on the other side of the stringer. I am a little confused by your phrase "directly abeam of the left moter mount". Does this mean the leak is on the Starboard, or Port side of the boat ? On my 88 Comp the exhaust pipes are stainless steel where they go under the floor and are stainless steel where they exit the hull, so a crack seems unlikely to me. Mine has Super Trap stainless mufflers which attach to the outside of the hull, on the ends of the exhaust pipes. Some boats have the rubber flaps which attach to a plastic through hull fitting. On boats with the plastic the fittings can get distorted from excessive exhaust heat, which can happen due to trash clogging up your raw water intake. My boat got swamped once and got a lot of water under the deck on the starboard side. We removed the Super Trap muffler and had a steady stream of water leaking out from theree for what seemed a day or two. My thought is, if we were able to drain water from the underfloor area at this place then this would also be a place to check for a leak into that area. Whether plastic or stainless steel, if the leak is from there, and you are lucky, you may be able to fix it with some good grade marine sealant.

[THUNOT]

MY 87 TS6M HAS DRAIN HOLES AT THE BASE OF THE STRINGERS BEHIND THE MOTOR BOX. ANY WATER LEAKING IN THE COMPARTMENTS OUTSIDE OF THE STRINGERS FLOWS THROUGH THESE HOLES INTO THE BILGE AREA. THESE CAN BECOME CLOGGED BUT ARE EASILY CLEARED WITH A SCRAP OF WIRE.
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[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Acf :) & Thunot-- You may be getting close to my problem.my boat has the rubber flaps, the leak comes through thr base of the engine box on top of the stringer and runs down past the exhaust pipe into the bilge..The leak enters directly across from the rear port motor mount.When I pulled the boat out of the water a good gallon of water came out of the port exhaust pipe,not a drop came out of the starboard side .Thunot mentioned the drain holes at the base of the stringers behind the engine box?--that is interesting! they could be plugged !--Any how it looks like I won't solve this problem until I lift up the floor between the stringer and the port gunnel to access the exhaust pipe and the muffler or whatever is under there !A good post season project- the season is almost over up here, this forum is awesome , thanks for the help !! I'll keep you posted ! Many thanks !! John D.

[ACF]

Pulling up the floor is major surgery. Before doing that, I would first remove the rubber exhaust flap, examine the thru hull joint very closely and carefully for cracks, holes, or distortion. Even if nothing is obviously damaged, I would still order a new pair of flaps, apply a good bead of marine sealant and replace the flap, maybe both of them. This is a minor job and cheap enough that even it it doesn't fix the problem, you haven't wasted much time or money. If it does fix the problem you will be a lot happier than if you pulled up the floor and found you didn't need to.

[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Acf Thanks for the response, I agree, pulling up the floor is a very last resort ! However I think I may have stumbled upon something along the lines of what you suggest !I removed the bottom screw of the flange around the exhaust flap thatis against the hull ,no water came out of the scew hole. I then siliconed the screw and the area around the flange and replaced the screw. I put the boat in the water,and ran it for acouple of hours --would you believe--no leak !However I would still like to replace the flaps like you suggest- would prefer the stainless steel as opposed to the rubber , can you suggest where I might order a set ? Many Thanks John D. :)

[ACF]

John,

Hope that solves your problem, and if so, glad I could help.

I've seen the stainless flaps on somobody's website, but I don't know where. If I get a chance today I will look. My 88 Comp came with stainless SuperTrapp "mufflers" which evidently were either an option, or only used for a little while. One of these is missing and I can't find a replacement. It was taken off when the boat got swamped 10 or 12 years ago, and never put back on. The friend who owned the boat divorced his crazy wife and took a job in DC, leaving the boat in Tennessee. He called and just gave it to me last July. The Supertrapp mufflers attach to the transom where the flaps normally are, so I have ordered some thru hull fittings, and flaps, and plan on converting mine to flaps. I had forgot about the stainless ones, but they may be better than the rubber.

[John D.Fullerton]

Hi Acf--Apparently the stainless steel flaps are part and parcel with the supertrapp mufflers. All the flaps are rubber,with the exception of the suppertrapps. If you get any more info, keep me posted Regards John D. :)

[ACF]

John,
The Supertrapps don't have flaps, they just have a stack of disks with a sort of bowl over the end. There is nothing wrong with the rubber flaps, but if you want to spend some bucks, the stainless ones can be had. I did a search on Marine Exhausts and found a number of different stainless exhaust flaps. I found one website I really like and their product has flaps that can be replaced if they ever fail.

Take a look at the below site. They have lots of goodies.

http://www.danamarineproducts.com

[John D.Fullerton]

HI ACF--Many thanks for the web site--needless to say THIS website is a wealth of information thanks to you guys-I have been in contact with a couple of dealers, they don`t seem to either be knowledgeable or are indifferent about information--ie-- just pop out the 4 screws holding down the hatch over the muffler and determine where the leak is --Well, I have abuddy who has an 87 and states that there is no muffler ,just a straight pipe and super trapps which had been removed!Supracomp stated in JULY 05 --there is no muffler between the supertrapps and the manifold on 87`s-- so there you go !Any How my boat is an 87 with the supertrapps removed by the previous owner. Am presently in Montreal,back home n ext week,in time to get serious about boat leaks --will keep you posted ! Regards John D. :)

[ACF]

Bennett's Boat Repair has some Supertrapps. I called Donnie and he sold me one, but they aren't cheap. A lot of folks removed them to get less back pressure. This is fine as long as the mounting ring is left in place and everything stays sealed.