water in bilge. possible issues?

[Ironcross25]

well Ive been noticing an unusual amount of water in bilge lately. Its an 86 supra marauder with a pcm 454. When i pull the motor cap I dont see any water coming in from the water intake or anywhere visible. I have notices the steering wheel being tight and when I was looking at the rudder after I put it on the trailer water was coming out of the top. not a ton since I just bilged the water out. The rudder also has some play in it. Any sugestions? thanks guys

[Okie Boarder]

Sounds like a possible leak around the rudder. It should have some sort of seal...o-rings or rope packing depending on the year. You may look at replacing that. I have a leak there and I'm going to mess with it in the offseason.

[Salty87]

take a look at the rudder for grease zerks.

i have 1 on the top of the rudder post that keeps water out. might as well grease the steering control arm and i think there's a 3rd one back there but i can't remember where it would be. move the steering wheel back and forth a few times after, then clean up the grease that just squeezed out of the zerks.

[PaystarCEO]

Check on your twist drain plug. I have a 87 TS6M comp and I have a leak as well. I was told it was coming in around my rudder also. Today my twist drain plug rusted out as I was pulling a skier (I had to make a rush for our local lift). When we pulled the boat out there was no plug in place and a lot of water pouring out of the drain hole.

We think the plug was rusting and allowing "some" water to get in - which happens to be close to the rudder area and possibly making it appear it was a rudder leak.

I will be placing a new plug in this week and I will let you know if that solves the leakage.

[EEES]

My boat is bone dry....except when it rains. I have an 86 Comp T6M and rain comes in the engine intake vents on top of the bow....then the water runs down into the hull and fills it up.

Last week, I had the starter rebuilt, and it rained hard. All the rain filled my hull and flooded into the open flywheel. Because I removed the starter, it exposed the flywheel and now I don't know what to do. Water in the hull SUCKS!

[Ironcross25]

my back plug is an expandable rubber plug not thread in. I plan on running a hose into the bilge to find the exact location. Ill let you know what i find

[Ironcross25]

ok so its not the rudder. dropped the boat in last night and searched around and found the water was comming in where the shaft comes in abovew the rubber piece that clamped. So I put my hand around it and it had some play in it and whien i moved it, it stopped letting water in. So does this mean I need a new shaft seal? and how hard are they to change? thanks

[michael hunter]

The prop shaft packing should drip a few drops per minuet. It sounds like you may have an engine alignment problem.

[Ironcross25]

I stopped the water by grabbing the end of the rubber piece and moving it. Under the rubber it has a round piece the moves a little. The piece is over the shaft almost like a bearing would be on a spindle. When i move it to a certaing position no water. when moved back then water. I hope its not engine alignment cause I dont want to did into this bad boy.

[Salty87]

do you have a packing gland or dripless seal? pics pls...