water under engine?

[jackandrobin]

Hi all,
thanx again for all the help in the past...
our latest question is about standing water under the engine...
there is a thin fiberglass pan above the actual bilge area below the engine, i assume this is to keep any oil or fuel spills from getting into the bilge, then into the ocean...
good idea...
however, this is where raw water collects as sits, unable to make its way to the bilge...
there seems to be what i believe is a small release valve as part of the raw water cooling system in the back, upper left section of the engine with a 1/4" ID tube running down into the pan...
i have watched this tube while the engine is in high idle, aka charging batteries, but don't see any water coming out.
i have replaced the tube with a longer one so it makes it into the bilge under the pan...
i am hoping this works...

has anyone else ever had standing water under their engine?
and if so what was the reason and/or the fix...

thanx again
J&R

 

[Paul F]

On my boat there is a small passage under the engine "pan" that you are finding water in. It will fill with water when this passage is plugged. Clean out the dirt under the pan with a three foot rod or similar flat bar. Then water can pass under this pan into the bilge and be pumped out.

 

[BLIGHT]

J&R
Not to guess but the water could be coming from the raw water pump. The pump has a tendancy to leak from the seals as they age. The good news depending on the pump is that the seals are replaceable so the fix is reasonable. Usuall you can see the drip coming from the bottom of the pump or at least feel to see if it is damp.

Bob

 

[Nelsonhow]

I think that the tube you are looking at is the winter drain valve on the side of the motor. You can turn the valve to drain the water out of the small holding chamber that holds the engine zinc. I don't know that I would trust this to remove all the water in the water jacket. If the engine is raw water cooled you need to run antifreeze through the engine for the winter. If it's fresh water cooled and you have antifreeze in the engine you'll probably be OK. The pan under the engine should have 1 or 2 small holes in the front to drain the water into the bilge. I block mine on purpose to assure that I don't get oil into the bilge which is then pumped into the LI sound. Harbor patrol around here is pretty picky about bilge discharge in my area which results in a big bucko fine. Don't know where you water is coming from, could be a leak in a cooling hose, loose connection or a pump seal......

 

[Steve C.]

On my 78 h30 I had a leak from the rudder stuffing box that when heeled over sailing would fill the area under the engine. The only way I found it was to watch the water come in while heeled under sail. You can see that area through the Q berth hatch.

 

[jackandrobin]

thanks

Thanks everyone...
i will begin the diagnosis this weekend...
J&R

 

[D17533]

On my 78 h30 I had a leak from the rudder stuffing box that when heeled over sailing would fill the area under the engine. The only way I found it was to watch the water come in while heeled under sail. You can see that area through the Q berth hatch.

I too had a leak coming into the well under the engine. I was also seeing my bildge going off too too much. It turned out that after the packing material around the shaft was replaced, no problems with water. Bildge is dry now too.

 

[jtm]

If some/most of your water under the engine is the drip from the packing, you might want to look up one of my earlier posts about placing a Tupperware container under the packing and connect a drain fished thru the engine compartment bleed hole thru the rib weep hole(s) and into the bilge. You really don't want standing water becoming a science project/biofilm under the floor as may be trapped by the ribs.

 

[navigator97]

J & R, There is another possibility. That is the warm cooling sea water that passes by the vented loop above and to the rear of the engine. I had mine develop a crack in the plastic vacuum break valve there. The mounting bracket was screwed to the rear bulkhead and cauced the VBV to press against the insulation pad. The net effect was that the rear threads were in tension and the forward threads were in compression. That vibrated when the engine was on and finally fatigued and cracked slightly and leaked. It took a while to find the cause. Placing a stack of washers behind the mounting gracket at the screws brings the assembly out and it no longer presses on the bulkhead. That was 8 years ago and it hasn't leaked since.

Dick

 

[jack and robin]

thanx again

thanx again everyone,
the flow seems ok but i may try the tupperware and hose technique...
i will also check out the VBV and see if there is an issue...
j&r

 

[jtm]

Another possibility- on H28.5 I found some water on the outboard sideof the starboard engine rail/skid. I finally figured out how it got there- when it would rain hard, the run off channel by the adjacent cockpit lockerseat would over flow _(the traveller rail tended to caused water to go toaround to the outside edge then hitting the channel). After overflowing it would drop to the locker floor and then into the engine compartment. It also caused the aft wall of my head where the pipe came thru to the locker to rot out.