Help - Nautique 200 / 2010 - water into the bilge

[Alberto Soares]

Getting water into the bilge, approximately 2 gallons during a 2 hour ski session.

Boat has about 2500 hours, 6.0 closed circuit cooling, not loosing cooling liquid, do not see any raw water leeks when cruising, axle is fine with a fews drops per minute, thinking about the rudder port, any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

[Alberto Soares]

@Gloersen Thank you, in that case I would see water getting in when cruising, correct? 

[jpwhit]

Two common places where water comes in on the 200 is the muffler as @Gloersen point out. The other is screws in the hydrogate will wiggle out over time and water comes in the empty screw hole(s). I'd check the hydrogate first just because it's easy. Look for missing screws with the boat out of the water. If the boat is tilted on the ramp, and there is enough water in the bilge, you'll see a stream of water coming out of the hydrogate screw hole. 

[Alberto Soares]

@jpwhitThank you, the hydrogate screws are fine and I did not find any muffler leeks, is it possible to get water in through the rudder port?

[S1Pitts]

Yes on the rudder port.

[Jody_Seal]

I would crawl under the boat and see if any tracking fin screws were missing or backing out. 

rudder ports don't commonly leak that bad. especially if you pump grease in them. not saying that is your leak and should not be pursued. 

Another is the o-ring that seals the hydrogate actuator cable thru hull device.

[jimski]

Double check the muffler.

I had mine leaking on the bottom of it, very hard to see unless you pull the floor board off.

[Jody_Seal]

water in bilge will feel extra warm to if there is water leaking from exhaust system.

[teammalibu]

In my neighbors 196 his hydro gate had a couple broken screws which was causing water to spray up behind the platform and getting under the rub rail resulting in quite a lot of water in the bilge!

[2Valve]

Do you have a heater or shower? I've had my heater core develop a crack (mounted in the front of the boat) and also a leak through the shower head. If the shower head valve isn't closed completely, the engine will push water through it at speed.

[Alberto Soares]

Thank you all! 

[DW]

As Jody noted, determine whether cold or warm water to help focus troubleshooting.  One item not mentioned yet, the raw water side of the coolers (engine / transmission).  Leaks also develop sometimes from hull / deck joint although on the 200's I have seen not much spray ever hits that area.

[jjackkrash]

It's not common but I have seen water leak through the bow eye.  

[ALPJr]

A loose rub rail could do it too. A couple screws in our PS190 rail came loose on the starboard (driver’s side) and water shot in there when pulling at trick speed, turning or cruising with the bow raised.

[rico]

I have seen leaks through heater hose / core connections. There is a valve you can close to bypass the heater, you could try this.

[Alberto Soares]

Thank you all, our 200 does not have a heater or shower, the water in the bilge is not warm, also did not see any raw water leek in the cooling system when cruising.  I will check underneath and all the other suggestions next Wednesday. Will also take the rear panel to have a better look at the tank area. 

[tjs1295]

I had more water in the bilge of our 196 last summer thank normal. After using I always put it on the lift, pull the drain plug, then replace the plug when the water is out. There was more water after every use, but also later in the day or the next day, there would be more water in the bilge. That hadn't happened before. Never really figured it out until I was winterizing it. Turns out I over tightened a hose clamp on the transmission cooler which caused it to partially collapse, and leak. 

[03RLXi]

Put it on trailer or lift and fill the bilge with water. If it's a non engine leak the water will drip out somewhere. 

[LK_skier]

The other thing I have seen work is to put the boat on the trailer and strap it on tight and then back the boat into the water and you should be able to see where the water is coming in... 

[VONMAN]

@tjs1295Check out the problem I had.

 

[CaleBurdick]

Mine would take on water the most while pulling trick skiing.  It would take on some while docked, and only some when pulling slalom.  Turned out to be the drain plug.  Its replaced now, but used Teflon tape in the meantime.  As part of the problem shooting we filled the hull and no water leaked through the drain plug, which was maddening!