Small amount of water draining from cowling when tilted? 2009 250 ProXS

[hoytkimbershimano]

Serial Number: 1B750829

I have a 250 ProXS on a Ranger z21. It is a 2009 with about 225 hours.

Today while fishing I made a move and tilted my motor up shortly after shutting down becaus it was shallow. I noticed some water run out from the front of the cowl where the finger "handle" is to lift the upper cowl. I noticed it again ( smaller amount) when I was tilting the motor up before pulling the trailer out. If I were to guess, it was maybe 4 ounces the first time and 2 ounces the second time.

I pulled the cowl before wiping the boat down and the inside of the lower cowls were damp but there was no trace of water higher than the lowest areas. All hoses were dry. There was no standing water and no evidence where it may have come from. No evidence any water had sprayed. The motor seemed to run great with normal temperatures and water pressures on smartcraft. Great pee stream. I have just never noticed any water run out from there before and today wasn't even a rough day on St Clair.

I sprayed around the lower cowl with a hose and didn't notice any water get in. With the cowl off I did a quick squirt into the bottom of the engine and it quickly just drained out the lower cowls.

This is is my 3rd trip this year and first I noticed it. I did have new plugs put in when I had it winterized.

Any suggestions?

1. Could the water have just been there from driving on to the trailer?
2. Can water get in through the same path it drained out on the lower cowls?
3. Is there risk to use the boat again? All vitals seemed great.
4. Any things to check? Seems like next step would be dunking it with the cowl off.

As always, thanks for the help!
Tim

[grybrd]

I do not think that moisture under the cowl is a good thing from a corrosion standpoint. There's a lot of wire and electronics. I wonder if you have a speedo or water pressure gauge line that is compromised or if it is something more serious like a motor related gasket. Best to find the culprit.
I would start by opening the cowl on a nice sunny day and letting everything bake dry. Then a run on muffs to see what you can see.
After that, I have not a clue how to proceed.

[hoytkimbershimano]

I do not think that moisture under the cowl is a good thing from a corrosion standpoint. There's a lot of wire and electronics. I wonder if you have a speedo or water pressure gauge line that is compromised or if it is something more serious like a motor related gasket. Best to find the culprit.
I would start by opening the cowl on a nice sunny day and letting everything bake dry. Then a run on muffs to see what you can see.
After that, I have not a clue how to proceed.

Where is the speedo pickup? Is it at the nose of the bullet? Would squirting water in it with a garden hose be enough pressure to see leak?

Based on what I could see and what was wet, the only areas that were wet were really low. I don't believe the water that got in there was pressurized. I am more inclined to think that 1) They opened the lower cowls to change the plugs and something didn't seat correctly or 2) The wind/spray and surge from stopping caused some overflow that drained out while tilting the engine up. My next trip will likely be an inland lake and I'll take the cowl off an insepect for leaks before and during running.

FYI: Serial Number is: 1B750829

Thanks,
Tim

[hoytkimbershimano]

Doing some other reading, I came across some posts that mention the poppet valve diaphram, but that was an EFI engine in that post. Could that be the case here? If so, where should I look?

I don't have muffs. Would a large, clean garbage can or Rubbermaid tub work?

Thanks,
Tim

[rustyed]

I have the same issue, pulled my cowling off as I was loading up on the trailer and the engine was dry. I think it is just getting in there as I am coming off plane. Let me know if you find anything, I will continue to see if this is something that I am just now noticing or if there is truly an issue.

[hoytkimbershimano]

I have the same issue, pulled my cowling off as I was loading up on the trailer and the engine was dry. I think it is just getting in there as I am coming off plane. Let me know if you find anything, I will continue to see if this is something that I am just now noticing or if there is truly an issue.

Will do. Yes, the engine itself and all of the hoses were bone dry. The lower cowl surface was wet. It did feel slippery like there was some oil mixed in, but I thought that could be normal for the engine area.

If it is a poppet diaphram, will there be any other symptom? I thought something said the poppet only plays a role at higher RPM, so if that is the leak, will I see it at idle?

Thanks,
Tim

[grybrd]

Go to your local K-Mart or marine supply store and get a set of muffs to run the motor. It's not a big expense.
If you have low water pick-ups on the nose of the gear case you can cover them with duct tape to keep the water in.
Dry the engine thoroughly and run it. See what there is to see.
Too soon to jump to the poppet valve or, frankly, any other 'heard about' scenario until some diagnostic work is done.
And yes, if the cowl was not put back on correctly, coming off plane quickly could allow water in, but it shouldn't.

[NKY TRITON]

Your water intrusion could possibly be coming from the small egg shaped rubber plug on the port side lower cowling. It's there so you can easily access one of the cowling bolts. You did mention that they changed the plugs during winterization, so it's possible they took this lower cowling off to reach the bottom spark plugs and it didn't seal good.

Charlie

[hoytkimbershimano]

Thanks. Going to try and run it on a pair of muffs to see if I can see any visible leaked. That plug appears to be installed correctly.

This will be my first time running with muffs. Is there any advice? I know to cover the pickups on the front with tape. Should it take any longer to start peeing? Are muffs better than using the 40 gallon Rubbermaid bucket as a tank? My water pump is new and I'd like to not mess it up!

Thanks
tim

[hoytkimbershimano]

Ran it on muffs tonight. Think it was grabbing air at first (newbie using muffs). It was sputtering water. Any risk to the water pump? I adjusted the muffs and then restarted and it peed just like in the lake. Registered 2.9 psi.

Could see zero leaks or water accumulation. I only let it run until it got up to temp.

Next time I head out I will pull the cowl and back it in (slowly) just to see if any water is coming in around the lower cowling and monitor if it keeps happening.

Thanks
Tim

[EuropeanAM]

I would recommend running it with:

-LOWER COWLINGS OFF

-Low Water Pickups COVERED

-Pin-Style Earmuffs Installed to feed water.

Monitor for water leaks (even a drip) while idling. Anything that forms droplets at idle is likely a geyser at WOT.

[hoytkimbershimano]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I have never removed the lower cowlings. If I remove them and run the engine, what do I do with the tell tale and exhaust grommet on the back? Does the port side separate from the rigging tube?

once I had all of the pickups completely covered and hose gushing, it was peeing 4 feet off to the side and didn't take long to start.

Thanks
Tim

[fishnfireman]

Just another thought.. it's not unusual for my engine to have some water in cowl after running/fishing in rough water--- or shutting down too fast or just in time for a wave or boat wake to roll over the motor..

[JOE54]

just take bolts out leave tube hooked up to port side lay out of way/ boot will stay in place/ hope this helped

[NKY TRITON]

Another thing you could check is the L-Shaped plastic water fitting near the compressor. Mine was leaking, resealed it with pipe dope and that fixed it.

Charlie

[hoytkimbershimano]

I know that I am a noob, but trying to learn from everyone here. Where is that fitting? Unless it won't leak at idle, I haven't found it yet and when I took the boat out of the water and looked, the only wet area was in the bottom of the cowl. No trace of water running down anything.

Many gut tells me right now that it is either spray accumulating somewhere due to the 30 mph cross wind or it's a very low leak where the power head meets the shaft (believe it's call the adapter plate).

I did notice that my upper cowl is sitting low and barely clearing the latches. I wonder if water is running that edge?

The hunt continues.

Tim

[EuropeanAM]

The 90 degree fitting mentioned is on the port (left) side of the air compressor- it's a white (nylon) fitting.

Rigging tube flange can be separated from the cowling by removing the three (3) screws from it's retainer plate.

Don't overlook the possibility of BACKWASH into the cowling when coming off plane. That will flood the lower cowling quickly (but the water will drain off rapidly, in MOST cases).

Note I said "backwash".... which is different from "swamping or sinking".

[hoytkimbershimano]

Don - thanks for that laugh this morning. Sinking/swamping. Lol.

The amount was small enough that it definitely could be what little would remain in there and not get over the drain holes. It does look like those drain valves are not flush to the adapter plate (?) and stick up a few millimeters. The second time I saw it leak was when I put the boat on the trailer. In that case the motor may been pushed low.

It is still interesting to me that nothing came out the rigging tube. It was a tiny stream that slipped out under the "handle area" on the front of the upper cowl where there is s split in the seal.

My my next trip should be to a small inland lake and I will monitor it closely. Looking to see if my pee stream changes while running or if I see any water coming out under the lower cowls.

If the leak is at the adapter plate, will it show up in water pressure or temp?

Big it thanks to everyone on this board. You all rock.

[EuropeanAM]

You may, or may not notice differences in water pressure. In the case of adapter plate gasket leaks, there are so many different areas that might leak- some would make a drastic change in water pressure at one RPM range, others at another RPM range, and many scenarios might only exhibit as an external leak with no notable change in pressure.

[hoytkimbershimano]

Update:

I finally made it back out yesterday with the intent to monitor and watch for water leaking from under the engine cover or the lower cowls.

The motor started and made temp (120) with no problem and idled with 2.8-3.5 psi on merc monitor. Didn't see anything coming out under the lower cowls either.

Idled out of the canal and no wake zone. Shut down and tilted it up. NOTHING.

Trimmed it down and made a short run and came off plane and watched how high the water is....WOW. Waited a minute, shut it down and got the small bit of water to run out. My dad's comment was that it looked like a tablespoon. Tried idling around again and nothing.

I made another longer run to watch temp and pressure and I was running 116 F and 16-23 psi @ 3500-4500 rpm. I came off plane and tiled it up and got the same amount of water to dribble.

After watching it, I am now convinced the water is just beading up on the under edge of the cowl along the seal and dribbling down and out the front when I tilt it up. I actually saw a couple drops run down that edge and fall mid way between the latch and center of the engine. I noticed too that my latch may need a slight adjustment since the cowl is sitting lower and the latch barley clears it.

Its a small amount of water and it doesn't matter how long I run, the amount seems the same. When I was looking too, the rigging tube is much lower and should be the first path any water in the engine compartment takes and it is perfectly dry.

If water is getting high enough to reach the intake on the back, would it drain anywhere else but the mail slot drain on the back?

Ill continue to keep an eye on it but think my biggest problem is me being a worry-wart.

Thanks for everyone's support!
Tim