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I have a freind with a 10 to 15 year old fiberglass bass boat and when he was installing his new transducer on the rear at the transom he found water to come out of the hole he drilled for the screw. The bilge area was dry and when we removed the cap for the transom it appeared dry. Where could the water be coming from?
The lake.... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif
Seriously though...I would have to still guess it is from the bilge area. It may not be a crack but just an area you cant see that has chaffed the f'glass finish over the years or maybe where some chemical made the f'glass finish porous. I could see that area being wet and the transom absorbs some water. the water drains from the bilge and that would dry pretty quick while the area that absorbed the water would not dry as fast...
A good test would be to get everything dry then fill the bilge with water and see if it gets wet there again. If not you can rule that out.
Like Packfan said, probably water that was in the bilge and found it's way through the glass, saturating the transom. If you cut the transom you will probably discover a void where wood used to be and is now filling with water. Of course there is also the possiblility the boat is leaking but not likely. The other two possibliities that I see are either water intrusion through an engine mount bolt or some other thru-transom fitting like a bilge or livewell evacuation line coming through the transom.
Your buddy is probably looking at a transom rebuild. Not difficult to do. Two most important things about a transom rebuild
1)have the correct materials
2) do not skip any steps
The weird part is when the old transducer was removed there was no water coming out of that hole but when the new hole was drilled then water came out and the holes were only about 3 inches apart but slightly lower.
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by grassycreek »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">The weird part is when the old transducer was removed there was no water coming out of that hole but when the new hole was drilled then water came out and the holes were only about 3 inches apart but slightly lower.</td></tr></table>
That "slightly lower part" for the new hole may be the entire diff. Maybe the old hole (the higher one) was letting water drain in and settle/soak to the bottom as it would, then you drill the new/lower one and WALLAH water is there. I would be tempted to drill one or two more small holes (like 1/64 or 1/32) between or near the one that leaks vs the one that does not.. Should not hurt anything structurally just fill them with fiberglass resin.
As you drill them do them in stages... Go a little in and look for water, then a little more. Might help figure out what is going on.
Water got in my transom through the motor mounting bolt holes. The silicone was improperly done at the factory is what I was told.
That would be water in your transom.
A good idea, if you can, is use a syringe, and pump in as much acetone as you can through the upper hole. You might want to drill a 1/8" hole on the inside of the transom to help get it in there. The acetone helps dry out the wood.
Put a heat lamp to warm the area, and do it a couple of times. Once you feel like the transom is dry, you might want to pump in some Git-Rot if the wood seems soft.
If the wood seems okay, seal the holes off very carefully with 5200, epoxy putty, or even fiberglass patch kit (colored resin) Try to make it so no more water can get into your transom, because if you don't, you will be replacing it.
Just make sure your transom isn't rotten before putting much time into it.
-TH
I wouldn't risk it. If you had enough water in there to drain out instantly then the wood also must be saturated to a point it wont hold anymore. There must also be a void where wood was for the water to collect in. It might also just be a void from the factory. But either way I would repair it properly with a new transom core. I wouldnt put all my trust into a chemical to reharden the wood...... And then the next trip to the lake your motor fall off at WOT. To much to risk in my opinion.