What is this stuff???

[jaybee193]

I was helping a friend change some pumps out in his boat in the bilge area the other night, and 1 pump is on a bracket that is screwed to the boat itself in the bilge area, it was a little loose and the screws look like they needed to be re-siliconed. He removed the screws and as soon as he did it looked like dark oil coming out of the holes, but there is no way it could be oil. Could this be some kind of rotting process of fiberglass? or some type of fiberglass resin gone bad? Any info. would sure be appreciated.......


Modified by jaybee193 at 8:12 AM 5/21/2008


Modified by jaybee193 at 7:04 PM 5/21/2008

[cyclone70]

If the pump mount is screwed to what looks like a 3-4 square in the bottom of the bilge,most likely it has wood underneath the fiberglass and the wood is rotting.
If this wooden square rots away,it's not that much of an issue.

Same thing if it is a stringer that runs front to back in the bottom of the boat.
Hopefully it is not a stringer you are talking about.
Don't need water soaked stringers.

[BASSCAT7]

Sounds like the glass enclosed wood is waterlogged and rotting....have him get it checked out like Cyclone said, make sure it is not a structural stringer, and check the transom also...

[jaybee193]

I will take some pictures of mine this evening & post them since we have the same model boats and show the location of this, it is not on the flat bottom in the bilge but is on a piece that starts to go up and away from the flat area. I don't think it is a big deal, but then again I don't know much about this stuff like you guys do. Thanks....

[jaybee193]

The bracket is on the left with the 2 screws sticking out, this is where this stuff is leaking from on my buddies boat, The picture that you see is my boat and I backed the screws out to check mine out and thank goodness no problems here, and I am fixing to re-silicone mine back up. What do you guys think? Is this something to be worried about given where it is located? Thanks again.....

[cyclone70]

Any time you see that brown water come out of a screw hole,it's not a good thing.
It usually means that water has been sitting in the bilge at that level or higher for some period of time and the seal let go.
My opinion would be to remove all the plumbing and grind just the fiberglass off the wood to see how far thr rot has spead.
Then you could let the boat sit a while so the wood drys out and re-fiberglass it.
I guess considering the time of year,I would reseal the mount and screws heavily and take care of it over this next winter.

Make sure when you do yours you take the screws out and force silicone into the screw holes with you finger,then put the screws back in.

[perfect-storm]

Don't use silicone, this is one of the main reasons why boats have such problems. Use 3M's 5200 or similar product when you seal up the screws as they are going directly into a stringer.
Unfortunately, if your buddy's boat is oozing at the same location, he's going to need to get some major work done.

[jaybee193]

I passed all this info. along to him and pretty much ruined his day, its not what any boat owner would want to hear. He is just gonna do what cyclone said for the summer and seal it up real good and jump into it this winter. In my previous post about the silicone I meant to say 3m 5200 below water line sealant, sorry about that, this is what should have been used in my buddies boat, but to me it just looks like regular silicone. Thanks again for all the good info. guys. it is really appreciated.....