The dreaded brown stain lines!

[rdrakeinOK]

Well I was fixing the livewell drain valve on my 1996 181 today and noticed a little brown staining around the drain holes up near the top of the transom. Closer inspection revealed a tiny bit of brown stain around one upper motor mount hole as well. After throwing up in my mouth a little bit I pulled the little plastic bushings out of the 2 upper drain holes. The wood inside was a little bit wet and a little brown but the wood was still solid.

I'm thinking I need to pull all bolts and screws let the holes dry and reseal everything. Does this sound like the way to go? Any suggestions?

Thanks, Robert

[Tx Champ]

Yep, just let it dry real good!! Bring it down here ... 100+ temps and low humidity

[csmetreyeon]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tx Champ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yep, just let it dry real good!! Bring it down here ... 100+ temps and low humidity </TD></TR></TABLE>

Temps yes humidity over here is a bit higher!

[rdrakeinOK]

Well, I just got done pulling the motor and removing all bolts from the transom. The good news is everything is still very solid. There is no movement or flex in the transom and all wood inside the holes feels solid. The bad news is it is WET! Out of curiosity, I put some air pressure into one of the holes and out came water from several other holes.

So what to do now?

Because the wood is still solid, I still feel like if I can get it dry and seal it good then it will be fine.

Am I in denial? Am I screwed? Please let me know what you think.

Thanks, Robert

[ChampioNman]

May take a few days for it to completely dry out but when it does like the above say seal it well.

[pmgoffjr]

Two weeks MINIMUM under a sun lamp. MINIMUM....

[rdrakeinOK]

Ok, I checked on the transom today. I put some compressed air into a screw hole and I could hear water gurgling inside the transom. It seems like it will take forever to get it dry by simply applying heat via a lamp and waiting.

Any suggestions?

I was thinking maybe drill some tiny holes at the bottom of the transom to allow some of the water to drain. Then I could fill them with epoxy after it's dry.

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks, Robert
I

[Lpolk]

Naught, naught, don't drill any more holes...... Make sure air can get to them also. Patience, Patience my friend. Don't won't to worry about your transom.

[pmgoffjr]

You have two choices...

You can put it under heat so you vaporize the water in there, it takes two weeks to be thorough.

You can rush it, and replace the transom in a year.

Three heat lamps positioned correctly will indeed dry it out completely, we did a 202 in '98 that was a bad install, that boat is still running fine today.

[rdrakeinOK]

Okay Pat, I'll go with the heat lamps. Can you elaborate on the type of lamps and the position? How did you know when the 202 was completely dry? Thanks for the input.

Robert

[pmgoffjr]

Infrared heat lamps...you can get them at Home Depot. Get some of the portable lights, to hold them.

I'd put two on bottom, one down on top. Remove the top trim so you can expose as much as possible. Let it sit and stay hot, it'll work fine.

[rdrakeinOK]

Thank you Pat! I'll get it set up and keep everyone posted on the progress.

Robert

[HaulinBass]

Direct a fan towards the exposed holes.