1991 254 Taking on Water, from stern area?

[rhenryiii]

My "new to me", cherry one owner 254 is taking on, what I estimate to be 2-3 gallons of water on a typical 6 hour outing, mostly trolling. I can see where prior owner had gooped up silicone all around the bottom of rub rail on stern, around the motor mount bolts, the stern trailer hold down loops, speedo etc.
My question, is was there an obvious flaw for these boats or just common things like rub rail screws? I have the right rear area rub rail removed to about a foot up the side, nothing obvious.

ThanksIMG_1531.jpg

[acesover]

I own a 93 254 that I bought new. Never had a problem with any leaks whatsoever.
I wonder if you may be getting water coming in over the splash well and it is going into the hull? I know if I shut down quick, water will come up over the splashwell and get the rear deck lid wet.

[rhenryiii]

Acesover, very familiar with that issue with most bass boats. I always slow it down easy and have never noticed any water coming up high enough to get in under lid. I also put in new drain plug as I knew the one in it appeared to be original.
I will get her out in driveway and start going over it with the water hose, to see if anything obvious pops up.

[acesover]

Hope it's something simple, like a leak around a livewell pump. I

[javelin90]

I would check the following,

1. Make sure bilge is dry, launch boat and look for water seeping around the livewell valve fittings, hoses, and pumps.
2. Observe if water is seeping around the motor or jackplate bolts.
3. With a helper, open the bilge door, put boat in reverse and look with a flash light around the bilge where the top cap and hull meet. You are looking to seer if water is being pushed into that rubrail seam.

I mention #3 as a friend had a 1999 Stratos 21ss and his was leaking inside the bilge area at the top cap/hull seam. Marine shop had previously said they fixed it.

Provide a update and can go from there.
Thanks,

[rhenryiii]

Thanks Javelin90.
After removing the rubrail and all the exterior sealant that some put around the cap/hull seam, I am confident it is #3 as I see gaps. Also there were a few screw holes with no screws that secured cap to hull. I am going to get that all sealed up and get it back out on water to check it out.

[javelin90]

If you have a jackplate make sure you are able to seal around that area also.

[rhenryiii]

acesover, after removing all the old sealant that was applied, I think I found the culprit. There was about a 1/2" gap between the hull and cap on each side of transom. It appears that when the factory made the cut, it was too wide and was just filled with sealant. I ended up glassing the gap. There we also some places where whatever they used to bond the cap to the hull in the stern area had some small gaps. I am going back with 4200. I am loosening the screws, then squeeze in 4200 and refasten, the reinstall rub rail, that I removed just in that area. Hopefully after Thanksgiving I can get her back out on the water to test the repairs.

On another note, where did you mount your stern transducer? There isn't a lot of room back there.

Thanks

[acesover]

My transducer is under the gas tank. Came from the factory that way. Thru hull type.

[rhenryiii]

My transducer is under the gas tank. Came from the factory that way. Thru hull type.

My old one is also but I am upgrading. My new ones came in today. After opening the box, the mount is rather small so I think I have room to mount it.

[acesover]

I am not much help with electronics, as I took the depth finder off my boat as it kept hanging up my fly line, and was pretty much useless here, our lakes are pretty shallow.

[old4runner]

To check the live well seals and drain plug seal you can just make sure everything is dry and live wells empty (so no possible confusion if a live well still has some water the valve doesn't seal 100%) then fill the bilge with water. Make sure the outside is dry before you fill it just come back in 30 mins and look for water.