Water in bilge area/Hose identification

[RTR2021]

Greetings Champion friends. I have a 2004 203DC and am experiencing a fair amount of water in the bilge area. I believe it is coming in though a hose or a connector in the general bilge area but have not yet figured out which one. I have already isolated the live wells and the recirculating pump and hoses and found all of those fixtures to be tight and dry.

In looking at all of the plumbing, there is one hose that originates at a through the hull fitting near the drain plug (2 holes to the left of the drain plug) and travels forward to places unknown. There are no pumps or valves attached to it that I can find. My guess is that it’s a drain hose and probably goes all the way to the front of the boat however there appears to be no way to trace its path without the use of some type of camera. I have attached a couple of pictures in hopes that someone may be able to educate me. The first pic shows (from left to right) the unknown hose intake, the intake for the livewells, the main hull drain, and the livewell drain from which is controlled by a cable operated gate valve. The livewells can also be pumped out through an electric pump that is attached via a "T" fitting in the same line as the gate valve but vents overboard through a separate line coming out of the pump which then goes to the starboard side of the hull right next to the hole for the bilge pump out.

If I am correct that the unknown hose is, in fact, a drain hose, is there some kind of one way check valve in it to keep water from entering from the rear fitting all the way into the boat or is the opposite end of the hose mounted at a higher level in some manner so as to keep the water from entering the boat at the bow?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Champion Transon Drains etc - Copy.jpgDrain Hose - Copy.jpg

[flashnyellow]

I started finding water in the bilge after fishing trips. I opened up the bilge area and did not see anything loose. I closed the live well fill valve and put a hose in the livewell and added some water. I looked in the bilge and the live well pump out was leaking water. I looked closely and saw a crack in the housing of the pump so I had to replace it. Something to check.

Ronnie

[kris_tx]

I believe that’s the overflow for livewell

[RTR2021]

Thanks Ronnie- Looked at the pumps- didn’t find any cracks but did find a loose hose on the livewell fill pump- not loose enough in my opinion to have let much water in because it would have to have come through the pump first but did replace the clamp holding it to the pump. All of the other low pumps checked- no cracks found. I did replace the livewell recirculating pump and hoses because when I first noticed water in the bilge area, I pulled the batteries, charger and rear partition and found that pump to be cracked and spewing water. Also used a garden hose and ran water through the “through hull” fittings - no sign of a leak anywhere so ultimately I think I’ll have to float the boat with the pumps and through hull fittings in view to be able to see where the leak is. I’m just hoping the unknown hose is not disconnected from whatever it is supposed to be connected to (if anything) and letting water into the hull somewhere. Thanks again for your thoughts.

[RTR2021]

Hi Kris- Didn't think of that but after thoroughly inspecting the livewells (which in reality is one livewell with a metal hinged divider separating it into 2 sections) I can see that there is a drain in the very top forward part of the livewell. I can’t really tell that the hose in question hooks to it but I’m betting you are correct and that the principal of gravity (the livewell drain fitting being higher than the “through hull” fitting) is what keeps the water from leaking into the live wells or the boat. I do recall however that the livewell was completely dry when We launched the boat yesterday, we never ran the fill pump and when we got the boat back on the trailer there was water in the livewells- not a lot but enough to cover the bottom - so that tells me either the manual drain valve which was indicating closed when we launched the boat is not closing all the way and somehow water got passed it and up into the livewells with no mechanically induced pressure or my understanding of gravity and pressure as it relates to hose configuration is wrong. I suppose there could be enough pressure when the boat comes off the trailer and into the water for the water to rush into the livewell drain hose and into the livewell. Thanks for your thoughts Kris.

[Tx Champ]

Be sure and check the bottom of the livewell fill pump. The one on my 07 had cracked and eventually a small chunk out of the housing causing the auto bilge to come on every 10 min or so. I'm not a big fan of Rule pumps. Found it when I opened up the bilge and backed the boat into the water.

[pastormark]

I have a 1999 187 and I had water leaking around the light in my live well. Pull it out and resealed it and stopped the problem.

[ChampioNman]

I had a Mayfair fill pump break at the neck coming thru the transom. Didn't have an auto bilge doesn't take long to fill up back there, had to put the boat on the trailer pull the drain plug and put a cork in the fill pump hole.

[rid 05 198]

Main drain plug good? Garden hose gasket sealed my leak.

[bass-o-maticjm]

So is the water in the bilge, in the livewell, or both when you come off of the lake?

[RTR2021]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments.

I put the boat in the water yesterday with the motor tilted up and the boat still on the trailer. Found a small leak coming in the Flow-Rite cable operated manual drain valve but not near enough to cause the issue that I saw last weekend. All other lower through the hull fittings appeared to be water tight. Backed the trailer in a little farther and saw water coming in around the top jack plate mount/backing plate- bottom mount/backing plate seemed to be fine. Also found a leak in the top of the hull where a previous owner had run temp and transducer lines through a very pooly cut 1" semi square hole and halfway attempted to seal underneath the plastic line cover with silicone. Poor hole/poor seal. Nuff said.

Brought it home, checked the torque on the jack plate bolts- 48 ft lbs- which I recall from reading other threads is about right. Sooooooo now we'll pull the motor, pull the jack plate, dry what needs drying, hope and pray that I don't have transom problems, re-seal ALL of the bolts and go fishing...I HOPE !!!

No readily appearing problems with the transom at this time but we'll see when we pull the motor and jack plate off.

Seems to me that the horrible wood issues were somewhat rectified when they stopped using wood in the transom in 2003/2004. Am I correct about that?

Again- thanks to all for your comments and help.

[bass-o-maticjm]

Sorry to hear about the water intrusion, but glad you found the culprit and can (hopefully) fix it.

If you do a search on this forum, you'll find other threads (some with pics) that have done the same.

Good luck and let us know when you're back on the water!

[Lea]

"Wood issues" were rectified when folks who drilled holes to mount motors, etc, PROPERLY sealed those areas!! You don't hear about the untold numbers of solid wood transoms, etc....only the ones with problems.

[RTR2021]

Hi Lea,

Yep you are right. This is my 5th Champ and I never had a problem. Started in the early 80’s with a 186. I’ve also owned Bass Cat, Ranger and currently have a Triton in addition to the Champ 203. Nothing rides like the Champs.

Do you know when Champion quit using wood in the transom?

[Lea]

When manufacturing went to Genmar in TN in 2002-2003 time-frame, they changed to "all-composite". (a touch of irony---paper mache' is "all-composite" )

[RTR2021]

Thanks much- that’s what I seem to remember hearing or reading somewhere- maybe in one of Pat’s writings.

[Lea]

Yep, all credit goes to Pat for that comparison.