www.iFourWinns.com

Ahhhhh haha, get used to that ratio...I do the same thing. Most of mine is OCD type work tho, and I love tinkering anyways, so gets me out of the Admirals hair, and I get to enjoy cigars and beverages running down all the gremlins that infest boats. (Dont tell the wife, but I think I invent problems to "fix", so I can enjoy more cigars and beverages)

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Zero water is acceptable.
Put it on our trailer. Crank the gear so the boat has a bow high attitude. Put five inches of water in the bilge and see if any drips out around the drain plug or transom seal.
Pre-season I get right in the bilge with a flashlight and check the engines while they are running and check for leaks. (Yes I have someone else ready to shut it down)

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Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

+1

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"Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes "

1996 238 Vista dlx "Casper's Toy Too"
2006 5.0GXI w/closed cooling, DP-sm 1.95 drive
Previous boat:
1998 Sundowner 205

Running on the muffs will tell you if you have a leaky hose or loose hose clamp. However, the muffs will not tell you if you have a leaking U-joint Bellows or Leaking Transom assembly or Leaking thru-hull fitting below the water line.

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

No leaks with the muffs on. Gotta put her back in the lake. Nothing is ever easy is it....

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

OK i found the leak, now where to start. Im pretty mechanical and have all the tools but not really that into boats.....or at least I wasnt. Anyway there is a plate with 2 bolts in it directly above the drain plug and water is pouring in there.. Any suggestions. Im going to start my internet homework now.

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

Might not be as bad as you think, tighten those bolts and you might fix it. Transom plate bolts can come loose and cause leaks. Lots of times, just tightening them back up will cure it tho.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

It leaks if engine is running or not. Here is a pick of where the water is running in. Havent tightened bolts in picture yet but they look pretty snug.


image by rick2752, on Flickr

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

Those bolts hold your transom bracket on. I hate to say it but the best you can hope for is a bad transom seal. It sometimes means removal of you engine, sterndrive and transom bracket. I had something similar and sealed it with 3m 4000 quick dry so I could finish the season. See what other say. I just know what happened to me. Good Lu,k, Dan

It is flowing over the top. It's way to much water to silicone. In about 15 minutes I acquired enough to kick bilge on

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

Looking at your photo, there are two or three things that can leak there:

1. The exhaust "Y" pipe. The two bolts in the photo that are close together, along with two more bolts above, hold the exhaust Y-pipe to the transom bracket. It is made of aluminum, and the bottom can corrode to the point it start leaking. This portion of the exhaust is filled with sea water when the engine is off. When the engine is running, it is filled with exhaust and water mixture exiting the engine.

If the leak is the "Y" pipe, the leak will slow way down when the engine is running, and will increase when it is not. It also is likely to have a little leakage even running on the cuffs, which you reported that you did not have. You have to pull the engine to do any repairs to the "y" pipe.

2. The transom bracket seal to the transom. This will leak the same with or without the engine running, and will not show any leakage while on the cuffs.

Any leakage between the transom bracket and the transom will show up at this location, even if the leakage is up higher. The two outer nuts in your photo, along with 4 more? up higher should all be tightened. As others have said, hopefully that will fix your problem. One one older boat, I loosened them all about 3 turns (obviously out of the water), then went outside the boat and pulled the outdrive away from the transom a 1/16" or so in order to force 3M 4200 into the gap, then went back in and tightened the nuts.

The problem is...there is usually only one reason these nuts would not be tight...that is the wood in the transom is softening up Soft (aka rotting) wood can make this a recurring problem, until it gets bad enough that a transom rebuild is in order. But you might be able to get 5-10 more years before a transom rebuild has to be done, if you stay on top of the sealing and tightening. This is the kind of thing that a marine surveyor should check for during a purchase.

3. Leaking raw water inlet pipe or hose. (this is not your issue)

This pipe and hose connection at the top of the transom bracket, could still have it's leak run down to the bottom where your photo is. However, if your raw water pump is the style mounted at the front of the engine, then this area has suction (not pressure) while the engine is running, so there would be no leakage while engine is running.

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

I am going to start digging hopefully tomorrow. The previous owner seemed to be pretty meticulous about his care, but I am unimpressed by his mechanic. I have found a lot of little things that show he lacks attention to detail. Boat is very clean cosmetically, but he wasnt really mechanically inclined. The gimbal bearings were replaced and new spark plugs installed about a yr and half ago...I found a broken spark plug in the bilge. I found a hose loose, the bilge pump hose was kinked, a lot of little petty stuff that just kinda makes me not like him. The boat has not been in the water since he worked on it. Hopefully it's not major, the boat has been stored mostly on a trailer so I doubt the transom is rotten.. More like his mechanic didn't put something where it goes or bolts that are hard to reach aren't tight. It is a pretty serious leak though almost a waterfall coming over that lip.

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2001 Four Winns Vista 248 by rick2752, on Flickr

There was a poster here last year(?) that had the same problem. He tightened the bolts and his problem was solved. I hope that is the case for you brother....good luck.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Earlier in this thread I suggested that you put your boat on your trailer and crank the jack up so the bow is high. Put water in the bilge to the level of the bolts. If your transom bracket is loose or seal bad, water will drip outside of the boat at the transom bracket. Chances are that if you find this is the problem, you will also have water in your u-joint bellows. Will affect your gimbal and u-joints. If you opt for a quick fix, check and see if the bellows has water in it. You can only access four of the six bolts that hold your transom bracket. The y-pipe blocks access to the middle two. Sorry about all the bad news, I am trying to help. Dan

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Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

If I'm not mistaken, you can access the middle two nuts with an open-end wrench...might need a mirror to see them behind the Y-pipe.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings