www.iFourWinns.com

Hello All, My name is Sebastian and I'm the new owner of a 2002 Sundowner 205. I'm from the NY area and have the boat docked in a lake in CT. After a few days of heavy rain and being on the trailer in my driveway, water leaked into the cuddy cabin.

The water appeared to leak in from the port side lower corner and puddled in the port side lower storage cubby.

I removed the two rear panels so i could see behind and had someone water test from the outside with my garden hose. I can visually see water dripping. It looks like maybe the wood reinforcement for the windshield frame to the hull. It seems that water is leaking in from the windshield frame, dripping down inside and puddling in the cuddy. Does anyone have any experience or information on this problem?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Most likely it's leaking under the windshield. The only real fix is to remove the windshield and re-bed it.

My 225 has a small leak under the windshield as well. When we have a heavy rain it will puddle onto the dash and drip onto the floor and/or travel around into the cuddy a little. Personally I just haven't had the guts/motivation to tackle a full windshield re-bedding. My leak is small enough and there is no evidence of water intrusion into the deck itself.... That said I just ordered a full cover that will eliminate this issue while the boat is on the trailer (and the need for me to lay towels / chamois on the dash).

If you're seeing water drip directly into the cabin through the deck you may have a more serious issue. If you pull the windshield be sure to check for any signs of water intrusion and rot in the deck itself. From what I remember researching I think butyl tape was one of the better options for re-bedding, as it flexes a bit with the deck. I'd recommend you do some searching online and gather other opinions here though, as I don't pretend to be an expert.

_________________
-Andrew

1984 Four Winns 225 Sundowner
5.0L Mercruiser, Alpha 1

This post might help...
http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2313

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2005 Sundowner 205

5.0L MPI Mercruiser, Bravo1, 3 blade Mirage SS prop

Thanks for the responses! I think that removing the entire windshield frame and rebedding will be too large of a job to consider. I was thinking of using 3M marine silicone sealant and silicone around the outer rubber windshield frame seals and see if that helps. Any thoughts?

I would not. From what I've read (not experienced) this is a band-aid that will not last long at all. It will make the proper fix more difficult and may trap moisture in where you don't want it. Sorry to say- no easy fix if it is indeed the windshield. I think the easiest "band-aid" would be to use a full cover that keeps rain off the leaking area all together.

_________________
-Andrew

1984 Four Winns 225 Sundowner
5.0L Mercruiser, Alpha 1

Any idea how long the Band-Aid repair may last? If the silicone around the seals can buy me 1-2 years before having to deal with the problem that would be great. Also, what might be the approximate repair cost to have the windshield removed and properly rebdded?

Also, how much more difficult will it be to rebed the windshield properly if I decide to do the silicone Band-Aid repair first?