www.iFourWinns.com

Two weekends ago I went out fishing with the boys. The next day I hit my forward and aft pumps as I do on a daily basis. For the first time ever, my aft pump, pumped water for about 15 seconds. Nothing from the forward pump. The next day I did it again and the same thing. I pulled the engine hatches and ran both engines to see if they were leaking into the bilge. Nothing. I had a dock buddy run the pump on the following Tuesday and he got about 15 seconds of water too. Last weekend I went up armed with a wet vac and other stuff to see what I could see. When I got there I hit the pump and this time, nothing. The following day and nothing again. One more day and still nothing.

On the Sunday when I was cleaning up to go home and ran out of fresh water. I'm wondering if my water tank has the leak and when it got low it stopped. My tank is in the bow and I didn't think the for and aft bilges were connected in any way. Since the leak had mysteriously stopped, I didn't go below and vacuum the bilge figuring there's no point till it leaks again. Also, I'm in a covered slip.

Any thoughts or personal experiences on this please?

Thanks,
John

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

I just had a small leak in my water system and like you I noticed in the bilge. I confirmed it is by shutting the water off and turning the fresh water pump. After about 10 minutes the pump would cycle for a few seconds. 10 min again and so on.

Turns out I use the transom shower to bleed the pressure off when I unhook the shore water. I sometimes forget to shut the shower valve off and the shower head gasket was leakin into the bilge. So simple but it took awhile to find it! Grrrr.

_________________
Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

Thanks for your input Jeff. I was listening both weekends for cycling of my fresh water pump and nothing.

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Keep in mind that there is components of the fresh water system that come before the pump - if these leak, the pump will not cycle as the tell tale sign. These are typically the lines that would leak directly into the bilge as well.

_________________
1969 Chris Craft Commander 47
1999 Four Winns 328 Vista - SOLD

John,
I have the same boat. My boat and a friend's identical 278 Vista, each developed fresh water leaks at the tee for the galley sink. You can see the supply line and tee, by removing the drawer next to the galley sink. The hose clamps loosen up and need to be re-tightened. I had to do the same on the port side near the water inlet. I was able to tighten the hose clamps and the leak stopped. When I began to notice water in the bilge, I watched these locations. they would only drip about every five seconds, but it adds up. The shower sump is another notorious problem. My advise, do not allow any amount of water to sit in your bilge. If you do, it will find its' way into stringers or transom. Dan

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Current Boat: 1994 278 Four Winns Vista

Thanks Dan,
I put a new sump unit in last year. I'll have a look at what you mentioned. Did that water make it to the aft bilge on your boat?

John

_________________
07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada