During the first time out this year, I noticed water coming from underneath the center console of my MONTAUK boat.
Q1: is it normal for water to come out from under the console?
Q2: from where can the water be coming?
Q3: can the water be coming from the bilge?
Thanks
MONTAUK: Water Leak Under Console
Re: MONTAUK: Water Leak Under Console
A1: generally there is no source of water inside the center console of a MONTAUK, but there are several possibilities:
--water could be coming from a hose that was connected to a Pitot tube-type speedometer; or,
--water could be coming from a hose that was connected to an engine cooling water pressure gauge.
If the instruments on the center console include a Pitot-tube speedometer or an engine cooling water pressure gauge, I recommend you check those gauges to verify that the hose that has brought water to them is still properly connected to the input tube on the gauge.
You can make an inference about whether or not these hoses could be sources of water, because water will only be flowing out from those hoses when the engine is running (for the water pressure hose) or the boat is moving through the water (for the speedometer hose). Thus, if water is flowing out of the console while the boat is at rest and the engine is not running, those hoses are not likely to be the source.
In some installations, there are drink holders that have built-in drains, and the drains may be connected to hoses that drain onto the deck under the console. If the center console has cup holders installed, check them for possible sources of water appearing to come from under the console
A2: see above possible sources of water.
A3: unless under pressure or being moved by a pump, water cannot flow uphill, so it is unlikely that water could flow uphill and exit from under the center console from a source that was more deeply immersed in the boat hull. Also, a Boston Whaler hull does not have any open bilge spaces. The space between the outer and inner hulls, which would normally be empty and called the bilge, on a Boston Whaler boat is filled with foam. If you have water coming out of the foam in the double-bottom hull, the foam would have to be completely saturated with water.
--water could be coming from a hose that was connected to a Pitot tube-type speedometer; or,
--water could be coming from a hose that was connected to an engine cooling water pressure gauge.
If the instruments on the center console include a Pitot-tube speedometer or an engine cooling water pressure gauge, I recommend you check those gauges to verify that the hose that has brought water to them is still properly connected to the input tube on the gauge.
You can make an inference about whether or not these hoses could be sources of water, because water will only be flowing out from those hoses when the engine is running (for the water pressure hose) or the boat is moving through the water (for the speedometer hose). Thus, if water is flowing out of the console while the boat is at rest and the engine is not running, those hoses are not likely to be the source.
In some installations, there are drink holders that have built-in drains, and the drains may be connected to hoses that drain onto the deck under the console. If the center console has cup holders installed, check them for possible sources of water appearing to come from under the console
A2: see above possible sources of water.
A3: unless under pressure or being moved by a pump, water cannot flow uphill, so it is unlikely that water could flow uphill and exit from under the center console from a source that was more deeply immersed in the boat hull. Also, a Boston Whaler hull does not have any open bilge spaces. The space between the outer and inner hulls, which would normally be empty and called the bilge, on a Boston Whaler boat is filled with foam. If you have water coming out of the foam in the double-bottom hull, the foam would have to be completely saturated with water.
Re: MONTAUK: Water Leak Under Console
Jim
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Speedometer has not been working for a year and I have been trying to repair. Either I did a poor job attaching pitot tube or for got to attach
Thanks again for the knowledgeable response
I knew there was a good reason to monitor this site
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Speedometer has not been working for a year and I have been trying to repair. Either I did a poor job attaching pitot tube or for got to attach
Thanks again for the knowledgeable response
I knew there was a good reason to monitor this site
Re: MONTAUK: Water Leak Under Console
Another possible source for water to appear to be leaking out from under the console is the rigging tunnel.
Under the console there is an inlet in the deck to provide access to the rigging tunnel. The rigging tunnel runs aft under the deck and appears again in the aft cockpit sump. In the normal static trim on a Boston Whaler boat, the aft sump will be lower than the center console deck area, and water will tend to flow through the rigging tunnel to the aft cockpit sump from the forward areas.
Also there is usually a lip or surround that is installed under the console around the opening in the deck to the rigging tunnel that creates a raised lip of about two inches. The purpose of this raised guard around the opening is to keep water on the deck from entering the rigging tunnel, but the raised lip will also tend to contain any water in the rigging tunnel from flowing out at the center console end. I don't believe that EVERY Boston Whaler boat has one of these raised surrounds at the forward end of the rigging tunnel, but many do.
The only time water might flow from the aft cockpit sump toward the center console via the rigging tunnel is when the boat is on its trailer and the trailer is descending a steep grade on the highway. I used to be mystified about water that was appearing in the forward deck sump on my boat after trailering it, although at the start of the trailering the sump was completely dry. Eventually I figured out that water in the aft sump was flowing via the rigging tunnel and flooding out at the forward end, into the sump near that opening. My typical route between launch ramp and home included a descent down a very long and quite steep highway grade. The water was migrating from aft sump to forward sump during the descent of the steep grade. Consider this possibility as a source of water that appears to be leaking out under the center console of your MONTAUK boat.
ASIDE: I am glad you find the website and the forum useful. My goal in creating and running the website for these many years has been to collect, organize, archive, and provide information about Boston Whaler boats to anyone who visits the website, at no charge, without requiring any special registration or authorization to access the information, and to keep the contributed postings civil, written with clear expression and readability and in a manner that makes the information content easily found in searching and in major search indexes such as BING and GOGGLE.
Under the console there is an inlet in the deck to provide access to the rigging tunnel. The rigging tunnel runs aft under the deck and appears again in the aft cockpit sump. In the normal static trim on a Boston Whaler boat, the aft sump will be lower than the center console deck area, and water will tend to flow through the rigging tunnel to the aft cockpit sump from the forward areas.
Also there is usually a lip or surround that is installed under the console around the opening in the deck to the rigging tunnel that creates a raised lip of about two inches. The purpose of this raised guard around the opening is to keep water on the deck from entering the rigging tunnel, but the raised lip will also tend to contain any water in the rigging tunnel from flowing out at the center console end. I don't believe that EVERY Boston Whaler boat has one of these raised surrounds at the forward end of the rigging tunnel, but many do.
The only time water might flow from the aft cockpit sump toward the center console via the rigging tunnel is when the boat is on its trailer and the trailer is descending a steep grade on the highway. I used to be mystified about water that was appearing in the forward deck sump on my boat after trailering it, although at the start of the trailering the sump was completely dry. Eventually I figured out that water in the aft sump was flowing via the rigging tunnel and flooding out at the forward end, into the sump near that opening. My typical route between launch ramp and home included a descent down a very long and quite steep highway grade. The water was migrating from aft sump to forward sump during the descent of the steep grade. Consider this possibility as a source of water that appears to be leaking out under the center console of your MONTAUK boat.
ASIDE: I am glad you find the website and the forum useful. My goal in creating and running the website for these many years has been to collect, organize, archive, and provide information about Boston Whaler boats to anyone who visits the website, at no charge, without requiring any special registration or authorization to access the information, and to keep the contributed postings civil, written with clear expression and readability and in a manner that makes the information content easily found in searching and in major search indexes such as BING and GOGGLE.