2016 240 DAUNTLESS; Water Seeping from Screw Fastener Hole

[jpons]

I recently purchased my second Boston Whaler boat, a beautiful 2016 240 Dauntless with only 260-hours on the original engine. When using the boat, I noticed the cockpit sump pump was not automatically coming on, and the float switch controlling the pump was hard to trigger. I replaced the original SAHARA pump with a newer, MK2, version of the same pump.

When I removed the original sump pump, I saw water seeping from the now empty mounting screw holes in the hull liner. The water continued seep out for several hours. I am now waiting for this water seepage to dry up before I install the new pump.

Fig. 1. Water flowing out of empty screw fastener hole for the cockpit sump pump.

IMG_9103.jpeg (87.6 KiB) Viewed 2164 times

The sump pump I removed seemed to be original to the boat. I did not notice any sealant on the screws holding the pump cage down.

Q1: should I have concern about the water seeping from an empty screw fastener hole for a cockpit sump pump?

Q2: should I contact Boston Whaler regarding the water seeping from the empty fastener hole?

Q3; should the screw fasteners have sealant applied when I install the replacement sump pump?

Q4: should I use 3M4200 ADHESIVE SEALANT on the screw fasteners?

Q5: should I use Silicone sealant on the screw fasteners?

[Phil T]

Every screw into the boat should have sealant in the hole and under the head.

Prior to installing the new pump, you want to remove as much water as practical.

• Over-drill the holes by two bit sizes;
• suck some of the surface water out using a shop vacuum on each hole; note results; continue until diminishing returns;
• use paper towels twisted to form a long wick and insert in holes; repeat until it is no longer effective; tape off the holes by several inches
• fill the holes with Locktite Marine Epoxy or Gorilla Glue (an expanding polyurathane based adhesive);
• let cure;
• trim excess material;
• tap for appropriate machine screw fastener

While you are at it. check all around the boat that every screw has sealant. If not, remove it, add a dab of Life Caulk and reinstall.

[jpons]

PHIL T--thank you for the advice. I did something along those lines, but I am thinking I may do a more thorough job in the near future following your advice.

[jimh]

Q3: was water observed seeping out of only one of the three pump fastener holes?

Q1: should I have concern about the water seeping from an empty screw fastener hole for a cockpit sump pump?

It seems a bit unusual for water to be flowing uphill and weeping out of that one fastener hole. Thoroughly dry out that hole until the water stops coming out, then let it rest a day or two to see if resumes or not. If the water stops in a day or two, then I doubt a great deal of harm has occurred. If it is still flowing after a week, something strange has happened.

Q2: should I contact Boston Whaler regarding the water seeping from the empty fastener hole?

You can contact them about it, but I don't think they are going to be completely stunned by this information. They seem to generally install fasteners without using sealant, even though that seems like a poor practice.

Q3; should the screw fasteners have sealant applied when I install the replacement sump pump?

Yes

Q4: should I use 3M4200 ADHESIVE SEALANT on the screw fasteners?

No. The 3M4200 product is a very strong adhesive. You just need a marine silicon or caulk.

Q5: should I use Silicone sealant on the screw fasteners?

Sure.