Water Leak 101

[Hydrotoys]

Front Hook: Behind the front hook in the inner liner. Use a hole saw just large enough to get a socket on it.

Suck out water: Down on the engine stringer, in front of the mid-wall, where it starts to tilt downward. Some folks plug this hole with a plug, so that they can check it time to time, but once I found my front leak, it didn't seem to be a problem anymore.

Make sure to seal them up afterwards with epoxy made for SMC, or you will just make the problem worse.

[smackwave]

Right on Woody. I had the bent rubber lip on my intermediate shaft. A lot of work to fix it.

Same here. I only discovered the source of the leak when I was swapping out the intermediate shaft and bearing housing after stripping driveshaft splines (turned into a good excuse to add a 2" pump extension). In my case the probable cause of both the bent lip and stripped splines was that the longer bolts that came with the bilge pump bracket had worked their way loose. That bad idea of a bracket is gone now and the bilge pump is glued directly to the hull.

Another big source of leaks for me this past year has been the rubber gaskets on the trim tab brackets deteriorating. Eight years of exposure to salt water and lots of trials and errors with shimming the tabs had worn them out, and you'd be amazed at how much water they were letting in. For good measure I installed new brackets and gaskets and sealed them to the hull with 5200. When installing the new pop rivets use the trim tab bolts with lots of spacing washers to tighten the bracket to the hull and ensure a good seal.

[RX951]

GPR mystery water leak

Here was the source of my water leak. Intermediate shaft coupler had a hole in the middle of the cast piece. Talked to Ted who does the conversion shafts and he said he sees alot of this.

[WATER WOODY]

Billy,thats probably one of the hardest waters to find.I bet you pulled your hair out finding it.

[Hydrotoys]

Billy,
we have a theory on this too....

If the engine and I-shaft coupler contact each other, this might be an ELECTRICAL issue, as the aluminum seems to be pitted out in this area.

[Duke]

Billy,
we have a theory on this too....

If the engine and I-shaft coupler contact each other, this might be an ELECTRICAL issue, as the aluminum seems to be pitted out in this area.

My theory is the shaft walks back in the I bearing causing the driveshaft to punch thru the coupler. Look at the shaft and see if it hasn't walked back. Nothing holds the shaft in this position other then friction. Just thinking out loud here.

[yami_rida#26]

Has anyone ever experienced a leak when the D-plate gaskets go I have a feeling mine are gone. I noticed salt where the D-plate was seeping out because I ride in saltwater a lot and I also had an overheat problem this is another area people should watch closely.

[Chrisrokc]

I have water on the back lip of my crank casings almost always. Like just a small bit. But in the bottom of the hull there is always a decent amount. Not enough to flood the ski, just not dry. I checked the pump shoe area by filling the rear of the rear full of water and letting it set, no water leaked out. I checked all my hoses I think, no leaks. I am just so confused. When I touch the water it really isn't hot, warm, or cold. It is just air temp.

Thoughts?

[xsockguyx]

Has anyone ever experienced a leak when the D-plate gaskets go I have a feeling mine are gone. I noticed salt where the D-plate was seeping out because I ride in saltwater a lot and I also had an overheat problem this is another area people should watch closely.

Yes i noticed the same thing when I pulled it out of the water for the winter and removed the stinger. I'm gonna pay close attention to this when i get out in the next 2 weeks. I'll let you know what I find. Worst comes to worst order the new gaskets.

[scubasniper2009]

Thanks Kevin. I have had a problem with my WAverunner for a while

[Danno76]

check the coupler on the intermediate shaft side! the couplers corrode in the centre causing water to leak through the centre of the shaft into the hull. Very hard to find unless you pull the intermediate shaft/bearing and check coupler.

[Chrisrokc]

check the coupler on the intermediate shaft side! the couplers corrode in the centre causing water to leak through the centre of the shaft into the hull. Very hard to find unless you pull the intermediate shaft/bearing and check coupler.

The coupler between the motor and the wall? I am confused. I replaced the coupler on the back side that goes out to the pump with a heavy duty one. No leaks there!

[dewzee1200]

Can we get a picture of where to drill on/in engine stringer -- I do not want to drill in hull on a hunch ? Do we drill holes on both sides or is innner hull one large cavity ?

MY Problem-- With engine mount bolts out - I was cleaning brass nut threads in hull and water came out of hole ( lower red oval) when compressed air was used in another bolt hole - Does this mean inner hull is full of water ? Also why are 2 brass fittings holes between engine dampers ( upper red oval ) not plugged - do these holes allow water into inner hull ? Please advise---- this inner hull cavity is all new to me !!

[Mack]

Also check ALL hose clamps.Here is a little tip: I put a small drop of red Loc-tite on all my hose clamps for insurance.Just dab it on the threads.

Great info. I like the loc-tite on hose clamp tip.

[Yamadude98]

When I bought my used ski, I found just what you were talking about.. a leak coming from the exhaust coupler to the water box, plus it was dumping in smoke not allowing fresh air to breathe.