06 LSV Taking on Water!!!!!

New to forum and a new 06 Mobius lsv owner (1st time boat owner at that!!!). Had boat since Labor Day weekend. Today was the first time it's been in the water a significant period of time (6+ hrs). Near the end of our day, the bilge was running nonstop. Buddy with me is an experience boater and said that was odd. Popped open center ski locker/ballast compartment and it was full of water! Additionally, carpet in bow was soaked and carpet throughout most of boat under all seats. I was freaked with how much water we were taking on. Immediately took boat back to the launch and called it a day. Trailered boat and inspected hull...spotless. No damage, holes, cracks, etc.. Drain plug tightly in place but bilge ran for 15 minutes straight with a steady stream of water being pumped out. Water was warm, which (after reading other posts) leads me to believe I might have an exhaust shaft hose loose, cracked, or completely off. Anyone out there run into this problem and am I on point with my assumption that I have an exhaust shaft hose issue? I'm no mechanic so any insight would be appreciated.

If you can hook up a fake-a-lake or line to your water intake I'd suggest running it in the driveway and closely inspect all engine water hoses. Get in there with a flash light or pen light. If you find nothing, then next place to look would be the packing for the driveshaft but you can only do that while you're on the water.

By running it out of the water though you'll be able to narrow down whether it's the engine or not first.

Do you have ballast? Check all the bags and fittings.. Sometimes they leak..

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If you still find nothing after checking all the above put the boat in the water, pop the engine hatch/v-drive hatch and check for leaks. My friend's boat had a small hole from an over drilled screw pilot hole on the intake scupper bracket coming up from the bottom of the boat. Unscrew the screws fill the holes with life caulk life seal and reinstall the screws. That fixed the problem. It was amazing how much water came in his boat from such a small hole over the course of a few hours....

So the only way to check the driveshaft packing is to be back on the water? I'm so mechanically handicapped that if I were to put the boat in the water, I wouldn't know where to start looking. Of course if you see water coming in, it's a no brainer. Where should I pay particular attention to in the engine compartment? My plan was to take it into the mechanic and have them fix the problem and just call it a season and have it winterized. Sounds like that won't happen and I'll have to take it out again.

So you can leave the boat on the trailer. Just back it into the water and start the boat up. The packing nuts are right where the drive shaft comes into the boat. You will see two nuts. Put the boat in gear and look down at the packing nuts and see how much water is coming in. I hope that makes sense.

No brainer there. Someone wasn't taking care of the shaft packing and it happens as the packing cord wears and not maintained. Put the boat in the water and check the gland nut but the leak will be much larger when the boat is in motion. If it is the packing, you then need to have the tools to tighten it and hopefully that will correct it. If not, you need to repack it with new cord. Get yourself some non-wax type cord so you don't have to worry about it for another decade.

Just put the boat back in the water and look for wet stuff.. Take a pic and post it..

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take it to a shop or do some internet research.

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Originally Posted by cornrickey

take it to a shop or do some internet research.

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Internet research?? I thought that's what the moomba forum was for!! Lol

Spokanite6,

But seriously, there is a lot of guys on here that should be able to help you. Good luck and hope you can figure it out easy and cheap.

I don't about the v drive but the DD's packing is easy to work on. The older models like mine required taking up the floor and remove the rear panels and it is all right there. It is important to know about the packing cord as it will fail over time but the leakage is minimal at first and gradually gets worse in time so it appears this stuffing tube was in need of either an adjustment or replacement before it was purchased.

The next best thing to having this website is to have someone locally who knows these boats and can help. Much of the maintenance on these boats is not difficult just time consuming.

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Originally Posted by FFEMTP933

Internet research?? I thought that's what the moomba forum was for!! Lol

Spokanite6,

But seriously, there is a lot of guys on here that should be able to help you. Good luck and hope you can figure it out easy and cheap.

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your right and reading his posts it appears that he would benefit from research on his boat to learn the basics prior to jumping in on a significant water leak issue. I recommend getting a shop manual and start learning. Add for taking it to the shop I recommend this due to limited opportunity to get on the water this year. You want to enjoy a new boat and not think about having to take it to the shop next spring. Again picking projects of les significants to learn on.

Spokanite, sweet color scheme on your LSV, can you post some pics up of it when you get a chance? Hard to see it in your avatar.

Anyway, stick your boat in the water and turn it on, then just open the engine bay and the back section of the floor and start looking for water. As they said, just leave it on the trailer at the boat launch while doing all of this if you're nervous about it. My first guess would be your driveshaft packing as people have mentioned, and that's an easy fix. It should drip very slowly, like a few drips a minute; it should not pour out. It will get worse if you put the boat in gear, so if you think you see water coming from the driveshaft packing then put your boat in gear, maybe even give a little big of gas. That might help you determine if the drivshaft packing is the problem.

I don't think it's the shaft seal. Even if it was leaking a steady stream of water, the bilge should have been able to keep up. OP says the center locker was full and carpet under the seats was wet throughout. That's a lot of water. OP also said the water was warm. It sounds to me like you have a leaking hose somewhere in the engine compartment. As others have said, back your boat into the water but leave it on the trailer (be sure to unhook the transom straps), start it up, then look in the engine compartment and see if you can find where the water is coming from. If it's just a hose, then it's a cheap fix compared to taking it to the dealer. If none of the hoses are looking, remove the rear bench seat and remove the fiberlgass cover under the bench seat. You will be looking at the v-drive. Look under the v-drive and you will see the propeller shaft and a large nut through which the propeller shaft goes through. That is the packing nut and water should drip out of there at a rate of one drip every 30-45 seconds.

Report back and tell us what you find.

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Originally Posted by Spokanite6

Could it be the heater core?

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My money is on this being the culprit.

Yep, definitely sounds like heater core

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Originally Posted by wolfeman131

My money is on this being the culprit.

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+1 for the heater core. Given the water is warm and there's a lot of it. If not the core, it may be the hoses to and from the motor to the core. Look under the bow seat toward the driver console. That's where your core is. Worst case, you may need to pull up the floor if the hose has failed under the floor.

Something else just occurred to me. There is a hose that crosses over from one exhaust manifold to the other with a garden style hose fitting between the two. The hoses come off the front of the manifolds. Its used to winterize the boat and may have never been reconnected.

Out of all of these scenarios, non are expensive repairs and fairly easy to fix. It will also help you learn more about your boat and become more comfortable working on it.

+3 on the heater core. put it in the water and I bet you will find the leak. good luck.