Taking in some water

"88, Four Winns 3.0 omc , cobr

"88, Four Winns 3.0 omc , cobra drive, had to run the bilge pump about 4 times, each time pumped out half gallon, when i took the boat out of the water and pulled up the ramp took out the plug and must have been 2 to 3 gallons come out. I have looked everywhere to see where its coming in, took doghouse off in middle of lake got down and looked everywhere cannot find the culprit, any ideas ?"

"I have an 88 bayliner 3.0 and

"I have an 88 bayliner 3.0 and had the same problems. Here's what I found and had to fix.
-- 1/4" hole in the bottom of boat where a bolt from the trailer had scraped a hole in the bottom and had to fiberglass it to fix.
-- leak from an exhaust manifold that I used JB Weld to fix. It only leaked a full throttle when under full pressure. I had to take the manifold off to repair, then buy a new intake/exhaust gasket available at autozone for $22.
-- leak from a transom seal.... had to take the lower unit off and replace. You could only see it dripping if you stuck you head fully under the engine,,,(just kidding)
-- leak from a bellows seal, water was coming in through the gimbal bearing... replaced the seal.
Place it in the water when you have plenty of time and look for any water collecting and where it may be coming from...
A different try, (not for everyone) fill the bilge area with water from a hose, while on the trailer, and search everywhere for where it maybe coming out of...
good luck, let us know what you find.."