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1987 winner escape 175hp 4.3L water in bilge

J

jayonnos

New member
i have a 1987 winner escape 175 with a 4.3 liter motor and a omc cobra outdrive. im getting water in the bilge area. not sure if its the boot or what. and what is the right way to remove the outdrive. any help would be great. thank you jason
 
Re: 1987 winner escape 175 water in bilge

Do you get water in with the boat sitting or when it's running ? removing the leg ( outdrive ) at this point is a bit much when it could be a hose or something.
 
Re: 1987 winner escape 175 water in bilge

I don't know what you boat looks like but , Check drain plug. Not the screw in part but the housing. If there is a rubber seal around you leg ( outdrive ) check the seal is ok where it's screwed on to the back of the boat. You can try with the boat out of the water on a trailer fill the bilge with water and check for leaks outside the boat.
 
Re: 1987 winner escape 175 water in bilge

If you have looked at all the hoses and plugs etc. and cannot identify the source of the water, how long has it been since the bellows was changed? It needs to be changed every 3-5 years. Have you noticed anything else that is different such as perhaps it just doesn't seem as smooth as it used to, or perhaps a tad bit noisier than it used to be?

Wayne
 
If the boat is on the trailer then fill the bilge up but do not submerge the starter .

See where the water is coming out.

You sure it's a cobra leg?
 
we just bought the boat the middle of last summer. it sat in the guys garage for 5 yrs. and it says omc cobra on the outdrive. the boat is in really good shape for a 1987 it only had 162 hrs on it and when not in the water it sat in the garage. so i would really like to find the problem and fix it. i have read alot of good things about winner boats
 
Seems like it is a Cobra then, you've already gotten good advise from others, if you can't see where it's coming from inside the boat then you need to tilt it up and put in water to see where it comes out. With a boat that age it's entirely possible to be leaking around the cutout for the sterndrive which could mean some transom rot going on. If that's the case then you need to decide how nice the boat is because the drive has to come off, the engine out and then remove the transom mount before you can get into any transom repairs.
 
thats what i was affraid of i dont really want to get involved in all that but it is a nice boat and got a great deal on it. so its a hard choice to make. thank you for all the advice.
 
More than likely it's the u-joint bellows. Which means water has gotten to the gimbal bearing, which will need to be replaced along with the u-joints if they're rusted. Pull the drive & do an inspection on the above.
 
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