Water entering at transom- missing transom assembly stud?

[jimn]

I haven't seen it yet and I still haven't seen photos or video, but the owner of a boat (1986 Sea Ray with Alpha 1) said it looks like water is coming into the bilge through a hole that's about 5/16" diameter. If so, it could mean that a stud or bolt came out.

Has anyone seen any of these come out, even if it's very seldom? Seems unlikely.

I'll post pics or videos when I get them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bondo]

Ayuh,..... The bottom 2 studs are aluminum, which corrode off,.... The ones with the anode on each,......

It's usually accompanied by a rotten transom,....

 

[jimn]

Ayuh,..... The bottom 2 studs are aluminum, which corrode off,.... The ones with the anode on each,......

It's usually accompanied by a rotten transom,....

That's what I was thinking- still haven't seen photos or videos, don't know how much it has stayed in the water. His brother is a mechanic, he has done a lot of work on cars, etc but car people who haven't worked on boats never think about galvanic corrosion, electrolysis, checking bolt torque in the transom assembly or doing all of the preventive maintenance.

This boat originally had the stator on the front of the engine and true to form, the voltage regulator was killed, possibly because it wasn't winterized properly. He wasn't too geeked about the price of the replacement, either. He switched to an alternator, eventually.