2006 24v taking in water but only when weighted for surfing?

[MikeC]

Long time lurker, 1st time poster. I'm having issues tracking down where water is coming into my boat. It is not taking on water with only a few people and no ballast but once we get it sacked out for surfing it is taking water in pretty quickly. I run a V bow sac and and enzo sac in the starboard rear locker/seat. Last weekend I went out with the family and didn't do any surfing and everything was fine. Wednesday I went surfing with some buddies and the bilge was pumping the whole time. Is this normal? Any areas that are typical culprits that I should look out for?

[Thegerman618]

This will be kinda long, and....I could be wrong but I had the exact problem the first time I filled almost the same weight on my old VE.

If your not aware the prop shaft moves....EVER SO SLIGHTLY forward and back when going into forward and reverse, or when under heavy load such as when full of ballast. The shaft seal is likely the culprit (at least from my experience) on the last 3 boats I have done ballast on a (00, 01, 06) all had to have the shaft seal adjusted or upgraded to a PSS or like seal.

First- Make sure all your fittings, seals, are good to go on your ballast system. A loose connection at the pumps is also a very common problem.

Second- Fill your ballast and pull the center rear seat partition out and lay on the floor. You will have easy access to see and work on the shaft seal. Under load I bet that seal looks like fire hose of water coming in. There is a total of 6 set screws that hold that steel collar up against the rubber boot. If the seal is in fact the problem then here are the steps I followed to fix mine.

1. Get a sharpie or perm. marker and mark the shaft where the collar currently sits.
2. There are 3 holes on the OD of the collar (2 set screws per hole) 1st set seats the collar to the shaft, 2nd set makes sure the 1st set doesn't back out.
3. Remove the 1st Set of set screws and set aside.
4. Back off the 2nd Set but leave in the collar.
5. Very Carefully slide the collar back towards the boot, it will start to compress the boot ever so slightly. You want move in increments of 1/16" or 1/8". Don't make huge movements as you still need water to make into that seal and cool the bearings. Since you marked the shaft in step 1, I would start with no more that a 1/8" movement back. Lake test and observe, if your still taking on a ton of water, repeat steps.

Hope this helps, its a very easy fix. A perfectly set shaft seal either wont leak at all, or under heavy load has a small drip ever 2-3 seconds.

[Stingreye]

Which side are you surfing? If the goofy side, the bilge discharge outlet can get below the waterline and if there is not an elevation up from that spot, you can take water in through the bilge hole.

The most likely culprit however is when you stop. If you stop without allowing it to spin your around, you will take ALOT of water in through the two vents on the transom. Once you learn to stop with a slight spin, you won't take in water there.

[Thegerman618]

Which side are you surfing? If the goofy side, the bilge discharge outlet can get below the waterline and if there is not an elevation up from that spot, you can take water in through the bilge hole.

The most likely culprit however is when you stop. If you stop without allowing it to spin your around, you will take ALOT of water in through the two vents on the transom. Once you learn to stop with a slight spin, you won't take in water there.

Good Call on the Vents for V model Stingreye!! I keep forgetting the V had the flat back transom.

[MikeC]

Thanks guys for the quick responses! I also thought about the water coming in through the bilge hole since we are all goofy but the bilge is typically pumping so I don't think it would amount to much. I'll make someone keep an eye on those vent holes, I do tend to just stop in a straight line so that could be it. If not, the shaft packing is what was mentioned by my local shop to check too so I'll give that a look. Am I able to take the screws out and make those adjustments WHILE the boats in the water?

[Jetdriver]

Do it out of the water.
When your rider goes down turn 90 degrees as your pulling the power back. (left for goofy, opposite riders side) You'll avoid the wave up the back and also won't dunk your bow into the passing swells that way.

[Thegerman618]

Thanks guys for the quick responses! I also thought about the water coming in through the bilge hole since we are all goofy but the bilge is typically pumping so I don't think it would amount to much. I'll make someone keep an eye on those vent holes, I do tend to just stop in a straight line so that could be it. If not, the shaft packing is what was mentioned by my local shop to check too so I'll give that a look. Am I able to take the screws out and make those adjustments WHILE the boats in the water?

Well you can do it on the water, but not recommended. The only time I would recommend an adjustment to that seal on the water is if you cannot stop the water from coming in.

As Jet said, do it off the water. I am willing to bet you have a leaky shaft seal.

[duffymahoney]

The 24v has air intakes that if I am not careful let water in when I stop too quickly after surfing. Also I put a 1 way check valve on the bilge pump line.

[mikemcclain8]

Just to add to it. I've had 3 experiences with unexpected water traveling in my boat.

1. Shaft seal wasn't quite tight enough. I have a direct drive, so I opened the shaft access panel and watched as I drove. Water was gushing out. Adjusted the collar slightly and the problem was gone.

2. I have stiff rubber pipes running from my flappers (Exhaust) to the motor. One of them was slightly cockeyed so when I would stop straight, some water would enter and leak out at the junction. Readjusted the tube and clamp and no problems since.

3. Just yesterday, I had water coming in while idling in the water but didn't realize it until I went to leave and water gushed out of the bilge. After some searching, I was about to readjust the shaft seal again when I noticed a blue piece of plastic sticking between the collar and the PSS. Removed the sliver of plastic and it sealed right up. I believe it was from those stupid water balloons you see on TV where no tying is required as there was a broken balloon next to it as well.

Hope that helps!

[MikeC]

Took it out on Saturday. I had a buddy sit back there and the water isn't coming in through the vents or the bilge exhaust hole, at least not enough for it to matter much. It's hard to tell where it's coming in from but the problem isn't that bad with no weight in the boat but fills the hull pretty darn fast when there is a lot of weight or even just pulling the tube. I've checked to make sure the ballast isn't leaking, the carpet is dry and the water comes in when pulling tubers/skiers with no ballast filled. It doesn't appear to be coming in from any of the cooling hoses or anything that easily seen around the top or sides of the engine. I had to much crap in the lockers to get down and check the driveshaft but I was able to tell that it is a PSS system. To make matters worse, my bilge got clogged and ran for a while and I think burned up a little. I got it unclogged but it was barely pushing out and couldn't keep up with the amount of water that was coming in.

I bought this boat used with 250 hours on it. It was parked in Nevada for a long time. I'm going to assume that the seals on that PSS have never been changed and are dried up and need to be replaced. Sound like a fair assumption? Regarding the bilge pump, any way to revive it? Or any recommendations on a bad-*** one that I should buy?