engine compartment

[fisherfinn]

Thanks very much for the information. I have another question. The marina put my boat in a few weeks ago. A couple of days later they saw that it was sitting low in the water and they pulled it out. The said that they pulled the plug to let the water out for a while. They decided to put the plug back in to see if any other places were leaking and there was water spraying out of a thru hull seacock strainer. Does this mean that it is defective and leaking water in the boat. I assume it was for the generator, but not sure. Should I have it replaced?

[Billm]

Are you talking about a bronze basket strainer with two wing nuts on top like Groco? The wing nuts have to be tightened evenly or they will leak profusely. They have a thin gasket built built into the cover. It is best to do this when the boat is in the water so you can check for leaks. Try tightening the one farthest away from the hinge first. You have to play around with loosening and tightening the wing nuts until the cover is on evenly and the leak stops. A little waterproof grease on the gasket will help. It should not need to be replaced until the threads become stripped and the wing nuts will not tighten. You can replace the strainer when the boat is in the water simply by shutting the seacock. Now I have a serious question. Why wasn’t your bilge pump handling this? Are the batteries still dead? When my boat goes in, I always inspect the bilge within an hour or two. Board the boat by jumping on the swim platform. If the bilge pump comes on, that’s a bad sign.

[fisherfinn]

That's very helpful information. I appreciate.