RAIN WATER LEAKS INTO AFT CABIN

rasbury

Smart...everything I do on my boat I want it to the rest of my life and the next owner never have a worry with it...

J3ff

I looked closely today, it sure seems to have a lot of sealer in there, the surprising thing about this problem is that the boat was painted just a couple years before I bought it, so it's not like this is a factory job... when I took the first window off it was clear that they had taken the windows off to do the paint job. Oh well. Forgot I have a wedding to go to, for now I'm just running the A/C and have an "air dryer" right on top of the wet part, it seems to keep things dry at least from that point back, no telling what's going on forward of it. 

bella-vita

I put fiberglass around raw  cut out sanded than 3m  sealant than stainless trim than window ,mine was leaking behind the the stainless window trim. 

J3ff

Pulled the front port window out today... found wet foam and wood towards the front of the cut out. Gave it some time to dry out and then used two full containers of clear life caulk to seal it back up.. hoping for the best... They sure did put a LOT of caulk in there when they painted the boat, I guess it just wasn't 100% right. 

Found mold only on one part of the window frame.. 

J3ff

Happy to report that after very heavy rain at 6am, sounded like a hurricane for 20 mins and then another heavy bout of rain around 3...for 20 or so mins...the carpet is perfectly dry. So hopefully this problem is taken care of. 

Now the real question in my mind is why the port side windows...what about the STBD? Should we all assume those are leaking too? I don't see any evidence of it, but maybe it just doesn't show as easily because the bathroom is over there? I'm tempted to remove both stbd side and re-seal as well..

TonyG13

J3ff said:

Now the real question in my mind is why the port side windows...what about the STBD?

When I removed and re-did the rubrail on our old Maxum you could clearly see a difference in the gelcoat color line on the starboard versus the port side. Obviously more than one person works on a boat at the same time. So my starboard side looked like he/she knocked down a few cold ones before setting the "straight" line. Probably figured it was going to be covered by the rubrail anyway.

That's a long way of saying, if your starboard window is fine, I wouldn't mess with it. Could have been installed by a more conscientious worker...

Willhound

When I did mine I did them all. The aft port light showed the most evidence of a leak, where most of us are seeing issues, but the starboard bow light also showed some signs of water and the port bow a tiny bit too. Only one that showed absolutely no problem was the starboard aft light in the head.
So if in doubt, for the time it takes just to them all in my opinion.

J3ff

I may just do the same, it's really not that bad... putting it on my "winter projects" list... will wait for a 70 degree day to do it again had some rain today and the carpet is nice and dry. Thankful that this was it, really didn't want to start messing with the bow rail or  windshield 

J3ff

This is a nightmare. Had a super heavy downpour today for about 20 mins, like hurricane style. Just got back down to the boat and sure enough the carpet is SOAKED. 

For the past 4 days the regular rain hasn't been a problem... but here I am, soaked carpet AGAIN! Argggg - makes me want to sell the boat over this crap. MIght be time to pull the carpet up and go fake hard wood flooring. 

rasbury

Well that won't do water well either!

rasbury

So yours is wet on the just the floor? At some point I'd think that you will need to start pulling the ceiling down...all that wood also has to be getting wet and moldy- it might also help you with the water trail to the start. You resealed all your windows...I don't see how on the 270 window would leak...running lights? Horn? 

aero3113

How about your bow rail screws and windshield screws? They may need to be resealed.

J3ff

It's time for an electric leaf blower and pressuring the cabin. Will be attempting that tomorrow. 

muskyfins

Not sure how we view resurrecting old threads.  Mods please move if in violation.

I have a 2000 FV270 with a similar problem.  The ceiling lining in the aft cabin is wet.  Because it is higher than the port window, I'm sort of ruling that out.

Where does the drain behind the helm (in the sliding door cavity) lead?  Does it lead out a thru hull or into the forward bilge.  It rained a lot this weekend and the forward bilge had ridiculous amount of water in it.

muskyfins

J3ff said:

It's time for an electric leaf blower and pressuring the cabin. Will be attempting that tomorrow. 

What was the outcome of the pressure test?

Willhound

The door drain goes to a thru hull. I would suspect the rub rail.

TonyG13

Our door drain thru-hull also seems to accumulate debris, dog hair, etc. Make sure it's clear.

rasbury

I flooded my cabin with that darn drain getting leaves in it....I'm talking an inch of water!

Willhound

That drain can be a problem, but it sits one step down from the aft cabin headliner. So can't see that being the issue in this case.

rasbury

@muskyfins
I have been fighting the same problem. I have spent a lot of time on the same issue. I did notice where the help seat was bolted down, the holes for the seat base were all wallered out and was leaking- underneath there is a big drain pan (under the trash can) but this water was hitting out side the pan and I think getting under it and leaking down into the cabin ceiling. I don't think that was all of it however. I did seal the crap around the bold holes and I sprayed a bunch of flex seal around the pan so it should be draining down into the bilge. The other suspect is the speaker by the map pocket- I think that speaker is leaking and when sitting outside my hose on the street, the boat leans to starboard- so I think it is leaking in....down to the ceiling above that window...down that side and also hits that ceiling. Also, behind that seat right there did you know there is a big storage area? I also re sealed that. Friday I washed the boat and really soaked it down- I have that speaker covered up with some plastic and it does not appear I had any leaking into that ceiling. Not sure how those speakers are supposed to seal out water- any of the others that might leak will go right to the bilge. I had tried to take the speaker off to look but all the screws stripped out...now that I'm more suspicious of it, I'm going to get into it and see....

rinker270nb

I was in the engine compartment and saw sunlight coming from my fuel cap, discovered waterlines beneath it on the interior, here's the gap.

My boat is a '99 and there are dozens of production errors on it.  Is this a periodic issue, the cost for a mid-budget boat, etc?  It's frustrating to say the least.

J3ff

I've never seen a boat with so many leaks... It's too bad because it def ruins the Rinker experience. Even my 1989 Cruisers INC didn't let in so much water. 

I will add your spot to look at mine.. check this thread.

https://rinkerboats.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/11218/anyone-ever-try-to-track-down-where-the-rain-water-gets-into-the-bilge

GMSLITHO

I have a 2004 270 and no water leaking in the cabin whatsoever .I also waterproof all my canvas every year,also if the boats doesn’t sit on the trailer the same pitch as when it sits in the water nothing going to drains right 

J3ff

mine was always dry on the trailer... awful in the water!!

skennelly

We had record rains this past week.  I was worried to see what the boat looked like.  Carpet is just a little damp...not soaked.  Im going to attack the rub rail screws.