Jeanneau SO42DS 2008 – Salt Water in Bilge – HELP!!!!

[Tafika II]

Several months ago, I discovered salt water in the two center bilges (yes I tasted it). These are the 2nd and 3rd bilges from the companionway steps. It’s not much water, about 1/4”~1/2” of water. Since the discovery, I have:
• Replaced the raw water pump (it was leaking slightly, but had it rebuilt as a spare)
• Replaced one cooling hose (cracked)
• Burped & re-lubricated the start Volvo bearing (no leaks or dripping)
• Checked the rudder shaft & bearings (no leaks)
• Inspected keel bolts & they are dry and galvanizing is clean
• Raw water brass pipe with welded brass drain valve (weld cracked and valve corroded)
• Replaced all factory original junk thru-hull values supplied by Jeanneau with Groco bronze
• Tightened all thru hole clamps in incoming raw water, lift exhaust and non-engine and engine related through hulls.
• Inspected everywhere I could think of were sea water could come in, including watermaker, air/heat intakes, raw water washdown intake, genset intake & exhaust, forward head (after is fresh water supplied), etc.
Here’s the fun fact…sitting in the slip, no water egresses into the boat. Water enters only with the engine running and moving! I’m at a loss so if anyone has had this problem & found a solution, let me know.
Thanks!
Brent

[chaika]

In my 36i I had mysterious salt water in the bilge, then noticed it was under the engine as well. It seemed to only be there after using the engine. After months of searching and agonising I focused on the raw water Vetus non return valve. It was of the type that had a spring backed rubber diaphragm valve. I stretched the spring a bit and it helped for a short while, then the mysterious water was back again. I replaced the whole assembly with a new unit which has a conical silicon fitting on the drain outlet acting as a little valve. This fixed it and for the last several months no more mysterious salty water.

[j]

Have you checked the waterlock muffler for leaks?

[Trevor]

Hello Tafika II,

Please see this thread, particularly the post by Lee Condell. I think that may be helpful.

jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/1074/water-bilge

Regards,

Trevor

[chaika]

Yes, Trevor's reference to the water bilge thread mentions the Vetus non return valve - in that thread it's refered to as the "anti siphon valve". I didn't mention this, but I also tried to lubricate it with dry silicon spray lubricant, and that only helped temporarily.

[Deleted]

Our SO 36i had salt water pooling in the bilge just aft of the sump (not enough to run into the sump).
No leak from the shaft gland and exhaust muffler was sound.

Eventually traced the leak to where the engine exhaust pipe joins the skin fitting; the jubilee clip (just one clip had been fitted) was loose - so with engine running we had a noticeable leak, which ran forward under the lining. Just tightening the clip solved the problem.

[Tafika II]

Chaika, I'll look at the Yanmar 4JH4AE engine assembly blow thru diagram to see where the area you are talking about as an anti-syphon rubber diaphragm valve. I place paper towels under the engine well and no water showed up on them after I fixed the hose and raw water pump, but having said that, I check again.

J, I did check the waterlock muffler for leaks, but none were evident thanks!

Sunset, I did check the exhaust hoses & even added a second clamp to the aft fitting to the hull. The leak does not seem to be coming from there. A friend of mine suggested I check the actual hose for leaks, so I’m adding that to my list next weekend.

Trevor, thanks for the link. dripless fitting & water muffler are not leaking. The suggestion to check the siphon seal has been added to my list from the link & Chaika above. It not the bilge pump back flowing as that would happen at rest or moving. After checking the siphon break, I’ll check the rudderpost underway. I did inspect it at the slip and there are no signs of salt-water salt encrusted or leaking on the inside of the hull, but I will check it.

Thanks for you assistance. I'll find the little monster soon! I’ll let you know what I found and how I fixed it.
Brent

[windward54]

Don't forget to check around your generartor. My small leak was from the strainer that was installed on the generator raw water line. Water would leak out when I used the generator and get trapped in the voids. When I went out sailing, the rocking of the boat would bring out the water.

[Tafika II]

Windward54 - I checked the genet thru hulls in the slip, but it's on my list to check underway, although I see no tracks of salt water from that area at all.
Thanks!
Brent

[windward54]

Lil Bro,

A couple of other items to check.

My Vetus anti syphon valve leaked when the engine was running as well. Jeanneau had run the overflow line down to the port side of the bilge. When the engine ran, the valve leaked and the water bypassed the engine bilge and went in the bilges around the port sides. I took care of this by replacing the valve and by running the hose directly into the bilge. These valves do leak frequently.

Some of the water worked its way into some voids under the flooring. The rocking of the boat would occasionally bring the water out into the bilge. I finally found the last void and wiped it clean. That took care of most of the water and yet, I would still see a trace of seawater now and then. I finally found that source. The tubing used to provide weep connections between bilge compartments were installed slightly below grade, trapping some water. Dried out the connectioning tubes between bilge compartments and that seems to have cured my small leak from nowhere.

[Tafika II]

Hey Big Bro (aka Karl)
Can you take some digitals and show me what you did. The more replies I get, the anti syphon valve and the hose sounds like the most likely possibility. I'll be checking it out today or Saturday. Thanks and see you soon!
Brent

[windward54]

I can email them to you later tonight via iPhone. We're still out of the house, so I have very limited internet access. Also, I'll be in the South Bay later this afternoon. I'll look for you.

[Tafika II]

OK, on the email. Not sure I can break loose from work to get to the boat this afternoon
B

[Tafika II]

Problem fixed


Based on this Jeanneau Owner’s & Cruiser’s Forum comments & suggestions, I re-inspected the systems again. It looks as if I had two contributing factors.

The Vetus non-return pressure valve had stuck open & dumping salt water directly into the under-bilge. I cleaned the value, ordered a new one for replacement and attached a 22’ long 5/16” ID water hose ($0.76/foot + clamps…pretty cheap fix) to drain into the forward bilge pump sump area. Why Jeanneau thought it was a good idea to dump salt water into the under-bilge is beyond me. Had there been a general failure of the valve, the boat could have flooded. For an additional $25.00, this could have been avoided if Jeanneau have run this hose overboard or directly into the bilge pump sump area.

The second problem was harder to find. I saw a rivulet of water exiting the exhaust hose where it enters the water muffler. While tightening the clamps, I noticed the entire male fitting was loose. I removed the hose clamps, hose and fitting (easily removed by hand…no tools). The threads looked to be sealed with standard plumber’s putty. There were no cuts, splits or gouges on the “O” ring. I inspected the fitting and receiver box for any crack….none. After cleaning the male & female threads & an “O” ring, I applied a vibration resistant Rectorseal 4-oz. Tru-Blu Pipe Thread Sealant to the male and female threads. I applied a generous amount of silicon grease to the “O” ring and “O” ring seating area and reinstalled the fittings & hose. No leaks.
The under-bilge did take a few sailing trip to finally empty, but it’s basically dry again.

Thank for everyone’s help!

[roym73]

To all the people who have unexplained salt water in the bilge and this thread hasn't yet helped.
Does your boat have a bow-thruster?

At the end of last year we purchased a 2009 SO42i, and put it on the hard for the winter. At the beginning of this year we antifouled the bottom, put it back in the water and sailed it to our marina.
After a month or two I noticed a bit of salt water in the bilge after sailing.
I would always sponge it out (not enough for the bilge pump) and none would come back in while the boat was in the marina. By june I was getting quite frustrated because I couldn't find the leak thinking it was above the waterline somewhere and the water was coming in while heeling. I also spoke to some boatbuilders and the Jeanneau dealership who organized the (private) sale. I tracked down the entry point of the water into the bilge through a small hole in the skeleton mould near the bowthruster. This meant that the water could be coming in almost anyway, sitting in the inner mould, and would be more difficult to find.
Eventually I sent a harsher mail to the dealer demanding that he help to get it sorted. He called in a favour to someone higher up at Jeanneau France who come up with this theory:
Where the bow-thruster tunnel is connected to the hull, the fibre glassing joining the tunnel to the hull has a hairline crack, and as the hull twists while sailing, the water could come in there. This problem had happened to only one other SO in the world.
He said that it should be under warranty, but he would first have to make a request.
I got the boat lifted out, and at first we couldn't see any evidence of a leak, which then meant some serious head-scratching. But after about half an hour, when the antifouling had dried out, we could see water slowly seeping out around the thruster tunnel.
I went ahead and got the repair work done (grinding and extra laminating on the OUTSIDE of the tunnel) and the boat is back in the water with a dry bilge.
At the moment I'm still waiting for the reply from Jeanneau, as they are on holiday in France, but the dealer is confident that it will be covered.
If anybody wants more info or photos just let me know..

[Tafika II]

We do not have a bow thruster on Tafika II

[Tafika II]

Well...just when I thought this was over... The same salthingyer leak at the wet muffler reared it ugly head again, so pulled it apart one more time! It seems the thread sealer…Tru-Blu Pipe Thread Sealant, while stating it was suitable, was not. It deteriorated in hot salt water and the diesel gases and attacked & destroyed the “O” ring. I cleaned both threads thoroughly, applied Permatex 99839 ULTRA BLACK (it is a silicone & oil resistant) at the suggestion of my local service yard, as that is what they use. I replaced the “O” rings (Silicon O-Ring with temperature range of -65° to +425° F; Durometer hardness of A70; 0.139” Diameter thick x 3.359” ID and 3.637” OD).
Once again it is fixed…Let’s hope I don’t have to update this again.

[windward54]

Don't feel bad. While you were tracing this one down, I finally got around to replacing the electrical terminal block that was scorched when the water heater went out. Good as new, although I had to use white wire for the neutral phase on the A/C as opposed to the light blue used in Europe. The original line from the breaker to the block was charred about half the length.

[Tafika II]

OK, it leaked again, so this time I threw away the book and used my brain...what's left of it. It seems the design enables the "O" ring to grab and not seat properly, no matter how much Permatex 99839 ULTRA BLACK you put on. I cleaned up the threads ID & OD and again applied the Permatex, only this time I left the "O" ring gasket off, but put a extra generous amount against the thread/flange angle. I tightened it up, reinstalled the hoses and left it sit for 48 hours. Started the engine...no leaks (been there, done that), vacuum the watered out of the bilges and went sailing for a week. It has now been 4 weeks since I did this final fix and it is not leaking at all. I'm still checking it regularly but I think this is the fix.
Have a Happy New Year and pleasant sailing in 2014!

[Marulf]

I also had a saltwater leak similar to this. Wondering where it came from I finally located it to be a leakage from the exhaust/watermuffler.

The Muffler is located inside the port engine foundation on my jeanneau 53.

At first I suspected the leakage to be in the threaded fitting for the connection to the exhaust hose, but after some further testing I found that there was a small crack in the side of the exhaust muffler. I could probably have sealed this crack, but as this muffler is not easy to inspect and having in mind that this could possibly be a cause for massive waterleaks (One of my first boats had a massive waterleak after the exhaust muffler cracked open and all the cooling water went directly into the bilge) I replaced it with a new one.

[so32foot]

I had leakage of seawater on my SO32. I suspected the Volvo stuffing box, however it appeared to be shaft through hull. I reinstalled that one and the leakage is over.