[C320-list] Muffler leaks and drainage

[Graeme Clark]

Just to clarify: we do have water in the bilge after motoring. More than you can account for simply from sterngland dripping I think.
I actually think it's the exhaust hose that's the problem rather than the muffler but wanted to check it anyway now that I have it out the boat
Thanks for all good advice
Graeme

Sent from mobile: please excuse typos etc.!


> On 14 Jan 2017, at 04:10, Troy Dunn <troutwarrior at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Graeme
> 
> We discovered our muffler was leaking mid summer.  As others have mentioned
> once this starts to happen you can mess around with temporary repairs but
> it is unlikely your repair will last very long.  By the time we realized
> what was really going on, the area under our engine was filling with enough
> water after a day of sailing and motoring for maybe half an hour that the
> water was overflowing that compartment and moving into the salon bilge.
> Once that happens it's pretty easy to see that the muffler is your problem
> as the failure point is the seam between the bottom panel and the top box.
>  This seam faces down actually so what you should notice is a vibrating
> pool of water around the muffler that spills off the mounting deck and
> beneath the shaft.   Figuring out exactly where the leak is coming from is
> more challenging.  To do this you need to remove the muffler from the boat
> and seal it up.   I used sandwich bags and rubber bands.   Use a compressor
> to add a very small amount of pressure.  I just poked a hole in one Baggie
> with the nozzle.   Use soapy water as a leak detector.   In our case two
> seam edges had failed.   I used my dremel tool with cutting wheel to cut a
> slot at the seam down both edges and used JB Weld.   I also drilled out the
> bolt holes and reinforced them with small copper bushings per the article
> on the web site using epoxy as an added measure...in for a penny and all...
> 
> This repair got us through the season, but by late October the muffler was
> leaking again.   I shipped it to CD in November.
> 
> One interesting anecdote.   Our muffler leak actually revealed a small fuel
> leak in the lifter pump.  We noticed a very small sheen under the engine.
> We got a cheap set of offset screwdrivers and tightened the screws around
> the pump and that fixed that leak....and we no longer noticed the 'exhaust
> smell'.   You may want to see if you have a similar problem.
> 
> Also, If you don't have water in your bilge then your muffler isn't
> leaking.
> 
> Troy Dunn
> Hull#514