No obvious source of red bilge water!
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake is
green and blue.I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of leakage. I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a few
times; no sign of leakage. Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when I
pull the drain plug after boating? The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling. Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport |
Bryan
Jul 7
2006
|
| That's what she said! |
Bryan
Jul 9
|
| Second time in a row without red bilge water. I'm going to assume something
in the bilge that got washed out. Maybe they spilled something at the last
service. |
Bryan
Jul 10
|
| I was thinking perhaps a killer forgot to dump the body overboard and
stuffed the parts in the bilge instead. No?? -W |
Clams
Jul 7
|
| Same boat, same lake, same time and activity on the water and no red fluid
today.
I pull the drain plug everytime I take the boat out of the water, so
microcritters seems unlikely.
I'm at a loss. |
Bryan
Jul 8
|
| I seem to drain less than half a gallon of water after a day of boating and
putting it back onto the trailer. It's probably water from my swimmers,
tubers, wakeboarders, and skiers. I opened the engine compartment after a
few hours of watersports today and it was almost as dry as a bone. |
Bryan
Jul 8
|
| I'll smell it. I'll touch it. I won't taste it! |
Bryan
Jul 8
|
| How red is red? Could it be considered rust colored? I could think of
quite a few things that would give a rusty hue to water. |
thunder
Jul 8
|
| Red like my power steering fluid, but there is no sign of leakage anywhere
in the engine compartment. |
Bryan
Jul 8
|
|
It's wine. Your boat is being used as a cask in its off hours. |
Harry
Jul 8
|
| Now THAT would explain why my boat never wants to sit evenly on the trailer
after a day of boating. |
Bryan
Jul 8
|
| Awe......come on!! Just a little taste! |
basskisser
Jul 8
|
| Rust maybe?
Lushy |
David
Jul 8
|
| Next time you drain the boat, Bryan, catch some in a clear jar, and let
a mechanic (marien or automotive) inspect it. is it immuslified with the water? or seperated? Bryan wrote: |
tschnautz
Jul 6
|
|
Transmission fluid can also be red. jps |
jps
Jul 7
|
| But it won't mix with water. |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| You could be leaking trim and tilt fluid from the reservoir, pump, or one of
the lines.
Jim
"Bryan" <bryan.459@pac.bell.net> wrote in message |
Jim
Jul 7
|
| But it wouldn't make red water, unless it's ALL trim fluid, because
they won't mix together to form a red fluid. |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| Fish blood. |
Harry
Jul 7
|
| It does not appear as a separate fluid.
I'll capture the drainage next time. |
Bryan
Jul 7
|
| I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid, and the
power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red fluids. |
Bryan
Jul 7
|
| If you knew how skilled I was at catching fish, you would know that fish
blood is not a possibility. Now my own blood from all the times I stab
myself with a fish hook ... |
Bryan
Jul 7
|
| Wishful thinking! |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| That's a good one!! |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| Probably not likely on an 18 footer, but if your boat is equipped with
electric/hydraulic trim tabs, the fluid that operates them is red.
Personally, I'd be asking the question of why there is any liquid of any
type in the bilge of your boat. The normal state of a bilge for a stern
drive boat is bone-dry, no water whatsoever. There are only three sources
of water in a stern drive bilge that I can think of, and only two that are
acceptable. 1. Water from the weather (acceptable). 2. Water from a temporary ingress due to taking a wave over the bow or from
dripping swimmers (acceptable). 3. A leak from either the hull or a through-hull fitting, the on-board
water systems, or the mechanical systems (unacceptable). I think you need to broaden the scope of your investigation. |
RG
Jul 7
|
| Are you boating in the Red Sea? If not, the suggestions of a fluid leak are likely correct. Or How often do you pull that drain plug? Could it be that you've got a colony of microcritters camped out in
your bilge? Could this be biological in nature? |
Chuck
Jul 7
|
| What does the water smell like? |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 7
|
| That's what I'm thinking, red algae. |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| How about spilled Kool-Ade powder, or spilled wine, or ketchup. It's time to
take the taste test.
Jim
"Chuck Gould" <chuckgould.chuck@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1152286622.132674.132070@k73g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Bryan wrote: |
Jim
Jul 7
|
| Great idea! Drink a glass full. Tell us the results, especially if you
grow a third nipple or something! |
basskisser
Jul 7
|
| Vampire bats. They sleep in the bilge in their off-hours, and some of
them drools. |
Harry
Jul 7
|
| That was my thought when I read the OP. I have trouble with red algae growing
on the bathmats. |
Chuck
Jul 7
|
