Noise below deck

B

Bearded wonder

Well-Known Member
Wondering if someone could help me out. Currently I have a mid 1990’s Campion Explorer 185. Last week we went out fishing and I
I heard a noise almost like rattling coming from below the deck around the passenger seats. Thought it was some stuff in the boat moving around. Sounded kinda like metal bumping against fibreglass or like a wrench bouncing around under the floor. So I have moved things around. Today we went out didn’t hear anything heading out until we almost got to our spot. But on the return trip heard it a lot. Mostly going full speed and through small chop. Goes away trolling and slow speeds over big waves.

How do check it out? Would I cut a access hole in the floor under the passenger seat? It has factory storage under it, And can access the plywood floor.

Any suggestions on what it could be or how to investigate would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
i had something like this and it turned out the seat post had cracked and metal was grinding against metal and thumping around. dismantle your seat posts and see if the base has cracked either in the floor or in the seat connection area.
might need to get it rewelded or replaced if so. whack it with a rubber hammer once you dismantle and you should hear the noise. doing it by hand did nothing for me.
 
Put in a inspection port if for no other reason then piece of mind. If the is something down there you can fish it out and if not you can always take a look down there to inspect if there is water or other stuff there
 
My hali anchor rope makes that noise while going quicker than trolling speed. The rope that runs from my eye loop up front, along the outside of the hull to the back cleat. If your running this setup for anchoring, I bet that’s it.
 
So I was able to investigate a little more this evening. The more I think about it the noise is like both rattling and creaking.

I really don’t think it’s the seat as they are sleeper seats screwed down.

I don’t have a halibut anchor setup. But I did put a new anchor in the storage spot at the bow. Don’t think I would heard that sound in the back. But who knows, I will take it out.

I drilled a 2” hole into the floor under the seat. The cavity below is filled with dry spray foam. I can’t see or feel anything past it.

Really don’t know what to do. do I cut a bigger hole and remove the foam in that spot?

How would I tell if it is structural? I see no cracks anywhere on the floor.
 
Is there a fuel tank under the floor?
 
If there’s foam there I would be surprised if it is under the floor. 185 betting the whole thing is filled with foam.
 
I had a 20 gallon tank in a 17 DE
 
True enough...I've had rattles that sounded like they were coming from the rear and found it up in the v-berth after touching every piece of metal on the boat trying to isolate it.
 
Any chance part of your fuel pick up or venting or something else is rattling inside the fuel tank?
 
this is bringing back painful memories of a super reliable car i had as a kid. 1986 Mercury Capri. full load car. it had a squeaky dash. think “ mouse getting tortured” squeaky. turned up the radio. squeak got louder. pulled the dash apart several times. nada. shimmed the dash between the glass and the dash. nada. car went up for sale the next day.

but anyways, pull everything out of the gunnels and try ripping around and see if better.try eliminating the obvious. like others have mentioned, a noise can resonate quite a bit around a boat. the other day i had a new rattle bugging me up in the aft bulkhead area. driving me nuts as i’m fishing.turns out it was the gaff in the port gunnel. not anywhere near the bulkhead.
 
RiverBoy said:
this is bringing back painful memories of a super reliable car i had as a kid. 1986 Mercury Capri. full load car. it had a squeaky dash. think “ mouse getting tortured” squeaky. turned up the radio. squeak got louder. pulled the dash apart several times. nada. shimmed the dash between the glass and the dash. nada. car went up for sale the next day.

but anyways, pull everything out of the gunnels and try ripping around and see if better.try eliminating the obvious. like others have mentioned, a noise can resonate quite a bit around a boat. the other day i had a new rattle bugging me up in the aft bulkhead area. driving me nuts as i’m fishing.turns out it was the gaff in the port gunnel. not anywhere near the bulkhead.
Click to expand...
Yeah I had a super annoying squeak today and between bites I found a loose t nut bolt on my coaming pad. Tightened it a turn and the noise went away! So happy! :)
 
Little update.

Took the boat to the lake by our place with my daughter and her friend. Tried to find the noise. Moved the anchor, nope. Moved the stuff in the gunnels and dash storage, nope. My daughter sat in the cuddy and the sound wasn’t really there. Seems really like it’s coming from around the fuel tank area. Best way to describe it is like my floor is loose. But it seems very solid when I stomp on it or hit it with a rubber mallet. Totally forgot to video the sound.

Is there someone in Nanaimo that I could go and talk to?

Don’t know if I should be going out fishing with this.
 
Could it be the fuel sending unit you are hearing?
 
Try putting it on the trailer hooked up to your vehicle and get 3-4 guys to rock the crap out of it back and forth...might be easier to pinpoint or interpret without engine background noise.
 
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