G23 Sundeck Hinge Loose, Latch Sticking

[ksarbau]

Hey guys, the latch on my sundeck cushion on starboard side of '16 G23 sticks and is hard to operate. It looks like it is misaligned with the pin on the engine hood. When the cushion is up there is a lot of 'play' in the hinge. I peeled the Seadek back to look at the hinges. Where the hinge is attached to the cushion, there are three small stainless machine screws. Two of the three screws in each of the two hinges are stripped and not holding at all. I tried replacing them with slightly larger machine screws but they stripped as well.

Has anybody dealt with this before? The only thing I can think to do is to try and put a washer and nut on the back side but seems like that's going to require removal of the skin? Maybe I'm overthinking this??

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Keith

[xrichard]

If it's under warranty, I'd let the dealer handle it. Pulling off the skin and modifying can get time consuming quickly and might fail down the road.

[NautiqueJeff]

Agreed. This should certainly be a warranty item.

[ksarbau]

Thanks for the reply guys. Unfortunately, I’m out of warranty and want to fix it myself, if possible. The screws that hold the pad to the hinge are REALLY short, stainless machine-thread screws. They are shockingly short...less than a half inch for sure. I tried a slightly thicker screw in one of the holes and it just stripped again. I wish I knew what was below the skin so I could better assess an alternative fastener. I’m guessing there is some kind of metal plate and then a poly/plastic block but would appreciate any insight if anybody here happens to know? Through-bolting and putting washer and nut under the cushion doesn’t seem like it would work either. Has anybody else had to deal with this?

[blueroom]

On the pads you have three components - the cushion, the plastic interface piece and the hinge. The plastic interface is screwed to the pad using some large stainless screws. The hinge is attached to the plastic interface through the holes you are seeing via some incredibly small blind nut style inserts that are glued into the holes on the underside of the plastic, which the hinge is then screwed into with the incredibly tiny screws (all covered in Seadek). You have either stripped these tiny inserts or they are spinning freely, as they are not glued in very well and have no anchor other than the glue. When we had ours out a couple weeks ago only one or two inserts in each hinge section were actually still attached. We took them all out and re-glued them. You can just remove the larger screws that fasten the plastic interface to the pads and the plastic piece pops off cleanly, which allows you to get to the blind nut inserts.

[ksarbau]

Thanks so much, Blueroom! Next time we get down to the boat, I will take the pad completely off the hinges and try to reglue the inserts. Appreciate you taking the time to post this