Leak at Thru-Hull Connection

[sdunn4]

The thru hull connection which picks up fresh water for engine cooling in our 1999 Sport Nautique is leaking enough so we need to run the bilge pump every time we go skiing. The boat is kept up on a hoist. The leak is at the spot where the threaded male hose connection assembly is mated to the hull. Is this just a case where I can tighten the assembly back up? Or do I risk damaging the hull / or stripping the connection to the debris screen on the bottom of the boat? The leaking is occurring right at the round side of the threaded assembly which is coated with fiberglass / gel coat in the attached picture.

Thanks!

Steve

[bturner]

Can't see your picture so it would be difficult to determine what's actually going on.

In general it's not too often simple tightening of a through hull fitting will permanently resolve this kind of leak but it would be worth trying, just don't go ape doing it. Those fittings shouldn't need excessive pressure to seal as they typically count on an adhesive sealant like 3M 5200 (which can be challenging to remove) and not torque to provide the seal. If it were me I'd try tightening it to see if the nut somehow loosened as that would certainly be the easy fix. Past that I would look into removing the fitting, inspecting the mounting area for any damage, then if everything looked good, reseal and reinstall the fitting.