leaking bass boat

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Just bought an older bass boat it is a hydra sport X270 i have a leak it leaks when sitting still i left it in my pond over night to test for leaks and after putting it back on the trailer and pulling the plug about 1 1/2 - 2 gallons of water comes out of the drain plug hole ...what i am wondering in the picture below it shows 2 thru hull fittings (one is for the bow live well the other is for the one in the back) and the hole for the plug...what i am wondering is the drains for the live wells do they have "drain" hoses that run from the live wells to these holes ?? also i notice the fitting in the hole for the plug doesnt go all the way around notice at the bottom it looks broken or missing ?? thats a leaf not a crack at the bottom of the hole where it meets the hull..the closer i look the two thru hull fittings have two cracks in each one...the left one about 11 o'clock and 4 o'clock and the right one 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock would this cause my leak also ?? these are the only fittings under the water line along with my speedometer until but it looks sealed good...any ideas ??

 

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Re: leaking bass boat

how do you get them off i see slots do i need a special tool or ?? how can i tell if there is water in the transom ?? also what about the gap in the bottom of the drain plug hole...sorry so many questions i just dont want to ruin my boat

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: leaking bass boat

DJ is right. I have 2 thru-hull holes for a splashwell that got broken and was letting water into the transom and into the wood there. It took months for the wood to dry out. The previous guy had the transom replaced but they left thost thru-hull fittings there. I done understand why they didnt just replace them. They are cheap and easy to replace. You definitely dont water getting into the wood of your transom and rotting the transom out.

 

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Re: leaking bass boat

looks like the fitting is under and behind the fuel tank i was hoping it would come straight out the top but i'm starting to wonder ?? surely it will come out without having to take the top cap off of the boat ??

 

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Re: leaking bass boat

well 2 hours later i end up with this after wrestling the gas tank and spilling about 3 gallons (i syphoned all i could)...a little dirty and wet but seems solid it was getting dark so i will continue tomorrow any ideas what the thing screwed to the floor is maybe 1/2 of an old bilge pump ?? the blue half is a newer bilge that has been broke i will fix this while i'm in here...also would it be better to put a drain plug flange on that has the 3 small screws holding it on and a threaded plug like a Seasense One-Way Safety Plug or should i just stick with the slide in

 

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Re: leaking bass boat

well when i was pulling the thru hull fittings at the bottom of the boat i was leaning over the side and stretching to reach the jamb nut and i rocked the boat a little and i heard a noise that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up it was a slosh...so i stop working on the thru hulls to find the water take the battery out and the piece of plywood its sitting on which is the only thing left in the back anyways and there is was about 1/2" of water from the back of the boat the the shop vac hose in the pic about 8-10" of length it was just starting to touch the foam under the shop vac hose...my question is shouldn't there be a hole somewhere to let the water into the bilge area ?? you can see in the bottom picture there is a hole but it is aboout 3" off the floor it is above the stringer i think it is called i would like to drill a hole lower so the water could drain into the bilge in the future just incase some gets in there but i know that there shouldnt be any in there to start with...but i dont think i want to drill through the stringer do I ??? and i have already found the reason for the water i think...if you look in the second picture you will see screws holding the rub rail on there are about three over in the corner (couldnt get the camera in there) that i can see daylight around so i think water was intruding there...thanks agin for all the help i really appreciate it !!!

 

[splitshot]

Re: leaking bass boat

The thru hull fittings werent bad to install and they sure look better than the plastic ones and i figured if i was going brass i might as well get a drain plug to match !! i also sealed the screw holes and the top and bottom of the rub rail...there are 2 pumps on the back just below the water line for the live wells so i figured why not take the nuts off of them and reseal them too well i did and my heart sank the hole was wet so i remove the other one and there was some moisture but not as much...there were some small screw holes at the bottom of the boat where fish finders or speedometers used to be someone had put resin over then to fill them in so i drilled them out and droplets of water started comming out of 1 or 2 holes how can i dry this out ?? the transom is solid it doesnt move when you pull or push on it i have checked all over the transom for soft spots and there are none so maybe i caught it just in time ?? also on the back of the boat it says kevlar does this mean it still has a wood transom ??

 

[Bondo]

Re: leaking bass boat

my question is shouldn't there be a hole somewhere to let the water into the bilge area ??

Ayuh,...... That would be called a Limber Hole,.......
And,.... I believe they are Very Necessary,..... Just reseal the wood with resin after you drill the hole.....

Even if the hull was layed up with Kelvar,... There's Wood in there,+ That's going to be the Problem......


Btw,...... When you're typing,....... Hit the Enter button now,+ then to cause Paragraphs,......
It makes it Much Easier to read for these old eyes.....

 

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Re: leaking bass boat

is it time for a new transom ?? i poked around in the holes they were solid but wet not mushy at all i also pushed down on the motor until it picked the front of the trailer up the transom didnt move at all. any chance it might dry out and what i might do to help it ?? it got wet due to a leaking drain plug and a leaking rub rail..thanks again