Hey guys, I have an old Stratos, It seems to be taking on water a lot lately.


I have looked under the boat for any obvious signs of holes or damage and haven't seen any.(While the boats on the trailer)
It seems to get the most water in it after a long run somewhere.
When I pull the boat out of the water, even if its full of water, I am not seeing any significant leaking anywhere... drain plug does not leak water out.
I used to have a forward live well but it's not in use anymore, so I put silicon on the inlet and outlet hoses to block the holes...that seemed to help a little
The only other standard holes are the rear livewell.....when I pull up out of the water, if the plug is not in, it leaks out like its suppose to... and water fills up the live well like it suppose to...

When I look into the rear of the boat when it's in the water, I do not see water leaking in or filling up..it normally takes about 15-30 minutes to start showing water in the bottom rear of the boat.
If I go more than 2 hours without running the bilge the boat will start filling up in the rear...

I'm perplexed at where the water might be coming in at....any suggestions? I'll get pics soon if that would help.

Thanks

My boat used to do the same thing and it ended up being my screws from the rub rail came loose and it seperated from the adhesive making a opening when i was running.

my live well pump hose cracked between pump and live well and was causing water to get in my boat under the floor. This only happened if I filled my live well, but I would think it could leak if there is hose between the inlet and the pump on its own. I have also seen where the drain plug hole leaked between the walls after half of the flange came out.

@buckshotbuddy There is some space in between the rub rail...it seems to be coming apart, I'll take a closer look at that...

We even get water in during just trolling so I don't think the rub rails are in the water at that time...but I'll double check anyways. Thanks for the suggestion.

@shutupandfish - I looked at the hoses and they don't seem to leak plus they go over top the gas tank so the water def has to be pumped in in order for water to get to the tank...I guess I have to take it to a ramp and do some experimenting... with the livewell pump on and see what happens.

I have a big time problem with my Tracker doing that, I can't find the problem to save my life but we are talking about a lot of water coming in. I have it at Tracker in Ft Worth now. They said it would be 4 weeks before they could get to it, that should be next week. I will let you know if I find something you may be interested in.

I just had a dropping leak in the plumbing for the livewell. Just needed hose clamp tightened. Put a plug in the thru Hull fitting for the livewell then fill it with a hose and wait to see if it leaks.

is your speedometer hose or the water pressure hose broken and pumping water into the hull. even a small split in the water pressure hose will spit out a good amount of water.

Where would the "water pressure" hose be located?

runs from top of motor to gauge if you have one. Fill bottom of boat with enough water to cover thru hull fittings while on trailer in driveway and look for leaks.

Check all hoses and clamps, check your pumps to see they have come loose or cracked. Take it home and put water in the boat and look for leaks. Just my two cents.

This. Where it comes out will be where it's going in. Worst case might be a hairline crack in the hull. Happens a lot on Tracker aluminum boats usually under the bow about a foot above the keel.

On my Stratos 201 PE I used to have, one of the livewell hoses was leaking and caused this problem. Re did the livewell pumps, no problems since. But even on my new boat I still have some water when I pull the plug for some reason. I'd say maybe 2-3 gallons.. Still don't know what it is

Sometimes when putting the motor in hard reverse it can force water back into the water inlet holes to your pumps and back thru the pump housing and out past the o-ring seals. Mine does this if I have to go hard in reverse to get off the trailer.

my skeeter has always taken on some water in the back of the boat~ i had a fiberglass man go over the back end and repair any cracks --- still has some water in the bilge-- something i have been living with forever but still drives me crazy not knowing why!!

check all thru hull plastic fittings, I had one break (probably due to a stump) inside the transom. took a long time to figure it out.