Leaking boat

I have a 1998 Triton TR19 that will not stop taking on water and I can't figure out how it is getting in. I have sealed around every possible entry point and replaced all my hoses and pumps, yet my problem continues. It's not from coming off plane because water comes in when just using the trolling motor. It seems to fill up more quickly when I have a friend fishing in the back. Could water be coming in around the rub rail in the back? It's not just a small amount either because sometimes I run both bilge pumps for 20-30 seconds. Please somebody help because I am going crazy with this leak.

Just fixed a crack in the bottom of mine last week right on the keel about where the pad starts. I was having the same issue, water coming in but not sure from where. It happens especially if you fish in the trees and rocks like me. I found mine out when I was putting the cover on after a trip and I had water dripping from the keel. Seems you could put some water in the hull with a hose and see if it leaks out somewhere.

Pull a section out at a time of your rub rail, tighten and Seal all the screws. May be your problem. Could you have a crack in your live well? I had a couple small screw holes someone mounted a powerpole pump to and creating a small leak..Was driving me crazy.

that has found a lot of leaks

Another suggestion would be look for a cracked Live Well Pump. One of the pumps on my old Ranger started leaking one season, and ever hour or so the bilge pump would kick on. When it got to kicking on every 5 minutes or so, it was time to replace the pump. Easy fix and only the cost of a live well pump.

Check the bolts on your jackplate if you have one. My cousins was loose and water would get in. also check all hoses such as livewell..

Call Stephen Lain. He can find the leak. He found mine. It was a live well pump leaking water in. Wa-la. Fixed!!

I took all the batteries out and dropped in the boat in the lake. Took a flashlight and looked for where the water was coming in. You can eliminate stuff quickly. You may have more than one so give it 10-15 minutes or so

If the mentioned fixes don't work, you might look into jacking the boat off the trailer with some 2x4's between the hull and the jack to see if there are cracks/holes hidden by the bunk boards.

It's probably something simple like a leaky pump though. I have a slow leak in a live well pump on a 2 year old boat, for example. It's just not leaking enough to annoy me yet.

Got one I'm working on also..... I am in the process of elimination. Checked all the pumps and hoses, and now removing speedo and water pressure lines.

at night put a large light in the battery compartment and search around the rub rail for light.

1. Put wheel chalks on front and back of tires each side of trailer.
2. crank trailer jack all the way up and retracted.
3. Find a railroad tie or concrete block that will fit under the retracted trailer jack wheel.
4. Jack the trailer jack up as high as it will go on the wood or block.
5. Fill the bilge area up with water, shouldnt take more than 30-50 gallons to submerge all your livewell pumps and fittings etc...DO NOT FILL THE BOAT UP WITH WATER! If your concerned about batteries, chargers, powerpole pumps, oil tanks etc.... remove them before doing step 1. its not going to hurt batteries to be partially submerged.
6. open and close your livewell drain levers, this will check if livewell drain tubes are leaking.
7. If water is dripping or running out of the livewell fill or recirculation pump inlet screens, you more than likely have a crack in the livewell or recerc pump body, or the housing that the pump mounts into. most lock into housing by turning a quarter turn. This is probably caused by improper draining before extremely cold weather and the ice expands and cracks the plastic. This is the cause of most leaks I have found in bass boats.

Its always a good idea to check all that e screws holding the rub rail for tightness but this wont stop a leak. Check to see if there is a bead of sealant below the rub rail where the top cap of the boat and the hull meet together. the top cap usually lays over the side of the hull and if no sealant is there it acts like a scoop and water will spray in there especially on the back of the boat when getting up on plane or slowing down. I usually use Black 3M 4000 marine sealant.

Hope this helps, I have spent hours and hours trying to find leaks and this narrows it down quickly

I agree with BassBuster1,put the plug in and start filling the hull and looking for where the water starts coming out.Crawl the full length of the hull. If that doesn't work, go to the lake ,put the plug in but leave the boat strapped to the trailer and back it down in the water until its just below the trim.At the same time look everywhere I the battery compartment and check every pump and hose.You will find the leak for sure.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. I'm glad to see that I am not alone on having a leaking boat. I have replaced all the pumps already. I have even went so far as to plug all holes for the live well on the transom so no water could get in because i thought it might be a cracked hose, but it still leaked. I need to check again for a hairline crack on the bottom, but I haven't seen any previously. I probably need to go to the lake and just do leak detection, but once I get there it's too hard to not just fish. My rub rail is pretty banged up, so I think I will fix it and maybe fix the leak if I am lucky. How would I know if the speedometer line or water pressure lines or water pressure line?

Look at the back where the rub rail meets. I've seen this happen to a 2000 triton. Think it may have been a design flaw

Tried looking in the battery area while on the water?

Does it have the pull out emergency ladder? I know for a fact water will come in around it if the water level gets up to it.

Mine leaks from having too many batteries, a full live well, and 5 fish in them all the time. Water just practically washes in. Even my "fully waterproof"'battery charger has not the dust. But,my problems aside. I would look at the live well hoses, transom mounts for the motor, and the rub rails. Those are 99% of every boats leaking points. It could even be leaking around the bulkheads that the live well intake, pumpout, and drain plug pass through the lower hull. Mine leaked there. Then I fixed that. Then it leaked from a pump, fixed it, then from hoses, fixed it. Then the live well bulk heads, fixed it. Now I added a few more batteries and now the boat sits low enough that big waves wash over the back sometimes.

I agree with BassBuster1,put the plug in and start filling the hull and looking for where the water starts coming out.Crawl the full length of the hull. If that doesn't work, go to the lake ,put the plug in but leave the boat strapped to the trailer and back it down in the water until its just below the trim.At the same time look everywhere I the battery compartment and check every pump and hose.You will find the leak for sure.

Check tonsee if your livewell is overflowing.

pull out each bolt to your jackplate/motor, one at a time, add silicone, and replace. I had water leaking in from the top bolt, traveling through the transom to the opposite side, and coming out from under the deck my battery was on.

Now I just need to find some free time to do more leak detection. Thanks again everyone for the advice.

I replaced my livewell over fill this past week, when I pulled the hose off the thru hull fitting the fitting fell of the back of the boat. I also found a loose hose in the hull that was allowing water to fill the boat

Have you ever pulled the motor to check the condition of the transom? It doesn't matter how much silicone you put on the transom bolts if the transom is rotten. Are you the only owner? I bought a '96 Champion that had water coming in with a 150 Merc on it. I knew it was bad, but the motor is in excellent shape/compression. I took it to OKC and had a place do a complete transom replacement for $2,000 and now she is as good as new! If the leak is not in the hoses, drain plug area, or pumps, then it most likely is around the bolts. Should be easy to see the water coming down the transom if this is the case. Use dry paper towels as your guide. Tape them all over the inside of the transom before backing down. If there is a leak, it will show up quickly on the paper towels.

One other thing to check...check the livewell release valve. Mine was leaking from there too. A pebble had been sucked up into it and caused the valve to stay open even when it was turned off. That cracked the plastic lid. If ANY valve is leaking, change it now. You DO NOT want to be on the water if one of the plastic end pieces breaks in half. There is no fixing that under you get it back on the trailer and get a new part. Can sink your boat.

I'm not going to say this is the answer, but his happened to me in, I think it was, my '94 Skeeter and my '98 TR21, so I know it is a possibility. The tops of the livewells were not sealed where they met the cap. Water was actually coming over the top of the livewell and running into the bilge area. All it took was sealing the top of the livewell with 3M 5200 sealant.

I am not the original owner. I added a jack plate and haven't noticed any issues with the transom. I have opened the battery compartment while on the water and could not see any water leaking down. I don't use my livewells and I put some flush mount scuppers over the livewell overflow drains on the transom to prevent water from entering the livewell through the overflow when coming off plane.

I appreciate all the help/ideas.