1997 Lund 1775 Leak

Hopefully some boat gurus on here.

I just bought this boat last year from an older gal whose husband had passed away. The boat leaks somewhere but I’m not sure where. It’s not a huge leak, enough to run the bilge once or twice each trip out.

The livewell does not work. However, whenever I go out, there is always around 2 inches of water in each the front and back. I was convinced that it was a crack in the livewell system somewhere.

I was out today for a few hours, pulled out of the water and not a drop. It seems to me anytime the water is real cold, it doesn’t end up with much, if any, water in the hull.

The only two things I can think of is that either it’s a livewell issue and the crack shrinks with cold water or it has to do with the outboard. The only two outlying factors in cold water is that it is cold and everything shrinks in the cold, or it has to do with not throttling up very high and the leak is caused by my outboard somehow.

Any ideas? I’m most likely going to end up taking it in this spring but I’d be interested to hear if anyone has an opinion before I do.

Have them plug the livewell system so no water enters the boat. If it doesn’t leak that points towards the plumbing. If it still leaks you need to continue looking. It might not be worth messing with since the leak sounds very, very small.

Dutchboy wrote:

Have them plug the livewell system so no water enters the boat. If it doesn’t leak that points towards the plumbing. If it still leaks you need to continue looking. It might not be worth messing with since the leak sounds very, very small.

This ^^^.

Or I’ve plugged the inlets myself using plumber’s putty, which is easily removable.

The livewell system is always the first suspect to check/eliminate.

Grouse

My buddy’s Lund was taking on water and it turned out to be a combination of the livewell plugs and the main hull drain plug. The hull drain plug would leak unless we put the pliers to it.

I appreciate the suggestions. I’ll give them a shot prior to taking it in.

Don’t forget possible loose rivets.

Check rivets X2. A friend of mine put a few inches of water in boat then put on trailer and then saw where the water was coming from. Good luck

Good call on the rivers. I forgot about possibility

I have dealt with a few leaky Lunds in my days. Plug off the livewells so you can eliminate that. If you arrive at the conclusion the hull is leaking, you can put some water inside the boat via garden hose and watch for water leaking out. Do NOT put too much water in, it is heavy and I have heard of people blowing tires. I have safely put a few inches of water in boat. I had a ’83 Pro Angler that had one very loose rivet, when it was seated into boat, it hardly leaked. When it was pushed to the out side of boat, it would leak fast. I had a ’98 1660 ProV that leaked, sometimes a lot, sometimes not. It took me a few years to find the leak, or did it take a few years for the leak to get bad enough to find, I will never know. Sometimes when you go out, it is smooth water and your boat is not flexing like when you are bouncing over waves. Many things to take into consideration. If your 1775 is like my 1660, then your livewell pumps are in the floor between the seats. That is where my pumps and valves were, another spot I would watch when looking for the leak.

Good luck!

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