2019 WX2200 taking on water

Picked up my new WX2200 (2019 leftover). Unfortunately, I am taking on water. Took it back to the dealer last week and they thought they fixed the issue. Fished it this weekend in the Detroit River and I’m still taking on water. Today I did not use the live wells or wash down to determine if the problem was one of the pumps. I still had water…approximately 25 seconds of water coming out which is a lot. It could still be a drain hose as I didn’t close the valves (my mistake).

Just curious if anyone else has had water issues and if so, what was the cause. I’m assuming its a plumbing issue but at this point I have no clarity.

Additionally, I have had towels in the port side rear storage locker (where the jump seats used to be) get wet. I have no clue how water is getting in there?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

The drain plug on my wx-1910 leaked terrible. The plastics drain plug sleeve was deformed and let water in at a pretty good rate. Swapped it out for a stainless plug and resolved that issue. I still have a very slow leak somewhere that I haven’t figured out. After a full day on the water I’ll typically have a cup or so of water in my bilge. Not terrible, but annoying. Previous boat never dripped a drop when I’d pull the plug.

Sounds like the dealers problem to fix or put some water in it on the trailer.

This is not unusual, and the reason we water test boats before delivery. Once on the water, the source of the leak can be found. Typically, it is a silicone or gasket type fix……

My dilemma is Michigan just shut down all non-essential business so the dealer can’t work on it for at least 3 weeks. I took the boat back so I can fish with my kids for a few weeks. I’d like to troubleshoot it myself and would appreciate any advice on the best way to find the problem. I was planning to jam plugs in all the inlets and then close both livewell drains to confirm its a plumbing issue. From there I would remove a plug or open a drain port to see if I can find the source. is this a good idea? I heard people just fill the boat full of water with a hose and look for where water comes out but I’m not sure that will work if I have a leak in a hose or gasket or clamp?

Thanks again
-Bob

Bob,

Passing along what’s worked well for the leakage you describe.

Grab a back up boat capable friend, grab your brightest LED & head to quiet launch. Jump in boat with light, open rear hatch & have friend back in, leaving boat strapped to trailer.

A majority of leaks will show which intake/drain is suffering from failed silicone. Remove, clean, properly add silicone, re-install.

Good luck. Frustrating, this I know…

Check to see that the pumps are correctly and completely in their respective mounts. They are twist lock. I found one of my live well pumps had come loose but no completely out of its mount. Let water into the bilge.

If the ramps at your local lake are open and not crowded leave the boat on the trailer when your checking for the leak. A lot easier than launching and retrailering if you can do that.

Bob Jones wrote:

My dilemma is Michigan just shut down all non-essential business so the dealer can’t work on it for at least 3 weeks. I took the boat back so I can fish with my kids for a few weeks. I’d like to troubleshoot it myself and would appreciate any advice on the best way to find the problem. I was planning to jam plugs in all the inlets and then close both livewell drains to confirm its a plumbing issue. From there I would remove a plug or open a drain port to see if I can find the source. is this a good idea? I heard people just fill the boat full of water with a hose and look for where water comes out but I’m not sure that will work if I have a leak in a hose or gasket or clamp?

Thanks again
-Bob

That makes sense. I would also suggest bright headlamp and a limber neck while backed in the water. Good luck!

Won’t be able to fill it with water to see where it comes out, as you have an auto bilge pump, and it will just kick on. Good luck shining a light on, or checking to see if your pumps are in their mounts. If you can see, or find them, let me know, as I had an auto switch sticking on occasionally, could not access, or see, the pump. We flushed the inside out good with a hose, and is working now, probably just some junk on the switch. Boats should be designed with easily accessible pumps.

My WX 2019 leaked at motor mounting bolts.

I also had baitwell overflow tube kinked, must have been kinked on boat assembly. Baitwell would overflow right out the top if fill valve was open all the way.

I am still getting water, but these two issues appear to have been resolved.

Musky Ed wrote:

Won’t be able to fill it with water to see where it comes out, as you have an auto bilge pump, and it will just kick on. Good luck shining a light on, or checking to see if your pumps are in their mounts. If you can see, or find them, let me know, as I had an auto switch sticking on occasionally, could not access, or see, the pump. We flushed the inside out good with a hose, and is working now, probably just some junk on the switch. Boats should be designed with easily accessible pumps.

Might be as difficult as turning off the auto bilge or unplugging.

Assuming I pull the fuse for the Auto-Bilge what is the risk or what can I possibly damage by filling the boat with water to see where water is coming out? The boat has very limited visibility to the pumps & hoses.

Again, appreciate everyone’s help on this

Don’t fill the entire boat. Have you tried backing it in at a ramp and looking, listening?

I think I narrowed the problem to my front bait well. A few days ago I filled the front bait well with my hose and closed the drain. I also put the plug in the boat and left the water in the bait well overnight. The next day when I pulled the plug I had a steady stream of water coming out. That tells me i have a leak somewhere in the lines to the bait well. Today I put the boat in the water with all 3 holes leading the front bait well plugged and I had almost no water when I pulled the boat out. I say almost no water because I did have a small amount but it rained yesterday while I was working on the boat so I may of had some residual water in the bilge. Hopefully I can get out one more time this weekend to confirm the issue with the front baitwell. If so, I need to decide if I want to start taking the boat apart or wait a few weeks for the dealer to re-open and have them do it.

I believe I also have one small issue on the port side overflow for the rear livewell. The fitting at the boat alwsys seems a little wet so I may be getting a small amount from that as well

Thanks again for the advice.

Sounds like you’re making progress and at least if you can isolate the issues, a functional boat for the time being.

Found one of the problems today. I have a small leak at the connection between the rear livewell drain and pump. When I pulled the pump I found the O-ring appears to be damaged (shown in picture). I also noticed what appears to be a bit of silicone there which doesn’t make sense to me.

I can’t find any information on where I can buy the parts (or even the exact O-ring size). Does anyone here have a recommendation of where I can buy parts or at least the right O-Ring size. I am considering changing the entire black assembly as I already have the pump out and want to make sure I fix the issue.

Thanks again for your help

If you have a shop that repairs skidsteers they have a lot of hydraulics and o-rings of different sizes.

If your Skeeter dearer is close to you, just bring the pump into them, and have them get you a new one. If they are a ways away, just send it to them, and have them send you one. Shouldn’t cost you anything, as long as they get the damaged one.

Thanks, unfortunately Michigan is shut down until the end of the Month.

Bob Jones wrote:

Thanks, unfortunately Michigan is shut down until the end of the Month.

Contact Dean Marshall at the Skeeter Boat Center in Chip Falls WI, I’ll bet he’ll help out.

ps: send Dean an email, he’s working from home.
[email protected]

HRG

Lots of hardware stores and implement dealers have o-ring assortments. One of those places should be able to fix you up.

I have a 2019 2200 as well that has had the same issues. As far as the leeks, they never hooked up the front bait well fill hose. And the rear compartment leak still haunts me. The compartment actually has a false floor, has 2 plastic 2x4s on end under it(witch suspend it). I had water seeping through the fiberglass under the false floor which I used epoxy to fix. Although I still get water intrusion. The only thing I can think is It must be coming from the live well. Water must be getting between the fiberglass and the aluminum decking. Also had water getting in the front compartments due to loose screws in the decking.

After changing several hoses, fixing an O-ring, etc.. we still have water. However, I have noticed what could be a clue to the issue. In the last 3 outings (Sat-May 2, Sun-May 3, Sun-May10) the boat took on water 2 of the 3 trips. The one trip that we did not have water, we never ran the big engine past idle and did not use the livewell. (We idled out of the harbor and trolled the entire time). Based on this its seems obvious to assume the issue is the Livewell. However, in both instances, everything in the port side rear locker was also very wet (standing water on plastic lids) which leads me to believe I have water coming in through that compartment. I verified its not the wash-down pump (its located in the back of that compartment) as I put a cover over that switch to prevent it from being turned on. So, I either have water coming from the livewell to the port locker which seems unlikely or water somehow coming in that locker from some other source. Just curious if anyone has experienced anything similar or have suggestions for what could be creating the problem.

Thanks again for everyone’s help on this

I have a 2006 alumacraft I just started getting a little water in and haven’t looked into it yet as it just started. Lots of good info on this thread. I hope you’re able to get your issue figured out quickly… Sad that you’re having these issues with a new boat. It’s one thing for my 14 year old boat to leak… But unacceptable for a new boat!

I talked to Mark Courts on this issue of water in the rear compartments. The issue is indeed caused by live-well water splashing around and making its way through the aluminum decking and into the side compartments. He said, what he has done the past two years on the 2200 is take the rear deck off and caulk around the top of live-well. He said once he sealed the top of the live-well and screwed down the deck top back on…. Problem solved.
He said a dealer will likely do this for you under warranty, or that it takes about 60 minutes to complete the job yourself if that sounds like something in your wheelhouse of skills.

Thanks all for the help and special thanks to Dean and the guys at the boat center for taking my call and giving advice. Fortunately, the last 2 weeks i was too busy fishing or working to try this but I am convinced it is the problem. I tried to silicone around the livewell last night using a mirror to see. That wasn’t as easy as expected so i will remove the deck next time. Preparing for a trip to Lake Ontario this week so I will pull the deck when I return. Given all the problems I have shared I thought I would also share that the boat is great for fishing. My son and I had our first trip to Lake Ontario 2 weeks ago and had a great time with the Salmon (maybe it was beginners luck). Here’s one picture of the quality salmon fishing there

Great fish, I was out with my son last week Wednesday, in my 2200. Fantastic boat for trolling.