Boat leaks with 4 people….but not 2. HELP

So, I have a 2002 Pro V. The boat only leaks when I have a full boat….not with 2 guys.

When the boat is loaded, the bilge is running constantly.

Ive had the boat looked over by several people and I don’t believe it to be a rivet in the hull….

Any other ideas and how I can test them?

Thanks,

Kyle

I’d look at hoses and fittings and connections through the hull. Live well stuff, things like that. Then look at the hoses between the fittings and the live well. As far as rivets go, look for a black ring around the rivet. That indicates movement which is not good.

My 1990 Lund was leaking pretty bad and it turned out to be the transom. If you walked around behind the boat and grabbed the lower until of the outboard, you could lift it up and down and see the transom flex.

SR

Thanks, I had it on the water tonight and was looking at all the hoses that I could and couldn’t find the leak, but water was coming in somewhere.

Still perplexed. I will start pulling hoses and hope this solves the problem. Any other ideas and please pass them along.

Thanks again

what is the water level in the forward livewell?
may be too high

There was water in the front livewell, but it was only a few inches. I am starting to think there may be a leak in one of the livewell overflows, so I may just plug all my live well access points.

Do you see any reason not to try that? I am going to set another post up to see if anyone has experience doing this as well.

CHECK THE PUMP ACCESS HOLE COVER IN THE TRANSOM WELL. MINE LEAKS IF i HAVE A BIG LOAD

Plug all intakes from the live well system and the overflows and drains. Load the boat up with four and see if the leak stops. With as much water coming in it does not sound like a rivet problem to me. If you do think its rivets, on dry land with boat as level as it would be with 4 people put water in the hull and see where it leaks. It will take some time to drain and dry for sure.

Another way to see is to plug the live well intakes and fill them up with a hose. If you see water filling up in the boat you know it is one of the lines.

K-great feedback from everyone, thank you. I am going to try a few different things before the trip this weekend, but if i cant figure it out, I will just try plugging everything and hope that does the trick.

I have seen with 4 people, the water maybe coming in the splash well access hatch. With only 2 people, the water didn’t come in that high. Plumbing issues mentioned previously as well.

Kyle did you ever figure out where the leak was?

Or fish with smaller people … rrr

river rat randy wrote:

Or fish with smaller people … rrr

My thoughts as well. Maybe it’s time to switch up to Bud Light

Fill it with water with a plug in it at home with a garden hose.

If there’s no leaks, put the hose to the bilge pump out let. That would be my first guess. A rivet leak usually isn’t terrible unless it is multiple rivets that are completely gone. I’ve had both issues. Plus helped a friend with plumbing issues where a live well pump and hose had froze. That sucker leaked like a stuck pig. But that shouldn’t be affected by weight, that would be constant. The weight pushes me to think it’s a bilge exit port or splash well/transom issue. I would highly doubt it’s a plumbing issue, but you never know.

Keep us posted, I’m curious what it is.

I had a big leak in my boat, found out there is a plug in the back that has to be put in before you put your boat in the water, who knew.

bigcrappie wrote:

I had a big leak in my boat, found out there is a plug in the back that has to be put in before you put your boat in the water, who knew.

I thought the same thing, but I am pretty sure that needs to be in with 2 people in the boat also

If I had to guess on this I would say livewell overflow hose is cracked or pulled off the fitting. Gotta be a serious crack or split in the line if the bilge is running constant, or it’s pulled off the fitting all together.

I didnt find the leak yet. I ended up just plugging every orifice in the boat and it stopped the leak. I will eventually start uplugging them one by one to find the culprit.

Just hadnt had much time on the water this year