ahhhlumacraft

i have a sweet 2005 175 nav. tiller with a 75 etec. i’ve owned her new since 2006 and my first problem with the boat showed up summer 2010. i’ve got some water getting in, sometimes quite a bit, sometimes hardly any. i think i’ve got it narrowed down to the front livewell or the open/close valve up front but before i tear into the decking this spring is there any other weak spots that would allow water in? i’ve gone over every rivet and i can visually see the bilge/livewell pumps are not leaking their connections.

any other known causes i should be checking?
thanks, fieds

If it’s while you have water in the livewell, check around the edges of the tank, esp. the baitwell side. I had some water coming in as well, and was due to a gap on the baitwell side. Easy fix, open the baitwell door and check for any gaps, if you find any,seal them up with marine sealant. Otherwise, my boat has been very, very dry.

I have the same rig (an ’04 with a Yamaha F75) and mine has always been dry – it is an awesome fishing boat

I would suggest running a few tests with the boat on the trailer before tearing anything apart. Start by filling the livewell while the boat is out of the water and check the hull to see if you are seeing any water. If you are, then you would know that is the source. Like Doc said, if your issue is while the livewell is full, it could be a bad seam somewhere or maybe a plugged discharge or overflow.

At least a few times a year I make sure to take a water source and an air hose and spray out my lines from all the inside and outside of the boat to make sure I don’t have anything in there – sand, bait, shells, whatever. I never use anything with too high of pressure but a garden hose is usually all it takes to clear things out.

Good luck

i put it on the list, thanks. more than likely it’ll be 45 days b-4 i can get her on the water but all suggestions will be gone over and i’ll post the solution.

Mine leaks out of the piping from the live well. Same boat as yours. I just plug off the drain and inlet in the transom and no further problems. The live well works great for storing extra life jackets, rain gear and clothes.

that’ll be my first step this spring. i did it this fall and still drained some water on a steep incline but i couldn’t be 100% certain that the hull was dry inside.

i do fish an occasional tourney so getting it fixed is a must

Any chance water is just splashing over the top edges of the livewells?

I can fill both livewells faster than they can drain, not sure where it’s leaking from but reducing the amount of water going into the livewells cured my water leaking problem. ??

Al

this livewell leak/overtopping seems to be a common thread, being an easily observed problem its on the top of my list. when the warmer days of early april arrive i’ll inspect the seal around both livewells if i see any gaps i’ll apply some silicone and take her out crappie fishin.

i don’t remember my navs tanks ever overfilling from constant pumping but i had a northwood that would overfill when it was full of wally’s and a fish nose would restrict the outflow hole, no screen on it.

Not sure of how it’s plumbed, but I also have the little scoop on the back of the transom that adds water to the live wells when under way….wondering if you have that too and that’s adding to the problem?

Al