2019 Tracker PT 175 60 HP Taking On Water

Thornback · March 02, 2019, 07:52:34 AM

Thanks. At my age I have lost several fishing buddies for obvious reasons so I do appreciate I can still go fishing. I can even launch and reload my boat by myself. And I have one fishing buddy who is 2 years older than me.
Yesterday while poking around my boat and thinking about "the leak" I managed to squeeze my arm down under the rear deck and again check the hose connections I could reach. I noticed the plastic elbow connection on my live well fill pump had threads showing. I tested the "coupling nut" and found it loose. I unscrewed it and checked that the hose clamp on the other end of the elbow was tight. Then I reconnected the elbow to the pump and was able to screw it up tight to the pump with no threads showing. I then made a half turn with pliers to tighten. That may have been my leak!!! This sounds like a simple exercise but due to the confinement under the deck it took me about 30 minutes to accomplishment this. I'm now excited about taking the boat out again to see if it still takes on water. Stay tuned.

Bud Kennedy · March 02, 2019, 08:32:59 AM

Good Find ! ! ! We got our fingers crossed that this is the problem. Looking forward to your report.

Lipripper · March 02, 2019, 10:21:30 AM

Quote from: Bud Kennedy on March 02, 2019, 08:32:59 AM
Good Find ! ! ! We got our fingers crossed that this is the problem. Looking forward to your report.

X2 I sure hope that was it.

Thornback · March 05, 2019, 06:16:44 PM

Boat still leaks. After about 4 hours on the river I drained about a quart and a half of water when I pulled the drain plug. Rats!!!

Oldfart9999 · March 06, 2019, 07:44:59 AM

It sounds like you're gaining on it. It also sounds like it was put together on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon.
Rodney

Thornback · March 06, 2019, 07:57:11 AM

It does seem like I'm draining a lot less water. Yeah, it's probably a Monday morning hangover boat

jfergus7 · March 07, 2019, 12:31:14 AM

Not to change the subject but if any of you 175 Owners are on Facebook and haven't already please join "Pro Team 175 Owners Group". We have over 1500 175 Owners in the group already

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Thornback · March 07, 2019, 06:57:17 AM

Are any of the owners complaining of a leak?

jfergus7 · March 07, 2019, 08:23:40 AM

Don't recall seeing that question or mentioned but I would certainly post it and see

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Thornback · March 09, 2019, 07:57:53 AM

I don't do Facebook any longer. Twice I had to deactivate my account when friends said they got messages from me with my name and photo explaining some money scheme to them. Facebook is a very easy account to hack. Even a caveman could do it. I'm off of Facebook for good!!!

Thornback · March 15, 2019, 07:59:17 AM

Went fishing yesterday morning and the boat leaked. Not much but I did drain some water out when the boat was back on the trailer and I pulled the drain plug. Oh well, that motor sure runs sweet.

Lipripper · March 15, 2019, 01:08:47 PM

Quote from: Thornback on March 15, 2019, 07:59:17 AM
Went fishing yesterday morning and the boat leaked. Not much but I did drain some water out when the boat was back on the trailer and I pulled the drain plug. Oh well, that motor sure runs sweet.

Dang this looks like something you just might have to live with.

At least the motor ran sweet.

Capt. BassinLou · March 17, 2019, 12:32:05 PM

Quote from: Thornback on March 15, 2019, 07:59:17 AM
Went fishing yesterday morning and the boat leaked. Not much but I did drain some water out when the boat was back on the trailer and I pulled the drain plug. Oh well, that motor sure runs sweet.

Thorn, do you have an automatic bilge pump? May just have to install one them.

Thornback · March 20, 2019, 08:20:22 AM

The dealer offered to install an auto bilge pump float switch but i haven't taken them up on the offer, yet.

Capt. BassinLou · March 20, 2019, 10:28:52 AM

Quote from: Thornback on March 20, 2019, 08:20:22 AM
The dealer offered to install an auto bilge pump float switch but i haven't taken them up on the offer, yet.

The next step, if you decide not to pursue the source of the leak any longer, would be an automatic bilge. Just my .02. Thank you for the updates. Hope your issue gets resolved.

WTodd · March 20, 2019, 03:56:04 PM

While I think an auto bilge is great, not sure it would ever turn on with the small amount of water you've been seeing lately BUT I would definitely install one

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PlausibleReliability · June 10, 2022, 08:30:58 AM

I realize it's a long shot here if anybody sees this reply on a 3 year old thread but I have to try.

I have a 2019 Tracker PT175, nearly identical to the boat Thornback is having water leak issues with. I'm seeing nearly the exact same problem - taking on water only while cruising on plane. I've tried nearly every solution that has been mentioned in the thread to no avail, water still coming in. The one thing I noticed this week while staring, frustrated, at my lightly used boat and completely out of ideas is how the rub rails interact with the water while on plane with a little bit of weight on the boat (~400lbs of passengers). I noticed that the rear corners of the rails tend to get inundated with water while on plane. I pulled the rear caps and removed some of the rubber railing, about 4 inches forward of the stern, only to find two holes (

/4" dia) under the rubber inside the railing on both port and starboard sides of the boat.

My main question, does anybody else have these holes and why are they there? Further, I'm wondering if this is where the water is getting forced in. Picture attached.

I'm going to try to plug these holes before my next outing and see if that helps.

Thornback · June 10, 2022, 11:08:22 AM

I had forgotten about this thread until I saw the latest post today. Just to let everyone know I traded my bass boat about a year ago for a Bass Buggy pontoon boat. My main reason for trading was my age (82) causing me to be unsteady in the bass boat. My pontoon boat is very wide and has a flat deck with a railing all the way around. "No leaks, no runs, no errors". Maybe the person who ended up with my bass boat has solved the leaking problem. I sure hope so.

BassmanRudy · June 10, 2022, 11:01:55 PM

That CAN'T BE NORMAL!! Wow that's insane! I have the PT 190 and thst rub rail has come loose a few times (thanks to trees/stumps) and I've Never seen more than 1 little hole where the screw went thru. And yes the back ends run super low and in turns or while slowing down go under the water easily. Your 19 should still be under its Hull warranty and I'd make Tracker EXPLAIN THAT!! Wow just wow what fn idiot drills huge holes in a boat?!?!?!

Quote-
I realize it's a long shot here if anybody sees this reply on a 3 year old thread but I have to try.

I have a 2019 Tracker PT175, nearly identical to the boat Thornback is having water leak issues with. I'm seeing nearly the exact same problem - taking on water only while cruising on plane. I've tried nearly every solution that has been mentioned in the thread to no avail, water still coming in. The one thing I noticed this week while staring, frustrated, at my lightly used boat and completely out of ideas is how the rub rails interact with the water while on plane with a little bit of weight on the boat (~400lbs of passengers). I noticed that the rear corners of the rails tend to get inundated with water while on plane. I pulled the rear caps and removed some of the rubber railing, about 4 inches forward of the stern, only to find two holes (

/4" dia) under the rubber inside the railing on both port and starboard sides of the boat.

My main question, does anybody else have these holes and why are they there? Further, I'm wondering if this is where the water is getting forced in. Picture attached.

I'm going to try to plug these holes before my next outing and see if that helps.
[/quote]

doctorjared · June 27, 2022, 12:34:34 PM

My 2019 Tracker PT 190 has the same holes. The dealer said they use them to spray the foam in but I read elsewhere they're used to hold the hull during painting. I filled mine in with expanding foam because my boat was leaking bad. It wasn't the problem though. I jacked the front of the boat all the way up on the trailer and filled the livewell with water and had water running out of the boat. I took the screen off the return for the recirculator system and plugged the hole and the leak stopped. Ran the boat with the return hole plugged and it was dry as a bone. Going to the dealer soon to get repaired hopefully under warranty. I just bought the boat and it only had 6.8 hours on it. I bet the recirculator pump which sits under the livewell has burst. The boat came from WV and I bet it had water in it while stored and the pump burst during a freeze. I can't see the pump for the gas tank but the dealer says it can be accessed. I can see that that's where the water is dripping at though.

Quote from: PlausibleReliability on June 10, 2022, 08:30:58 AM
I realize it's a long shot here if anybody sees this reply on a 3 year old thread but I have to try.

I have a 2019 Tracker PT175, nearly identical to the boat Thornback is having water leak issues with. I'm seeing nearly the exact same problem - taking on water only while cruising on plane. I've tried nearly every solution that has been mentioned in the thread to no avail, water still coming in. The one thing I noticed this week while staring, frustrated, at my lightly used boat and completely out of ideas is how the rub rails interact with the water while on plane with a little bit of weight on the boat (~400lbs of passengers). I noticed that the rear corners of the rails tend to get inundated with water while on plane. I pulled the rear caps and removed some of the rubber railing, about 4 inches forward of the stern, only to find two holes (/4" dia) under the rubber inside the railing on both port and starboard sides of the boat.

My main question, does anybody else have these holes and why are they there? Further, I'm wondering if this is where the water is getting forced in. Picture attached.

I'm going to try to plug these holes before my next outing and see if that helps.

big g · June 27, 2022, 01:41:07 PM

Good detective work, I hope this solves your problem!

Oldfart9999 · June 28, 2022, 06:43:52 AM

Let us know if that's the problem.
Rodney

PlausibleReliability · June 28, 2022, 07:02:30 AM

I have tried plugging all four live well ports at the transom, both intake and both drain ports (two live wells), from the outside. A test after that still showed a prominent leak and the plugs were still in place. I will do some more experimenting with them when time allows.

I've now also filled the holes under the rub rails that I originally posted about. I have yet to get out on the water since.