Why the heck is the bilge pumping?

[herm]

Here's one for which I need advice: Discovered this past week that when I back-troll, water is coming in somewhere/somehow. (I have a 2001 Skeeter 1775 tiller.) It's not a ton of water, but it is enough for the bilge to pump out after 30-45 minutes. My biggest question is how the heck do I determine where the water is coming in from? (I did pop off the access cover immediately below the motor, but doing so also let in enough water that I could not really find a source.) Any advice on trying to determine and ultimately seal/stop the water from coming in? Thanks for any advice.

[BudMan]

I had a similar problem with a Pro-V I had , did a lot of standing on my head trying to figure it out and it turned out that the boat I bought [new] had sat out all winter at the dealer and water was in the intake for the livewell and froze and a little crack was in the pump housing . I replaced the pump and problem solved . On another boat I had , same problem , different solution , when they put the intake thru the transom , the nut was tightened too much and broke the plastic pipe that was attached to the pump , never could figure out the problem cause it was not visible . One day it just broke and fell into the boat and water really poured in then I could see the problem ,replaced the unit and no more leaks .Might want to look at these areas , Good Luck in your search .

Bud

[boatfixer]

Check livewell hoses and connections

[Valv]

I agree with hoses and pumps. If cracked they will leak when moving forward but water will be "sucked" back out by the siphon effect of the direction. When you backtroll water enter hull with much more pressure and will keep entering due to the pressure applied from moving backward.

As an example, if you forget the bilge plug (boat plug) you can drain it just by moving forward for a while, it will suck all the water out (guess how I found out... )

[herm]

The advice here sounds good. But perhaps the following are stupid questions (but they won't be my first, nor last)...When you say check the livewell hoses and connections, how do I do that? Do you mean just look at them with the naked eye with boat on trailer in garage? I will try, but have two concerns: 1. They are located in a place where my head won't fit (insert joke here.) 2. I don't have bionic eyes so I doubt I can see a crack/loose connection. Or should I do this with the boat in the water and backtrolling? One thought: What if I set my fish camera in that area and back-trolled? Might that reveal the leak?

[Fredd]

Some times you are able to seal off the inlets from the outside to see if water is still pooling in the bottom. You can add colored water to inlets/outlets to see if it appears in the pooling. The valve housings, pumps and hoses are usually (not always) from freezing over the winter.

[Valv]

Herm, there is no "trick of the trade" here, you are welcome to use any possible mean to check for leaks. It will be much easier to detect if there is water in the lines or pumps. Maybe a visit to your local small lake will help.

Any way you possible you can use to look underneath the floor is sure welcome, if you have a camera available that's great.