livewell question

[truevolfan]

I have a 1993 stratos 201 pro elite. I am finding a lot of water in my bilge area. Having to pump out about every 20 minutes. Thinking it is most likely related to a livewell leak. I do not really use it and seems the controls at the helm are not working to shut off, move, etc. As a result thinking best option for now is to plug up the transom holes. I attached a pic but i have 7 holes. I think the top 4 are 2 intake (on the outside) and 2 inside are water release. I plugged the two outside intake holes with some hard foam. Then threw some duct tape over that. Still leaking like it was and no change. My question is what are the two holes on bottom on either side of drain plug? What else do I need to plug to keep water from coming in? Any idea if they make a plug to fit these holes? I googled and found some info on this but have not been able to find anyone with seven holes. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

[5 BASS ASSASIN]

The bottom two holes are usually your live well drains. The upper left fitting doesn’t look so hot. Looks as if it was failing at one time and someone gave it a smear over. Odds are that’s your leak. As far as the wells. I would manually close the valves . If the cables are froze disconnect at the actuator arm and it should move freely. If the valves are siezed , plug the drain holes tightly, ( only the inside) fill with hose and wait. Won’t take long to drip if they leak.best of luck.

[83Sterling]

I have a similar issue with mine. Planning to change out the livewell pumps and maybe add a carbon fiber plate of the top to clean up the mess the previous owner made of it. I have all of mine plugged up as well and still get water in.

[JohnN]

Consider removing and re-sealing the fittings. Plugging them will only help if there's a crack or some other break in fitting or hose. If there is water leaking around the fittings you'll only stop it by re-sealing them with silicone.

[Radeleur]

I'd also check any fittings in the livewell as well as the thru-hull fittings and make sure they are properly sealed or moving around.

I found this on my boat. That is a very large screwdriver for comparison. The adapter from the fitting to the livewell fill pump was split on both sides (was to small but used anyway by PO) and no matter what was closed or open it would still leak and fill the bilge area.

[eh2000]

You could remove all those thru hull fittings and cover with a piece of metal shaped like the flange of the fitting, screwed back into the boat and sealed with 5200. I'm not sure what your budget looks like. If I wasn't interested in getting water in my boat that's probably what I would do. I removed and replaced all the thru hull fittings in my boat and it wasn't too bad.