Stratos 200 leak

[billnorman1]

Since the screws go into wood I doubt red Loctite would work and if it did if or when the screws came out it would destroy the wood. Plan ahead, apply sealant before you tighten them.
You might also do a test tighten and see if they all hold. If not you'll either need some new Stainless Steel larger screws of you'll need to glue some toothpicks in the old holes.

Loose topcaps can happen to anybody except BassCat and one or two other boat brand owners. Some day I'll get back in a BassCat but I better hurry, I'm 76 and ain't getting any younger.

[TwinStick]

I'm betting he has a bad recirc/pump out valve.

I filled the bilge with water, thinking that it would come out one of the fittings. Filling the livewells in the driveway is a good idea . I'll try that this weekend. I was out on the water yesterday, and is definitely has some coming from the rub rail, I could see it. I think the hold down in the back is also leaking.

[Kb444fishing]

Mine was a cracked nipple on a pump. On bottom of coarse that would only leak under pressure when the pump was running

[Rude196]

I filled the bilge with water, thinking that it would come out one of the fittings. Filling the livewells in the driveway is a good idea . I'll try that this weekend. I was out on the water yesterday, and is definitely has some coming from the rub rail, I could see it. I think the hold down in the back is also leaking.

Your rubrail is under water? Filling the livewells may not show the leak, probably will have to put boat in water. May be able to visibly check valves for cracks also.

[catdude28]

I had the same situation in my Stratos Pro 200. Bilge area would fill with water. Only way I found the leak was to stop in the middle of the lake, open the lid for the bilge area, and turn on the various pumps one at a time. There was a crack in one of the pumps.

[jarhead175]

I filled the bilge with water, thinking that it would come out one of the fittings. Filling the livewells in the driveway is a good idea . I'll try that this weekend. I was out on the water yesterday, and is definitely has some coming from the rub rail, I could see it. I think the hold down in the back is also leaking.

Water coming in from the rub rail or tie downs shouldn't be enough to make your pumps kick on while your fishing. They might leak a little and if they do they need repaired. If your getting enough water in the rub rail or tie downs while fishing their is a serious problem they should be above the water line.

[billnorman1]

Water coming in from the rub rail or tie downs shouldn't be enough to make your pumps kick on while your fishing. They might leak a little and if they do they need repaired. If your getting enough water in the rub rail or tie downs while fishing their is a serious problem they should be above the water line.

The rub rail is above the water line but the spray from the hull hits it quite well when you're on plane. It will put gallons of water in the boat. It tends to separate at the sides in the rear and that portion gets a lot of spray.

[redxdu]

The rub rail in the ass end will get pushed below the water line during take off. If your boat is slow to climb out of the hole there's a lot of time for water to get forced up through any rub rail voids.

On my 99 201 Stratos I had this problem. I had pulled a stretch of the rub rail from where it starts in the back to about half way up the port side to make a small fiberglass repair. I didn't even realize that I was supposed to put sealant on the bottom side of the rail when I was all done. I started getting so much water in the bilge that I thought I was going to swamp the damn thing. I came to BBC asking for help. Some guys told me my boat was in serious trouble and had all kinds of catastrophic ailments. A few others told me to run a bead of sealant on the bottom of the rub rail where the black rubber meets the fiberglass. I'm sure I was supposed to use some good marine grade stuff, but my small town gas station/hardware store hybrid only had general purpose silicone window and door sealant. That's what I bought, that's what I used, and that's what solved my problem. Dry as a bone in the bilge now.

If you can dump the boat in and bob around for an hour using only the trolling motor and no water comes in, I'd suspect the rub rail. If you do that, don't see any water, and then put it up on pad and as soon as you get to your spot you notice that there's water in the bilge, I'd pretty much guarantee it's the rub rail.

If you dump it in and it starts taking water without ever getting on pad then it probably is a pump or a fitting or a hose somewhere down there.

[TwinStick]

I pulled the rub rail and got it resealed yesterday. I'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if it worked. Thanks for all the help.

[Rude196]

I pulled the rub rail and got it resealed yesterday. I'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if it worked. Thanks for all the help.

All your valves were ok? Be sure to check when you put boat in water and rub rail didn't fix problem.

[TwinStick]

Haven't checked yet. Been raining like crazy here. I'll check them when I get out there, I guess it could leak from the inside, but I never run the livewells. I never keep fish. That, and I can see a water stain in the bilge now that I look closer, definitely coming from up high in the bilge.

[buster502]

i bet you have the problem fixed if the screws was loose you will be fine now,i had one do the same thing,the screws was loose,i had to idle in a idle zone about 8 mph for a mile one day and mine was full of water,worked fine after,go idle about 8-10 mph for a half a mile and raise rear deck lid and see if its dry,good luck fishing

[Rude196]

Haven't checked yet. Been raining like crazy here. I'll check them when I get out there, I guess it could leak from the inside, but I never run the livewells. I never keep fish. That, and I can see a water stain in the bilge now that I look closer, definitely coming from up high in the bilge.

Whether you use livewell or not doesn't matter. You have a remote open/close valve right? The top of that valve will crack over time used or not. You stated the bilge would kick on every hour or so, that is consistent with a crack in the remote open/close valve.

The screws work loose on every boat that has them. That is the reason they are above the water line.

[TwinStick]

Just wanted to tell everyone thanks. Ive taken the boat out a few times and it is a ton better. My bildge pump doesn't kick on even after a full day of fishing. Today I pulled the plug after fishing and maybe had 6 ounces out. That is fine with me. I think, based on water marks, there's still a tiny bit coming from the rub rail at the very back, and I'll run a little bit more sealant there, but I'm very happy. Thanks everyone for leading me on the right direction.

[JR19]

Just wanted to tell everyone thanks. Ive taken the boat out a few times and it is a ton better. My bildge pump doesn't kick on even after a full day of fishing. Today I pulled the plug after fishing and maybe had 6 ounces out. That is fine with me. I think, based on water marks, there's still a tiny bit coming from the rub rail at the very back, and I'll run a little bit more sealant there, but I'm very happy. Thanks everyone for leading me on the right direction.

That's good news...when you say "based on water marks, there's still a tiny bit coming in from the rub rail at the very back"...that statement leads me to believe you can see something from the inside of the bilge. If so then sprinkle some baby powder inside the bilge area where you think you may have a leak. Then get on/off plane two or three times and look to see if the baby powder got wet. When doing this pay very close attention to your backwash when coming off plane. Some boats are prone to backwash when settling down. If this is your case, then as you let off the throttle and the boats starts to sit all the way down, bump the throttle just a tad to "get away/put some space" between the boat and the wave that is about to come over the splashwell at the back of the boat.

Lots of boats have a very small amount of water in the bilge when loaded heavy due to backwash. Mine will be bone dry under normal conditions but let me fill the gas tank, add a partner and fill the livewell and I will have a handful of water in my bilge.

[TwinStick]

You are exactly right. This model Stratos sits very low in the back (like my other Stratos did), so I'm very used to feathering it not to wash the back deck. I was looking in the bilge afterwards, and can see a small trickle of water. It was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from, but I think it may still be at the rub rail. Thats a good idea with the baby powder. It's such a small amount now, i'm not going to exhaust much more energy on it. Very thankful to everyone, I would not have pulled that rub rail if it wasn't for yall.