Anyone Ever Have This Happen?

[Bill Balch]

My boat is a 2003 PT 175, bought last February. During the last several outings, I had noticed a large amount of accumulated water in the bilge. Since the last outing involved no tubing or swimming activities, I decided to do a test in my driveway by running several gallons of water from a hose into the bilge area with the boat plug in. When I lowered the front of the boat a bit, there it was, a prominent leak coming from the end of the aluminum strip that runs from the nose of the bow down the middle of the underside for about 8 feet. What a heartbreaker!



So I've returned my boat to my dealer. The service manager was hopeful that my boat can be repaired locally, if Tracker will permit. The boat was returned to the factory soon after I bought it for a rear deck problem (insufficient floatation foam). That process took about 6 weeks.



So, I'm fairly sure that Tracker will fix the problem, like they did before, but with all the hoopla about the strength of welded 100 aluminum boats, I'm really surprised to have this problem. Another structural problem! I've been very gentle with my boat, no hard impacts, no banging into big waves at WOT. How could this happen? I've read messages from many Tracker owners on this site who indicate they've never had a problem with their boats.



I would really appreciate any feedback on this issue.



Thanks, Bill

 

[gone bye bye]

I do that trick all the time to find leaks....unfortunately it doesnt happen very often with glass boats. Aluminum is another story. I assume that it is all welded? If so, it could be a bad weld.



Mini

 

[Bill Balch]

Mini, I think a bad or cracked weld is probably what it is, on the strip that covers the keel of the boat.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Sorry to hear that Bill..so far the only area mine leaked was the topcap seam which I cured with some silicon. If it was me and had anymore issues with that particular boat...you may want to persue the route I told you about not long ago. Sounds like that boat was welded on a Monday mornin' with a real bad hangover....

TEE

BTW...I beat the crap outta mine and no leaks after 2 seasons.

 

[Andrew Zuber]

Bill-

Like TEE, I beat the daylights out of TV-18 and it doesn't leak a drop...I still take the plug out every time...don't know why!!! I've had her airborne a few times out on Lake Michigan...

My boat was the last year (2000) PRIOR to Tracker beefing up the TV-18 with extra supports and welded bow and transom caps...



hope they make it right for you ASAP!



az

 

[fatrap]

Just a thought but if it's not a real bad leak you may want to finish the season before sending it back if the warrenty permits it. By the time you get it back you won't be able to test it anyway unless you live in the South.

fatrap

 

[Marke Cicero]

It's definitely got to be a weld right a the seam. The first problem wasn't structural. That was probably some yahoo day dreaming on a friday afternoon and didn't pull the trigger on the foam gun long enough...LOL



Good luck with it.

 

[Bill Balch]

I hope I'm not being excessively optimistic, but I still think my PT 175 is a good boat. It handles great, and the wife and I have had a lot of fun taking the family fishing and tubing. At this point I'm not willing to say that any of the problems are fatal flaws. Couldn't a bad weld be fixed so there are no future problems?



I've got a 5-year extended warranty. And so far Tracker has worked with me and treated me fairly, so maybe it'll all turn out OK.

 

[Steve Rizza]

Bill---If it's going to take them too long to fix it,I would check with a welding shop and get it fixed yourself.I had a foot and a half broken weld repaired on my boat for $20.00.You need to weigh the price vs.time without a boat.



If your boat holds up as well as mine has,you will get plenty out of it.My old girl sees more rough water than any 17 foot Basstracker should ever see,and it has NEVER let me down.

 

[Bill Balch]

Steve, That's very interesting, and encouraging. Is your 17 ft. Basstracker the same boat that had the broken weld? If so, where did the broken weld occur?



It's very tempting to find somebody close to home to do the repair. But I would be concerned how that would affect my warranty. Any experience in this area?

 

[Steve Rizza]

You have a good point about voiding the warrenty.Mine is a 1991 model.

It cracked on the out side edge where the bottom starts curving up in the front.I was on Deep Creek Lake on the fourth of july weekend,it was nasty.

There's nothing like stepping off of the front deck and being ankle deep in water.I put it on the trailer,slapped on some duct tape,and kept on fishin'.

 

[Bill Balch]

Duct tape? Cool!

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Uhhhh...you may have a little trouble gettin' to it. I think they're welded from the inside...

TEE

 

[Bill Balch]

TEE, you think a broken weld on the keel strip would have to be repaired from the inside? Ouch. That sounds like a major job, taking up the front deck and more. I had hoped this would be a simple fix with a reasonably short turnaround. But I would want it done right.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I'd let dealer handle it...since it's in that location. My understanding is that strip is welded from the inside...could be wrong but, would still let them handle it.

TEE

 

[Steve Rizza]

Bill---even if it is welded from the outside you will still have to remove the front deck.

The foam will burn pretty easily.I doesn't flame up,but will still burn.

The front deck is actually pretty easy to remove.I just cut out a big section of foam arount the section to be repaired,then glued it back into place when finished.

 

[Bill Balch]

I really am glad to have the information about the weld needing to be repaired from the inside, and the foam needing to be removed. Now I'll have better questions to ask when I talk to the service dept. again. Thanks everyone!

 

[Bill Ackermann]

That sounds like the same leak I had on mine, buy mine showed up the first time out. Mine went back to the factory for repair. Mine was only gone a week for that repair, but I live in Springfield and the Bolivar factory is only 40 miles from me. Taking it to Truman today for three days and see if it floats this time.



Bill