Live Well / Drain Plug / Pedestal Questions

This last fall I bought an old Tracker Magna 17.

I finally got it out on the water this past weekend and everything seems to be working great but I have a few questions as I've never owned a boat like this. So please excuse the newbie questions

First the live well. I've never had a live well before. I noticed while we were out on the water the live well filled up a bit. Then when I pulled the main drain plug when we got out of the water a decent amount of water came out, draining for a few minutes. I'm guessing that is from the live well? Or is it possible I have a leak in the hull?

If I want to hold water in the live well should there be a drain plug for the live well? I really have no idea how live wells are supposed to work. I do have a switch for an aerator pump. Is that supposed to fill the live well? I forgot to test that.

Now the drain plug. The boat came with a new drain plug and an older one. Snap lock style. The new drain plug I could not get to fit in the drain hole. The older plug I was able to get 3/4 of the way in but I just could not get it to go all the way in. Any suggestions? I was thinking of spraying it with WD40 to give it a little lubrication to get all the way in?

When I pulled the boat out out of the water I noticed the handle on the drain plug was not snapped over anymore but straight. That worried me a bit but it didn't look like the drive plug moved out at all.

And lastly the pedestal seat bases. This boat has twist lock bases and posts. 1 seat is completely stuck in the base. I was able to remove the base with the seat attached but now I'm thinking this might make it even harder to get it lose. Maybe a pipe wrench on the seat post?

Another one of the seat poss is in bad shape and wobbles when twisted into the base. But I can not seem to find new twist lock parts anywhere. Are they actually called something else?

Since most pedestal bases are mounted with bolts through the floor any suggestions on how I could install new ones without having access to the bottom of the floor? Toggles maybe? The old bolts are so rusty it's not too hard to get them out. At least the one I did remove.

I'm guessing it probably needs a new floor but the floor screws I have tried to remove just spin so I'm not quite sure how to get the floor up.

Thanks so much for any help and suggestions!

On your livewell-

could be that it drains into the bilge, and then the bilge pump pumps out the water. I have seen this before, its a real stupid design.

Or your livewell hose or fitting could be leaking. Look on the hull someplace for an outlet, this will tell you which type you have and what to look for.

The aerator is just for adding bubbles (aeration) to the water. You should also have a switch for a pump to fill the livewell with

those seat bases can be a real pain, about all I can say about that

thanks

Thanks a lot for the reply. It's weird I can not find any mention of a twist lock boat seat system on google.

There are holes on both the port and starboard side of the boat in line with the live well. Next to the drain plug on the back of the boat there are also two more holes, one on either side of the drain plug.

On the dash I only have switches for bilge and aerator (and nav lights, interior lights and acc)

then I would look for a leaking hose or fitting for the livewell.

Some live wells have a cable operated valve for intake. Hard to say what you have. If its an original installation perhaps you can get some info from Tracker about it. Or it could be wired to the acc switch

look for taper lock seat pedestals. I think that's what you probably have

Is your live well plumbed in from the transom? I would assume so. If that is the case then unless it's been blocked off by someone there is quite a length of hose that will fill up automatically when you put the boat in the water. Without turning on the livewell pump that hose still fills up with water. Then bouncing around some can dribble up into the livewell. On my 14' Starcraft it's a good size hose, like 1" inside diameter so when it fills with water it's a good amount and when you retrieve from the launch it pours out for a little bit. I wouldn't worry about a leak in the hull yet, but if you want to test that theory then with the boat in your driveway and the drain plug in fill the bilge area with a hose. Leave it overnight and see how much is there the next day. There is no plug for the livewell, it's meant to be open to the water.

Drain plug, it should adjust slightly with a nut on the end of the rubber. The more you turn the nut in, the more it squeezes the rubber. Make sure there is no pre-load on that nut.

Awesome, thanks for the replies.

Yes from digging up some other posts about the old trackers it appears as though the 3 holes in the transom are supposed to be live well fill, man drain and live well drain.

The two holes on the port and starboard must be over flow drains? Or would there be an intake hole for the aerator?

For the leak test are you suggesting to fill the bilge with water and see if it drains by itself which would suggest a hull leak? When i pulled the boat out of the water it did drain for a few minutes but it was a slow drain probably not even a gallon of water and I was on the water for 3 hours. Nothing the bilge pump couldn't keep up with.

If I do have a livewell leak I suppose I would have to pull the floor to get that figured out. The floor screws I have tried to pull seem to just spin. Any suggestions on how to get them out?

Any suggestions on a removable plug I could use to block the live well intake to also test that theory? I probably wouldn't use the live well that much anyway except to keep suckers and bullheads for live for bait so it might be better off as storage, especially if it is leaking.

The two holes on either side of the boat are most likely livewell overflows. My old boat had them, and they actually sat below the waterline when not on plane. Mine had check valves in them so water couldn't back into the livewell, their only purpose was to drain overflow. My current boat has the overflows plumbed into the livewell drain line, which drains through a fitting in the stern.

Water in the bilge: Was your boat outside in the rain before you took it to out for a spin? If so, it could have had some water sitting in the keel area or trapped elsewhere in the hull that found its way to the bilge once you ran it. My boat will do this no matter how high I raise the front end to drain it while on the trailer, or how far down the road I drag it, about a quart of water will find its way to the bilge once out on the lake.

But yes, to find out if it is the plumbing to the livewells leaking, plug every thru hull fitting they have and take the boat out for a test run. If no water finds its way in, start unplugging holes until you find the offender. Sounds like you have a system that might have quite a few fittings/clamps, it certainly wouldn't hurt to know where all these things are anyway, just in case a situation ever arises out on the water. You should be able to access the plumbing for the livewell(s) without tearing the boat apart. It might require removing a battery, possibly even a fuel tank in some case, but you shouldn't have to pull the floor or anything like that unless modifications were made since it was new that changed that. However, some boats require one to be double jointed and a contortionist to reach them. I think some manufacturers use trained monkeys to put some of that stuff in.

If none of that stops it, start looking at the thru-hull fittings themselves. Inspect for cracks and look at how well they are sealed to the hull.

As for the drain plug, get rid of the latching plug and get one with a thumbscrew to tighten it. Those latching types can get plucked out by branches and what-not. I like the low profile design of the thumbscrew type, and I can twist that dude down tight enough that it will NOT come out unless I want it to.

You can still tighten/loosen the latching plugs though, grab the nut on the end of the plug and tighten or loosen to your heart's content. Depending on how it's made, you might be able to insert it, tighten it, then latch it over for a better/tighter seal.

I've never been an advocate of filling a hull with water to find a leak as a default method. It is effective, but if there's any wood in the boat, you are soaking it down, along with your flotation foam, wiring, and everything else that is under the decks.

Yes its totally possible it had rain water inside. I bet that's what was going on. I'll be taking it back out this weekend which should shed some light.

Are you talking about these drain plugs:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Taylor-11317-Fender-Loc-Fender-Lines-Pair/42377601

If I were to plug the live well holes on the transom what would I use?

Thanks!

When I had keel type sailboats, I always carried a set of these wooden through-hull plugs. I only had to use one once, but I was mighty glad to have them on board.

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|135|2290137&id=275638



As far as checking the live well to see if it is the offending part, I guess I'd just put the boat in the driveway, pour a few gallons of water into the live well and see what happens. After a while, open the plug on the transom and see if the Livewell drains there.

Experiment until you understand what is working and what is not. If the Livewell loses water after you put water in, then the hose or fittings are leaking. If it holds water, you can probably eliminate it from the list of possible issues.

regards, richg99

Went over some things in the boat last night. I did get the drain plug figured out. If I install it from the inside it fits great.

Looks like I do have a live well pump and the exposed hosing looks to be in good shape so for now I am leaning towards rain water buildup.



The seat pedestal system is twist lock. The seat post does not taper and goes into the pedestal 3" then it screws into the base:





I did look up the patent that is listed on the sticker and it looks like it expired due to lack of payment so I'm guessing I am totally screwed.

Yes, those type plugs are what I use, only, the ones I like better have a flattened thumbscrew instead of the t-handle. The thumbscrew is easier on the fingers when tightening them. But if you are plugging from the inside, use the latch plug. No chance it will get plucked out by branches or anything, and you should be able to adjust the tension on it to tighten it up as needed.

As for that seat post, I can honestly say I've never seen that particular style before. Mine are "kingpin" design, and the end of the posts are threaded, but the threaded portion is the same OD as the post, not smaller like the one you show. Will a normal post without the threaded portion fit the base? If not, swapping out the bases for something more conventional, would be my advise.

Installing a new base is what I would like to do. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about it. Since I don't have access to the bottom of the floor should I use bolts and toggles? Or might I be able to get away with just screwing into the wood?

Pull one of the screws out and see how much wood they have under there by using a small pick or stiff wire or something. If they doubled it up, like they should have, then just run screws into the wood. If not, well, then you get figure out how to attack that. But eliminate the easiest option first, would be my advice.

So going back to this photo:



I thought the attwood pump was likely my bilge pump but now I'm not so sure. It is mounted onto a piece of metal and it doesn't have the black fin intake on the bottom like most bilge pumps. It does have a hose on it that disappears under the floor and it is not connected to the outside of the boat anywhere I can see. The hose running next to the attwood pump is not connected to the pump.

When I turn on the aerator switch the boat starts shooting water out a hole from the top of back of the boat but the live well does not raise or lower level so I'm a bit confused. I suppose the aerator pump may be exchanging water? But I can not get the live well to fill up beyond a few inches.

Where would a bilge pump likely be located?

looks like a bilge pump to me but it doesn't sound like one from what you are describing

do you have a bilge pump switch on the dash? What happens when you turn it on (if you have one, you should)

also do you have a float switch in the bilge?

the aerator is probably just recirculating the water in the livewell and mixing air with it

Look here for replaceing your pedestal & bases for your seats.

https://www.springfieldmarinescratchanddent.com/

Check my build (page 9 or 10) to see some of the stuff I got for my build. You'll save a ton of money and the quality is very good.

hagbard said:

Went over some things in the boat last night. I did get the drain plug figured out. If I install it from the inside it fits great.

Looks like I do have a live well pump and the exposed hosing looks to be in good shape so for now I am leaning towards rain water buildup.

I did look up the patent that is listed on the sticker and it looks like it expired due to lack of payment so I'm guessing I am totally screwed.

Click to expand...

I also have a tracker it's a 2002 deep v16, I have figured everything out about the live well except for the black hose on the right in this picture (actually would be the left side looking at the boat from the back) It runs to the front of the boat, I assume to the live well but I cannot figure out what it is for. I can fill my live well and I know that is being done by the pump on the left in the picture and I can aerate the live well and that is being done by a pump on the live well that recirculates with a short hose. I have read some boats have a switch behind the throttle that opens a valve that will drain the live well but I cannot find any drain switch or lever. My live well actually has a rubber drain plug, but when you pull it the water drains thru the side of the hull right near the live well. Anyone have any ideas?

Here is a picture from behind my boat.