2007 Tahoe 195 with 115 Mercury

[L. P.]

She keeps taking on an unusual amount of water after having lines and cracked drain ports replaced. Should I leave the bilge on?

 

[roffey]

The water has to be coming from some where. Its not an I/O so the bellows are not part of the problem. You say cracked drain ports, I would suspect a drain plug or possible problem in that area as unless the boat has a live well the drain plug is the only place for water to come in.... unless you have a hole in the hull.

What I would do it put the boat on the trailer and with the drain plug in put some water in the boat and see where it leaks out.

 

[mr 88]

Yes you should leave the bilge on ,what kind of question is that ? Also it should be a 3 way bilge ,off ,manual on and auto on. I would not put the boat on a trailer and put water in it . All your doing is introducing water in the hull that may end up reaching some screw holes or who know what that may speed up any possible rotting issues. Of course your trailer may not like the extra 1 -2000 lbs added by the weight of the water. have you used a flashlight and poked around in every nook and cranny while in the water ? That's where I would start

 

[roffey]

LOL, I'm not talking about filling it and his boat is already filling with water. Putting some water in the OP's boat will not hurt it, boats get water in them. It is up to him, he has to find out where the water is getting in.. How he does it?