Hello Everyone

[Capt. Dad]

Bamaman

We go down in Mississippi to Bay Springs Lake and carry our travel trailer with us to do some camping and water sports. My wife and two boys love it.
We also go to the Tennessee River, sometimes up around Clifton, were we have a few friends that have a place there. And other times down closer to the dam on the south side of Savannah where some of our other friends have a place on the river.
We have also been up to Heber Springs in Ark. A couple of times .
We just love to get out on the water. I would say investing into a pontoon has been one of the best things I decided to do.
Just can't get enough of it.
Oh yeah you are absolutely right about the Mississippi. We put in at McKellar lake when we had just bought our first pontoon a couple of years ago and it was nothing nice but we knew that already,we just wanted to go some place close to try the boat out for the first time.
Do you ever go up north of you to Pickwick?

[Dragboatdad]

Yes I agree. I had problems with water getting in the bilge of my Party Cruiser (it was that problem that got me to sign up on pontoon forums). My fix was to underskin around the engine pod. Problem solved.

What happens is the water hits the stern rubrail and is deflected up and over the deck. Water goes right into the bilge.

It's not a problem with just I/O boats, but most outboard boats have open engine pods where water flows through anyway.

Your bellows should last 6-10 years without issues..that is unless you have muskrats, which find rubber bellows pretty tasty.

I'm having the same issue in a '08 party cruiser. I'm confused about how the water gets in the bilge. You say it comes over the top of the deck? Where would I look to see that? The whole underside is one solid sheet of aluminum with no wood visible. I sealed around the engine pod with no luck. Would I see water being splashed on top of engine? What do you mean when you say under skin around engine, I think mine already has that as mentioned above
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Tom

[playcat]

Welcome! We have an I/O also, but a bit bigger. Playcraft saw fit to add drains for the lips under the engine hatch that are plumbed out the transom...too bad the drain holes are so small they clog on anything and I have to run the bilge pump anyway. No boat is perfect.
Enjoy the heck out of that toon! nice pix too.

[badmoonrising]

Yes I agree. I had problems with water getting in the bilge of my Party Cruiser (it was that problem that got me to sign up on pontoon forums). My fix was to underskin around the engine pod. Problem solved.

What happens is the water hits the stern rubrail and is deflected up and over the deck. Water goes right into the bilge.

It's not a problem with just I/O boats, but most outboard boats have open engine pods where water flows through anyway.

Your bellows should last 6-10 years without issues..that is unless you have muskrats, which find rubber bellows pretty tasty.

I'm having the same issue in a '08 party cruiser. I'm confused about how the water gets in the bilge. You say it comes over the top of the deck? Where would I look to see that? The whole underside is one solid sheet of aluminum with no wood visible. I sealed around the engine pod with no luck. Would I see water being splashed on top of engine? What do you mean when you say under skin around engine, I think mine already has that as mentioned above
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Tom

Take it for a cruise and have someone open the engine hatch. On mine, water was coming in through the deck/engine pod seam. If you already have under skinning, make sure there are no gaps and if so they are sealed. At the top of each log are openings as well. Skin them too. Then go look at each side under the rubrail, on PCs that is open too. Put a small strip of aluminum there too. Also, you have 2 plastic deck drain back there in the stern sleeper area, make sure they point to the stern and aren't clogged.

[badmoonrising]

It's also a common problem for the steering cable boot to rip letting water in, always keep an eye on it.

[captainjack]

Welcome very nice looking rig!

[Dragboatdad]

Yes I agree. I had problems with water getting in the bilge of my Party Cruiser (it was that problem that got me to sign up on pontoon forums). My fix was to underskin around the engine pod. Problem solved.

What happens is the water hits the stern rubrail and is deflected up and over the deck. Water goes right into the bilge.

It's not a problem with just I/O boats, but most outboard boats have open engine pods where water flows through anyway.

Your bellows should last 6-10 years without issues..that is unless you have muskrats, which find rubber bellows pretty tasty.

I'm having the same issue in a '08 party cruiser. I'm confused about how the water gets in the bilge. You say it comes over the top of the deck? Where would I look to see that? The whole underside is one solid sheet of aluminum with no wood visible. I sealed around the engine pod with no luck. Would I see water being splashed on top of engine? What do you mean when you say under skin around engine, I think mine already has that as mentioned above
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Tom

Take it for a cruise and have someone open the engine hatch. On mine, water was coming in through the deck/engine pod seam. If you already have under skinning, make sure there are no gaps and if so they are sealed. At the top of each log are openings as well. Skin them too. Then go look at each side under the rubrail, on PCs that is open too. Put a small strip of aluminum there too. Also, you have 2 plastic deck drain back there in the stern sleeper area, make sure they point to the stern and aren't clogged.

Thank you very much for the info. It is already skinned and silicone sealed where the engine pod mates to that surface. It's weird because it doesn't do it all the time. Last time out I had my son looking and no leak. We will look again and check the other things you mentioned
It's comforting to know someone else has had this problem, I'm not worried now that it's something serious.
Thanks again, Tom

[badmoonrising]

It's not. When I complained to Tracker, they wanted me to take it all the way back to Bass Pro Shops. I Google searched and that's what got me here

[oldcoot]

Welcome aboard, DBD....we enjoy the hell outta our '03 Suntracker...!

[Dragboatdad]

It's not. When I complained to Tracker, they wanted me to take it all the way back to Bass Pro Shops. I Google searched and that's what got me here

We finally found where the water was entering the bilge. We backed the boat down the launch ramp until the stern drive was in the water. My son looks in the bilge with a flashlight and says he sees water entering from the transom area. So I pull the boat out and I can see the water coming out where stern drive is mated to the transom at the bottom. I pulled the drain plug out and several gallons of water had leaked in after only 5 mins in the river. Pretty bad leak. But when under way the pressure of the drive pushing against the transom sealed it for the most part.
So a bead of marine silicone should do the job
Thanks for the help , Tom

[badmoonrising]

To better diagnose exactly where the leak is, take a garden hose and fill the bilge up level with the top of the bilge pump (leave the helm bilge switch "off").

It's also common to have leaks at the weld underneath the engine drain plug (weld failure, which is covered under Tracker's warranty). My PC had a pinhole leak discovered while my boat was getting repaired for the storm damage last summer.