'98 Air Leaking Somewhere

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  • jimlahey
    • Aug 2008
    • 37

    • Yellowknife

    • 1998 Super Air

    '98 Air Leaking Somewhere

    First off I love this site, and find it incredibly helpfull, so thanks to everyone in advance.

    I have a 1998 Air with factory ballast. Considering the boats age, everything still works great, however the bilge pumps work rather consistantly in pumping water out of the boat. I am compelled to think the leak is coming from the factory ballast plumbing, which may have deteriorated over time. I may own the most northerly operating Nautique in Canada, so the freezing temperatures may have caused some hardware damage somewhere? Other than that, the boat starts and runs each spring without a problem whatsoever.

    Any suggestions, or spots to isolate would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
  • Texan1554
    • Apr 2011
    • 220

    • Dallas

    • 2002 SANTE

    #2
    Is the leak constant or only when you have your ballast valve open?
    2002 SANTE

    Comment

    • xlair
      Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
      • Jul 2003
      • 694

      • Wisconsin


      #3
      Do you really live in Yellowknife? Isn't that where the ice road starts in the winter? If so, that's really cool! How warm does it get in the summers? Do you have to wear wetsuits all year?

      Regarding your boat- I doubt it's the ballast system but certainly could be a leak somewhere. Other places to look are the shaft packing area, any hose connection on the engine, etc...
      2001 Pro Air Nautique
      GT-40, Stargazer, 1200 lbs auto-ballast

      Comment

      • jimlahey
        • Aug 2008
        • 37

        • Yellowknife

        • 1998 Super Air

        #4
        I will doublecheck tonight, but the bilge pumps pump out a small amount of water from time to time, when the ballast valve is closed (normal i think), however the rate doubles if not triples when open. Im thinking it is one of the fittings, or hoses that is not seating correctly due to cracking when frozen...

        Comment

        • DanielC
          1,000 Post Club Member
          • Nov 2005
          • 2669

          • West Linn OR

          • 1997 Ski Nautique

          #5
          Check the muffler, and exhaust pipes.
          I believe your boat has metal ball valves for the ballast tank plumbing. Get the bilge dry, turn the ballast valves off (handle is across the pipe) and relaunch, and look for leaks. You may need to take all the stuff you have stored in the boat out. You may need to launch the boat without the motor cover on it, and you may need to pull up the rear floorboard to see as much of the bilge as is possible.

          I had a leak in my 1997 ski, that I could not find, until I removed the motor cover, and rear floor board, and even then it did not leak, until I started the engine. The extra pressure inside a muffler, full of water pushed a bunch of water out a crack, that was only opened up when starting the engine.

          Comment

          • Chexi
            1,000 Post Club Member
            • Dec 2024
            • 2119

            • Austin

            • 2000 SAN

            #6
            If it is your ballast tanks/fittings, you are in for a real treat (sarcasm). The tanks in your boat are connected to the plumbing from underneath the tanks. This means that you would have to pull one tank at least to get to underneath them. This requires that you pull the gas tank. So, first you need to pull the rear seat and seat base. Then you (and a friend) need to unscrew 4 bolts that hold the gas tank in. These really suck, because at least 2 of them are really hard to get to. You will scrape your knuckles or your wrist or something while trying, and it's way easier with 2 people. I did it alone, and it sucked royally. Then, you can slide the gas tank forward to the motorbox. You should not need to disconnect it, but it's easy to disconnect at this point if you do. Once the gas tank is moved, you should be able to slide one tank forward, allowing you to check the hoses, hose clamps underneath each tank. You will also see the floor piece that lifts up. You may have a leak under there in the lines. You would have to disconnect the tanks and maybe pull them out to get that floor piece up to check those lines. If you do all of this, then just pull the darn hard tanks and install a Fly-high pro bag system (2 v-drive sacs end to end). I have a thread on here about my install of this on my old 99 Air.
            Now
            2000 SAN

            Previously
            1999 Air Nautique
            1996 Tige Pre-2000
            1989 Lowe 24' Pontoon / Johnson 100HP outboard

            Comment

            • jimlahey
              • Aug 2008
              • 37

              • Yellowknife

              • 1998 Super Air

              #7
              I do live in Yellowknife, with the iceroad. Our summers are actually decently warm, however we do have a big bonus, as we get 24 hr sunlight for a few months of the summer. I was just out on one of our glassy bays at 12:30am, and the sky was still light. We are wearing boardshorts now, however in late august we usually switch to drysuits for comfort. It doesnt take much for the temperatures to start changing at all.

              My boat runs great, minus the annoying water dumping from time to time. I would really like to isolate where the leak is coming from..

              Comment

              • tourpro
                • Jun 2007
                • 192

                • Muskoka, Ontario, Canada


                #8
                Wow! I'm amazed you own a Nautique that far north. Your season must be really short.

                Good luck with the leak.

                Comment

                • jimlahey
                  • Aug 2008
                  • 37

                  • Yellowknife

                  • 1998 Super Air

                  #9
                  Well I ran the boat for a day or so, without the using, or filling the stock ballast. It is now clear that most of the water leaking into the bilge is coming from the stock ballast/fittings. That being said, getting at the fittings, and replacing them, or switching out the whole system is going to be a royal pain as Chexi has pointed out earlier.

                  Comment

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