North Texas, new liner needed?

[mbuice]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post or not. We're on our fifth summer in our pool, and it has a huge leak. We swam on Sunday with no issues, woke up Monday and the water level was well below the return.
It's been losing about 5-6 inches per day since. The pool is partially buried and we have a deck going half-way around. Based on where the ground was wet first, it seemed like it was coming from the shallow end, and my first thought was that the wedding cake steps had rubbed a hole in the liner. We pulled them out (quite the chore, I don't recommend those steps, but I digress) No sign of a leak there.
I have been in the pool every day since searching the seams with leak detecting dye, and still no luck.
At this point the liner in the deep end is starting to get major wrinkles and it's separating from the wall all the way around the pool. It's also been exposed to 100° full sun all week. I'll add some pictures because I know we all like them, but I'm not sure how helpful they will be.



Thursday

Friday
Here are my questions in no particular order...
At this point is it even worth trying to salvage this liner? I still can't even find the leak.
Can I wait until February to replace? (We just had to fix our AC and I'm not sure a liner replacement is in the budget right now.)
If I can wait, what do I do in the meantime? Drain the rest out?
If I can't wait, does anyone know anybody in the North Texas area that will install a new expandable liner?

Anyway, I'm hoping someone out there can give me a little direction. Thanks in advance!

 

[Newdude]

Its 2/3 empty already. When it gets to where its leaking it will stop losing water and greatly narrow down the location of said leak. Then you can patch it.

 

[heikejohn]

Have you checked the hoses/ PVC pipes outside of the pool? Cracked filter, leak at skimmer.....
Might not be a liner problem, but a plumbing problem.

 

[duraleigh]

Let it leak down until it stops. As said above, that's where the leak is. Assess the situation then.

 

[mbuice]

Well, I think it's leaked down as far as it will go. I'm not sure if the water stopped going down because it's reached the leak location, or because the ground is so saturated the water is equalized. There is about a foot of water standing in the shallow end and there are definitely no holes or tears on the wall.
I've decided to go ahead and replace the liner for a few reasons.
1. I still can't find the dang leak, and by now I'm sure that even if I were to fix it the liner wouldn't fit properly any way. (Also, there are several cove pieces that have come loose and I can feel where they floated up behind the liner)
2. Last year we put in a fountain to try to cool the pool down. It definitely worked, but it was left on for a week while we were gone which raised the PH levels and a ton of scale built up before we could get the levels back to normal.
3. Found a small area of rust on the wall where the skimmer goes and I it would be a good time to assess the damage and do any necessary repairs from the inside.

Now that the decision to replace has been decided, I have a few questions about what I need to order. (other than the liner )
I'm definitely ordering new coping clips
Do I need new cove? I know that I have pieces that are no longer attached to the wall, but can I re-use them and attach with adhesive, or do I need to buy all new cove?
Should I order new gaskets for the skimmer and return as well?

Am I missing anything?

 

[Casey]

I'd replace the covers. Tons of pressure over the years have made them form in an un-uniformed manner that they probably wont fit the way they were originally intended to. I've got a few pieces that moved too and this as been my thoughts as I need to take care of rust n replace my liner too.

 

[mbuice]

Thanks Casey!

When the time comes I will be posting step-by-step pictures. I am so grateful that I did that when we had it put in, it definitely gives me the confidence to try to do this ourselves. I know I don't say this enough, but I love this forum!