Suction side leak (PIC) am I close???

Well, long story short (kind of), My pump housing cracked this summer and I had lots of air bubbles. Very visible crack and I assumed all the bubbles had to do with that. I installed my new pump yesterday only to find the same problem. I went through all of the above ground fittings and added more pvc and silicon on top of that, Same Problem.
So I start digging for the first elbow into the pump. The ground was super soft after about 12 in. and we haven't had any real rain for 3 weeks. I get to the elbow finally, get it cleared off and go take a break from the 100 + weather and come back to find water in my hole. I test and test and cant find the leak so I just cut and replaced everything from the elbow foward. I thought that was gonna do it, but I was wrong.
So my question,
Being the water is puddling up in my hole, would you assume the leak is fairly close? The water only seems to rise to the top of the elbow so can I assume that the leak is definitely in that horizontal line? One reason I really thought it was in that elbow was due to the ground softness around it. It was like soup there, but past where i've dug out is considerably harder.
I've been working on various pump/suction issues for 2 days and need to know if i'm heading the right way.

Thanks
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/DSCF0024.jpg

Your probably wondering why I haven't just dug it out more, but there is a concrete pad on one side and another pipe going perpendicular at where I need to dig. It's a mess.

Think you're on the right track. Water could be leaking along that horizontal pipe somewhere and following a path of least resistance to the hole. I assume that horiz pipe goes to a skimmer? You said you took a break and the hole then got water in it. Try draining the hole and running the pump to see if it refills with water while the pump is on. If it doesn't then the pipe is likely the problem. If not, maybe the skimmer. Curious if the water level in the hole stops at the level of the water in the pool. Best guesses for now.
Al
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It's had to tell, but I think the water in my hole is actually 6-12 inches lower than the pool level.

My skimmer is about 30 ft. from that hole and 3/4 of the line is under concrete. Do you think it's possible for water to travel that far and puddle up in my hole?

Impossible to tell if water could travel that far from a leak. I doubt 30' but it depends on how the pipe was buried and the surrounding soil. If directly in the ground probably not. If buried in sand or something to protect it somewhat, maybe. Did you check if the hole fills with the pump running? Another question...In Oklahoma, what about freeze damage? Don't know the climate issues that well. My gut feeling is the leak is close to the hole. Wish I could be of more help.
Al

I kept digging farther back on the line yesterday, and I don't know what I touched but my puddles in the bottom of my hole stopped, but I'm still getting air in the pump.
I left the pump running yesterday for 4 hrs and didn't have one drop of water, then I just never got anymore water. This complicates my situation. Now I'm looking for an invisible air leak.
On top of that It rained last night last night and my dog removed my tarp from the hole and took it to her dog house. So now when I get home i have water to bail.

I really think this problem started at the end of last summer. I wasn't very educated about the pool and didn't really relize anything bad was happening with the bubbles.

The other pipe....... have you checked it for leaks? Water leaks can be funny at times, you think to yourself "an easy repair", but then spend half day tracking it down.

I might have over looked, but have you done a bucket test to see how much water your losing?

I'm not loosing water per say. I actually marked on my pool tile with dry erase and the water didn't move overnight, if so it was so slight I couldn't tell.

It does freeze in OK in the winter time. I don't know what the frostline is here, but I was golfing on Jan. 7th this past winter. It was really warm. My pool got no more than a very thin sheet of ice on top.
Guess since I'm home I'll go bail water and start digging some more.