livewell troubles

[djwlbk]

I have just bought a 1992 skeeter ss140. I have a rear livewell button on the dash and an aerator button on the front. When I turn each one on the pumps run you can hear but no water comes in the livewells. Am I missing something or what should I do? Thanks for any help.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: livewell troubles

Did you look at the back of the boat to see if the pump intakes have been blocked off for some reason or another? Did you look to see if the hoses feeding those pumps are hooked up?

 

[djwlbk]

Re: livewell troubles

Yes I have looked and nothing is blocking the intakes,the hoses are hooked up to the tanks for sure and I never bilge any water out so I dont htink their leaking in the sump. Dont look very easy to get into my sump area so I am sure dreading this task.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: livewell troubles

Depending on the livewell setup, there may be drain and fill knobs somewhere in the vicinity of the helm. If those are set to "Drain" obviously no water can be pumped into the livewell.

 

[Eyeman]

Re: livewell troubles

It's a long shot, but I've often had trouble getting livewell pumps to prime properly. Assuming your pickup is on the lower transom you can try putting the boat in reverse, get her going a couple mph forcing water through the hose and to the pump. If that works, you'll need to look at re-routing, shortening or looping the pick up hose to allow for self priming. Do you have to put a plug in the drain hole to retain water or is there a manual drain lever?

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: livewell troubles

Take a look inside your livewell and see what kind of spray head you have. Some boats have a plastic "pipe" about 6-8 inches long with holes in the pipe every 1/4 inch or so, these are not adjustable but can plug. The other type of spray head is adjustable and of you turn it in far enough you will totally close it off. This spray head won't be very big, it basically comes through the side of the live well and there will be what looks like a knob that you would turn with your thumb and forefinger. If you have this, give it a few turns counter clockwise and see what happens. you use the "knob" to adjust the amount of spray or water coming into the live well, , , especially if you have two wells fed off of one pump. My Lund is set up this way.

 

[djwlbk]

Re: livewell troubles

I am still stumped. I have put two new livewell pumps in and still they come on and hum but no water. I really dont know what else to do. Any other ideas would be appreciated and thanks for the replies already listed.