06 1700 Explorer Live well ?

Finally got a chance to use our 06 17 Explorer on a week long vacation and tried the live-wells. Unfortunately I could not get the live-wells to fill. I hit the manual aeration button and no fill (with white threaded plug removed).

Here’s my understanding of the live-wells. There is a manual drain plug at the bottom of the 2 livells. There are 2 overflow drains in each tank, and one white threaded plug, that when removed allows lakewater to be pumped into the tank. When I remove the white threaded plug and hit the manual aerator switch, I hear a hum but no water is pumped into the tanks. I’m assuming the tank should fill with the threaded plug removed, and drain out the overflow vents for “aeration”.

I pulled the bottom drain plug and got some water to fill the rear tank (just from being in the water) but can’t get the tank to fill. I’m assuming either I’m doing something wrong (need help here if that’s the case) or I have a plugged fill line or bad pump.

My problem is that I cannot get the tanks to fill. Suggestions greatly appreciated.

06 Lund Explorer 1700 excellent condition 30hrs on Merc 115 4str.

Just because you can hear the pump run ,it doesnt mean it pumps water

Try filling it with garden hose in the water inlet.

Mine did the same thing but would only fill when sitting against the current, I replced the pump with bigger than needed pump and been good since no matter how I sit in the water.

JMHO Jeff

There is a mesh screen in the back by your plugs. It should be your livewell intake, I would take it off and see if its plugged up.

You should NOT have to completely unscrew the white valve in order to fill the live wells either.

Is it possible you have a vapor lock? Did you try running your boat in reverse with the pump on?

FDR

Try running the pump while backing up the boat. Sometimes you need to get water to the pump if it hasn’t been used in a while.

Thanks for all the responses/advice. The boat will be out of the water for a while so I’ll have to do any further checking on the trailer. I did check the intake screen on the stern and it is clean and clear as is the intake with the screen removed. So that part is OK. I did not realize the “white plug” did not have to be removed, I take it that’s a valve then and can be adjusted for allowing water in from the pump. Please advise. I had not tried reverse when the boat was in the water and the boat had been out of the water for a year or 2 so may need to be primed. It’s raining pretty good today so I’ll hold off until later today when it stops and try hooking a hose up to the intake and see if that will prime pump.

I should note also, this was our first extended use of the boat (2006 Lund Explorer 1700). We put the OEM Lund Bimini top up and it was great for shade cover and a spot out of the few brief showers we had while fishing. My wife really enjoyed being on the boat and did some fishing in comfort landing a few largemouths. I pulled my 11 year old son on a tube for a bit and the 115 4 stroke easily pulled him. With a full tank of gas and 3 of us and gear (live wells not full unfortunately) the boat did exactly 40gps (41 on the speedo). Very smooth ride on the only rough day we had with 20mph winds. Very happy with the boat for fishing & family.

I got an 05 last year. Mine is a tiller but I love it. Good luck on figuring out the livewell. let us know what you find out when you get it back in the water.

Screw the white plug back into the tube until it seats itself. Then unscrew it until the stream of water is satisfactory. You should not have to go in reverse to prime it. Does your boat have 2 switches per live well? If so make sure you are turning the switch on that say fill. Ex: aft/lw fill.

Reb,

The livewell pump uses the same motor as the bilge pump, so try the bilge pump, listen for the sound, and see if the livewell pump sounds the same. I would describe a working pump sound as more of a buzz, a “hum” may indicate that the pump is locked-up, so the impeller can’t spin.

Look at the 1:30 minute mark, he quickly shows how to pull the release tab, and un-screw and remove the pump cartridge from the base. My ’06 1700 Explorer used these pumps, I’ll bet your’s does too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ojjqPl7d7o

HRG

OK, I got it working. I cleaned out the bilge and the live well pump is very easy to remove and check with just a unlock and twist. It goes back in easy too, with a twist and click that locks it. Pump (it is a separate pump from the bilge pump in the 06). I pulled off the screen and hooked the hose up to it at a very low pressure level and it filled both tanks easily. Granted, the real test will be in the water since even at low pressure on the hose, that’s doing some pumping. At first the pump did not seem to be working well, so I disassembled it and it seemed to go back in better/straighter than it came out. So it may have been put together crooked. Anyway, it seems fine now and moves lots of water. I’ll post back when I put it back in the water in the next few weeks. Thanks for all the suggestions. BTW it is a a single pump that fills both front and rear live well tanks. I used it in manual mode to check it’s function. I’m still not really sure what auto mode is. Does it have a timer that recirculates water every so often. Any info on that would be appreciated. I did not get documentation that describes these things with the boat.

Thanks! Reb

Auto will recirculate every so often.

I believe that in your boat you have just a manual fill mode and auto fill mode. Auto fill is just a timed out mode that takes fresh water from the lake and puts it in your live well using a timed switch. Similar to auto recirculation. The difference between auto recirculation and auto fill is that auto recirculation just recirculates the water already in your live well on a timed switch vs pulling new water in from the lake on a timed switch. I hope it makes sense. At least you got it working. It is good to clean out the housings now and then, because they do get built up with sand now and then from power loading the boat. A good thing to do is when you get close to shore and your going to be done for the day and load the boat is to shut down the aerators so they don’t suck sand up in them.

Thanks again for the replies,

There is one switch for the 2 live wells. The middle position is off. The top position is labeled “Aerator Automatic” and the bottom position is labeled “manual”. I was able to hook a hose up to the rear intake on the stern (removing the intake screen) and use the manual mode to pump water from the intake to fill both live wells. The fill was controlled by the “white nozzle in each live well which when turned in decreased the inlet water flow and can shut off if all the way in. It seemed that once the pump was clear and clean that it increased the fill pressure over what the hose was delivering. When I put the switch to the “Aerator Automatic” position nothing happened.

Since each live well has 2 overflow drains, and on inlet from the intake pump, and one lower drain plug, I assume then that the “automatic Aerator” mode is a timed (on occasionally) mode that brings in fresh water and overflows the tank draining some of the “less fresh” water.

Would that be correct?

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Thanks again for the replies,

There is one switch for the 2 live wells. The middle position is off. The top position is labeled “Aerator Automatic” and the bottom position is labeled “manual”. I was able to hook a hose up to the rear intake on the stern (removing the intake screen) and use the manual mode to pump water from the intake to fill both live wells. The fill was controlled by the “white nozzle in each live well which when turned in decreased the inlet water flow and can shut off if all the way in. It seemed that once the pump was clear and clean that it increased the fill pressure over what the hose was delivering. When I put the switch to the “Aerator Automatic” position nothing happened.

Since each live well has 2 overflow drains, and on inlet from the intake pump, and one lower drain plug, I assume then that the “automatic Aerator” mode is a timed (on occasionally) mode that brings in fresh water and overflows the tank draining some of the “less fresh” water.

Would that be correct?

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You have got it correct.

FDR