Livewells won’t recirculate

I have a 2011 WX1850 and am having problems with the livewells not wanting to recirculate water. When i turn the livewell recirc to on you can hear the motor trying to run but nothing happens back there. Occasionally if i’m on the water all day and leave the switch in the on position it will eventually run but that is hours from initially turnign it on. What do you guys think the problem could be? I need to get this fixed before our big tournaments here in July as it can cost me some healthy fish. Thanks!

Have you checked the intake to see if it got full of mud, sand, weeds, etc?

Otherwise, I’d suspect the pump impeller got jammed and the motor shaft broke out of the impeller. I had that happen with a bilge once, it drove me crazy trying to figure out what happened as it SOUNDED LIKE it was running. And it was, it just wasn’t turning the impeller which is the critical function.

I’d be tempted to take the pump out and have a look and maybe bench test it.

Grouse

I’m assuming the intake has the white cap on it on the back wall of the livewell and if so yes I have checked it to include pulling it off and makign sure nothing is inside the tube. Where is the pump to pull it out? It is really hard to get good service here too since I bought the boat from Skeeter boat center so my dealership here doesn’t like to help me any.

2011 Skeeter and the dealer out your way won’t help.

If the dealer out there won’t help you get in touch with Skeeter and have SBC get in touch with Skeeter and see what they have to say. I had a similar issue with a Ford dealer, needless to say they are no longer a dealer, not becasue I complained to Ford but because of their lousy customer service I would assume. I was on the way to the cabin and had an issue on a friday night. First dealer didn’t want to deal with it so I kept driving. Next dealer bent over backwards to help me out, the next time I’m in the market for a new truck they will get some consideration.

Yeah tell me about it….2011 and get ZERO help here locally because I didn’t want to pay their $10,000 markup of what SBC was going to charge me. I will say I had an issue last year with my seat pedestals and SBC went above and beyond sending me new pedestals from Skeeter to replace the faulty ones…GREAT SERVICE!

Sounds like the pump has a spun impeller. Pull the pump and check the impeller. Might be as simple as finding a small impeller that will fit, or you might have to get a new pump.

Before you go taking it apart, take off the intake and stick a hose up to it and blow some water in there. Turn the pump on when you do this and see if water goes through the system from the pressure of the hose, that will make sure you dont just have a clog in the recirc system.

I guess this week i will have to work on giving that a shot. Where is the recirc pump at for the livewell? I’m sure if I look around I can figure it out but would like to be sure. Thanks

Give me a call and I’ll walk you through some things to check and if that doesnt work out we’ll get you a new pump. 715-833-0060

Seems like an awfully new boat to have mechanical issues.

I’ve had a boat or 2 that infrequently had “air lock” and would not fill. What some nice person taught me was to turn the pump on, put the boat in reverse and slowly give it a little juice… The eddy of current often times primed the pump and problem was solved. Might want to give that a try before you spend too much time or money.

Good luck, nothing worse than having issues with a boat…

Thanks Kurt but the livewells fill up just fine…just won’t recirculate any water once they get full. I really appreciale all the help/ideas from you guys! Sean I will try to give you a call today and write down what you would like me to try. Thanks

Thanks for the help Sean. I called and Brent gave me a couple things to try and i’m pretty sure it was airlocked. I used the turkey baster to shoot some water through it and that seemed to work. I filled it up with the hose and it recirced perfectly. Then I took it to the lake yesterday and although it didn’t want to recirc right away, it started working after two shots of water from the baster. I think I will just keep the turkey baster in the boat from here on out just in case. Thanks guys!

Thank you! We are glad to help. Have a great 4th of July Holiday!

Brent/Sean,
I just wanted to get your opinion on what you think the real problem is with my recirc. It still won’t recirculate without shooting water up the intake with the turkey baster. Usually two good pumps from the baster and it is good to go but in a two year old boat I shouldn’t be having to do that. I would think if it was air locked it would be good by now but without the turkey baster it just runs and won’t recirculate the water. //Derrick//

I have the same problem in my new MX1825. It worked the first few outings then got air locked. Got it going one time, but after that it continues to do the same thing.

I have resorted to just letting the livewell fill randomly to bring in new water instead of recirculating. Not that it is the answer to the problem, I have not gotten around to figuring it out.

Make sure your pumps are straight up and down. If the pumps sit at a 45 they sometimes wont pump and get a airlock. Straighten up the pumps and tighten them up.. Mine does this once in a while.

The recirulate pump on the rear live well sits on back side of the livewell. Open up the hatch by the motor.. Bet this fixes your problem…

Thanks I will look at it later!

That was it. When i get my new skeeter i am going to pull that pump and eooxy it in, well maybe rtv it into place.