I replaced a leaking rear KGB ballast pump that pumped water just fine but just would leak all into the bilge area. The new pump runs (I hear and feel it) but its not pumping any water. I do have the valve switch open at the rear of the boat. <BR>By opening up the hoses/connections/etc to replace the pump, did I do something that causes a need for priming the pump? I was under the impression these pump did not need priming.

On mine, I have to switch it from fill to empty a couple of times and that usually works.

I do the same thing as paul. <BR>The pumps for the 2001-2002 MC's are regular Aerator bilge pumps. 500GPH and should be beige or brown in color. <BR>There are 3 fill pumps for the KGB system...all are located in the bilge area under the waterline, therfore the prime comes from teh water pressue commin in from the rear. Occasionally, you will get an "air-lock" and hitting the empty for a few seconds, will help break that lock and allow the fill pump to work as intended. I run into this almost daily...but my procedure is: <BR>fill(3sec) <BR>OFF(2secs) <BR>Empty(3secs) <BR>OFF(2secs) <BR>Fill till tank is pee-ing out the overflow! works almost everytime. I also do both tanks at the same time, it's like one action, but i hit both button for the rear tanks at the same time... <BR> <BR>My wifes trick to the ballast is "Last-Left" meaning the last ballast button toward the rear (the last one) is the control for the left side ballast tank. Unless they wired your boat different, it should be the same. <BR> <BR>KG <BR>

The pumps are Mayfair Marine 1000 GPH (at least the one's I've looked at are) and are made of a black pump inside a yellow casing. The pump can be removed from the casing with a twist if you need to place. <BR>Its possible these are not the stock pumps but I thought they were. <BR>The front ballast system was "upgraded" (I was told) to a 600 lb center bag. Maybe that included replacing the pumps with 1000 GPH ones. <BR>And maybe the others were upgraded too?? <BR>I know if I had 500 GPH pumps (or even 750's), I'd want to upgrade to 1000! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> <BR>I did a lot of flipping switches, but nothing worked. Maybe I need to follow the pattern you mentioned above. <BR>I really though I had read these were "lock proof" pumps.

There were a lot of issues with the impeller. I went thru 3 changes on my 02' X-Star and now everything is fine.

Billy, <BR>I know that it was a problem for '01s, but I think you are right about the "lock proof" pumps for '02. Maybe they did upgrade the pump to meet the requirements of the bigger bag. I would check with your dealer.

youve got the stock pumps cause thats what came in mine. Im the original owner mayfair marine 1100gph o1xstar pumps

Steven, <BR> <BR>Have you ever needed to prime them or have they always just worked whenevern you turned them on? <BR> <BR>Thanks for your reply, <BR>Billy

From what I've been told, in 02, they replaced the 6 pump system (3 for filling and 3 for emptying) with a 3 pump system. <BR>I tried the switches on and off to get it primed, but that did not work. <BR>What did work was undoing the quick connect between the pump and the rear of the boat with the lever open. I did this to check if water was indeed flowing into the pump. It was and then after reconnecting, both rear pumps filled. So perhaps there was some sort of "air lock"? I don't know and I hope I don't have to go through those steps to get the pumps to fill each time. We will see... <BR>Thanks for all the feedback.

BillyB, <BR> <BR>Just another thought. I had an '01 X-9. <BR> <BR>The water intakes were on the transom and had a domed screen over the intake. All bags had black and red quick disconnects and "Open/Close" valve actuators. If yours is an '01 it should be the same. <BR> <BR>If you have trouble priming again, just make sure the valves are open and put the boat in reverse. This always seemed to create enough pressure to break the "air lock" in my system. <BR> <BR>You may also want to check the actuator to ensure that "Open" on the acuator truly opens the valve all the way. I know of some '01's where placing the actuator half-way between opened the valve full while "Open" was only half-open. <BR> <BR>'01 was the first year for plumbed-in systems I believe, and there were a few bugs.