Couple 2002 X-star ballast issues

Went and looked at an 02 X-star today. The boat is in pretty good shape. The two rear ballast pumps don't work though. He said they went out late last summer right before he put the boat away and hasn't had time to investigate it much as he just pulled it out of storage. He said that last summer when he flipped one of them on it sounded like it tried to run but it blew a fuse? Bad impeller? Where exactly are the pumps located in this boat? There are two pumps under the back bench seat on drivers side but I think one is bilge and one is ski locker ballast, which works? If the pumps are shot, how much and how difficult to replace these? Thanks. I'm really pumped about this boat but want to know how much I'm going to have to invest to get this ballast system working correctly. Good thing I got time up here in WI. Most lakes are frozen over. Was out on Lake Michigan this morning in the boat...chilly. I also had a question about the steering..I'll put in another post. Thanks.

New jabsco ballast puppys (standard on MC) are around $200-250 a piece and new impellars are around $30. Get the impellers from a MC dealer and make sure to get the new yellow ones that are better than the old material. The back two pumps are located behind a carpeted plate at the back of the boat in the storage compartments beside the engine. There is one on each side. If he doesn't want to fix them, I would assume worst case senario for parts and labor and negotiate it in the price. It probably is the impellars, but it could cost you $1000 for parts and more for labor to switch 4 Jabsco ballast puppys out.

4 pumps? port, starboard, and ski locker. Just three, right? The two pumps that are under the bench seat then: bilge pump and ski locker sac?

Sorry. The two pumps under the seat may be the two for the back. I was basing location of the pumps on how they layed out the x1. The bilge pump wiil be on the bottom of the boat and doesn't look like the balast pumps, so i wouldn't think that one would be the bilge pump. Someone with the same year x2 will know exactly where the pumps are located for each balast.

I have 2003 x2. The rear pumps are as stated above, the ski locker pump is under the bench seat behind the driver. I don't know what that other pump is. It shouldn't be the bilge though. I would guess it is the impellars, which I switch myself. Once you've done one, they are very easy and quick to change. One "trick" I found on this boat is that starboard side rear ballast fill hose goes from the port side to the starboard side and goes very near or touches the rudder steering assembly. This caused a hole in my fill hose and it took me forever to figure out where the leak was from, and why my impellar blew. Simple fix to tie it up and out of way. Just my 2cents. I would get the impellars changed, see if it works, and then take it to dealer to get those pumps working.

Can I order the impellars online somewhere? I hear I should get the yellow ones? Also, think maybe the other pump could be for the hot/cold shower at the transom?

(Message edited by chaser on April 01, 2007)

I have owned an 02 X-Star since new and went round and round with ballast issues. The local dealer stuck with it and finally solved my issues. One of the main issues on the ballast system on that year of boat was the gauge of wiring used. They used to small of a wire gauge. Impellers were also an issue, the yellow ones referred to above are the ticket. From my understanding the wire switch out is cheap and easy, but it was taken care of by the dealer so I cannot give first hand experience.