new boat ballast issue

We just put our new to us 2000 pro air nautique in the water and took it for its first run, We tried filling the stock ballast and the guage on the left said it was full but the right tank the gauge said empty. Could this be a guage issue or a pump issue? Im a newb to a boat with integrated ballast and any insight would be a major help


Thanks in advance

Not sure how yours fills/drains, but we have a 2010 Axis and I know when the tanks are full, by the water overflow, shooting out the holes on the sides of the boat. Same goes for darining, when no more water is coming out, bags/tanks are empty.

My last boat, an '04 Nautique 210 TE, had a very similar issue. I never got mine fixed, and as Wade stated, I could always tell when it was full by the overflow. It's not the right way to do it, but it's the easiest and cheapest way. Seems like every time I took my boat in for one small issue, there was something else popping up. I want to say it was due to a faulty float in the tank though. Sometimes the gauge floats (or whatever you call them) get stuck and therefore don't allow the dash gauges to report the amount of water in the tanks. I'm not much help on how to fix, but just letting you know it's not just your boat. Jump over on www.planetnautique.com if you haven't already done so. Those guys know everything you need to know to fix it, guaranteed...

Ballast will be the bain of your existence. I have an 02 x star and am about to totally bypass their set up. I think its due to the fact those were the early days of ballast systems and lots of guessing and hoping it works. Good luck I know its not much help do whatever it takes to make it function right and move on.

I have an 01 and i have the same issue but with the opposite guage. It is just a guage issue. Both of my tanks fill just fine but it only reads on the one. Go to nautiqueparts.com and order a new one. Its only a $30 fix and you will have a working guage that matches the other one. The older Nautiques dont use pumps on each tank. There are two aerorator pumps. One fills the tank, and one empties. So as long as it is filling you are fine. Also make sure both vaccum lines are open all the way. They are the two shower looking knobs in back of the drivers seat. If one of those is closed, it will airlock that side so no water is pumped in. Kind of a weird system i know, but like tampawake said, they are just older systems. Hope this was some help

I second what has already been said. If you confirm the tank is not filling and its not an issue with the gauge sender (common problem) go through these checks

Make sure the valves to the left of your feet are all on
Make sure all the ball valves are on (there should be two L handles that comes up just forward of the engine for the rear tanks.
Make sure you give it a little gas while filling to make sure the pumps are primed.

If that doesn’t work, turn on each pump without the boat running to listen. If you dont hear anything, you may need a new pump. luckily it’s a cheap fix not matter what the problem is.

I have some gauges and sending units off my '99 that might fit your tanks. Pay the shipping and they are yours.