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Bilge pump

markchiz

Contributing Member
"'07 mercruiser 3.0...near

"'07 mercruiser 3.0...near the end of last season bilge pump stopped working, took it to dealer, said it was justa fuse so they replaced it. this season, dropped it in, bilge pump worked fine, yesterday, had a few inches of water in the bilge, pump wouldnt work. i checked the fuses, all are good, i checked the switch (hooked up the blower to the bilge pump switch to ensure the switch wasnt shot, blower worked fine on bilge switch). Seems no power is getting to the pump. the little LED on the switch doesnt even come on when I flick it on. any suggestions? I hate bailing by hand!"
 
sounds like you have have a pr

sounds like you have have a problem with power to the switch. best thing to do is chase the wire and see where you stop or start getting power whith a sharp test light stab the wire if you can in different places between the switch and where ever it is supposed to get it power from
 
"John H has the right idea. C

"John H has the right idea. Check your ground to the pump. The fuse blew for a reason which means the 12 volt source met w/ground and it blew or the pump motor is drawing too much current over the fuse's limit. Pumps are built cheap and throw away items. See if there is voltage at the pump's crimp connector. Yes? Pump motor is shot or ground is lost. Connect a jumper wire from ground to the pump's black wire. If it runs, repair ground."
 
"thanks for the tips guys. I w

"thanks for the tips guys. I was messing around with fuses and connections this afternoon...and I ended up getting power to the switch...the LED light came on...but still nothing at the pump.
i'll check the grounds, since its a very simple wiring circuit, and maybe just buy a new pump for the 20 bucks it costs, and see what happens. thanks again."
 
"one more quick question...
t


"one more quick question...
the wiring diagram in the owners manual shows 5 amp fuses at both the fuse box, and back at the battery for this bilge....
theres a 5amp fuse at the battery, but the fuse at the fuse box was a 10. I'm thinking maybe the dealer put this in to try and fix the problem temporarily and get me out of the shop??
i should probably replace it with a 5amp...and check my grounds. correct?"
 
"When you buy a new pump (

"When you buy a new pump (and it sounds like that is what is needed) the installation instructions will give the proper fuse rating for the bilge pump circuit. I do not know whether you plan to install the pump on a separate circuit (I would) or as part of an existing circuit, but either way it should have its own fuse.
I suggest separate circuit as you do not want any combined ampereage overload shutting down your bilge pump when you need it most (and vise versa)."
 
"Mark:

Is your bilge the au


"Mark:

Is your bilge the automatic type w/a float switch? That would be the only reason for it to have two fuses. The circuit from the battery would be live all the time. If it has a float switch tilt it up and see if it starts the pump. If the float switch doesn't move evenly, spray the pivots w/WD-40 and try again."
 
"yea thats odd, because there

"yea thats odd, because there is no float switch, its controlled by a flip switch on the dashboard.
I did however, notice that there is two wire connections down by the pump, where the brown and black wires off the pump, plug into the wiring circuit to the switch. so this must be so that I could install an aftermarket float switch.
either way, it seems my ground is lost somewhere along the way or my pump motor is shot..."
 
"just a quick question about b

"just a quick question about bilge pumps...
are the discharge lines usually the same size on smaller pumps? I'm not sure what the GPH rating on my stock pump is...its just a small one for an 18 ft boat. but what I'm wondering, is if I buy a replacement pump, is the discharge hose running to the outside of the boat designed to fit most pumps? I cant see pump companies running different diameter pump discharge lines for close to the same capacity...but you never know..."
 
"Probably 3/4" hose. WHen

"Probably 3/4" hose. WHen you pull old pump, measure. Also when you get the old pump out, you will likely be able to read the pump capacity on side of pump as a reference for size to buy (or get next size up).

You are right in that most comparable capacity pumps on market use same size discharge hose. Most smaller pumps are cheaply made and easy to gum up and burn out. On my large boat, the bilge pumps have fine screens to protect the pump blades."
 
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