LiveWell BassTracker Question.

[Bass Tracker]

I have a 2001 BassTracker PT175 XT.



I have used the livewell about 10times total. And this is usually how i fill it.



1) Turn the "dial" to "auto". (dial has 2 options, "auto" or "Empty"

2) Turn the "switch" on dash to "aerator manuel" (switch options are "manuel" or "auto"

3) just give it about 5-15min. and it will fill up.



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I did this on Sunday and it worked fine. However i tried again on monday and tuesday and it only filled a little bit. not even 1/4 of the way.



I am not sure why. Am I missing something here? I have heard driving in reverse for 20secs or so will help fill it. I have heard just driving alone will help and also do nothing . It says on the livewell cover "this boat is equipt with a tournament livewell system etc," but it just seems to be tricky to understand.



any help would be appreciated. Thanks alot

 

[Jim B]

Sometihng sounds wrong. From what i can see on your description you are doing everything right. I almost sounds to me as if the valve that controls the drain is jammed or clogged.

 

[Bass Tracker]

The hole in the transom near my "boat plug" with the mesh net. This is the hole that the livewell "drains out of". Is this also the hole that the water gets sucked up from?

 

[Jim B]

Yep it should be. There is a valve attached to the pump and when you move the valve to auto is closes the drain and diverts the water into the fill. If that valve is plugged up it could bwe holding open the drain and not allow it to fill up. Check this link for a better explination of how the system works.




http://www.flow-rite.com/marine/system2.html?open_menu=1&sub_menu=1

 

[Bass Tracker]

Jim,



Thanks alot for that link. Very helpful. I am going to take the mesh off the fill hole and spray my garden hose up the hole and hope it dislodges anything that may be there. I will also check the pump itself. I hope it is easily Accessible.



Thanks again

 

[Mike Newman]

Have you changed the way you have weight distributed around the boat? Reason I ask is that on my 2003 I have found it to be tempermental when the back end of the boat rides higher. I think the posiion of the pump is right at the normal water level and if it is too high relative to the water level it does not want to prime. Backing the boat up will force water up the tube abd help priming. Also check how it rides in the water to see if it is higher in the back than normal. Hopes this helps.

 

[Bass Tracker]

well my buddy was fishing the back, and he is a big guy, so i highly doubt the boat was higher than normal . but thats a thought. thanks

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Have fun...my 02 185 has a crappy system just like yours. I have no problem filling it...it just gets junk in it all the time. That's why I went to the cartridge type pump for easy access.

 

[Jim B]

One easy thing you can do to test it is put the selector on auto and fill up the livewell on a hose. if the valve isnt holding the wter will leak out of the drain. If it does you have an issue with the valve.



Tee, theres nothing really "crappy" ab out that system. Are there really any that are better? I had that same deal in my last two boats and never had any real trouble out of any of them.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Never had a problem with my 94 livewells...after you scrape your arms 50 times after cleaning and relacing the pump and it's poor location...you'll change your mind Jim.

 

[Jim B]

I did one on my buddies 185 and i didnt think it was all that bad. Hih never really got clogged either, he put a screen on it right away to prevent that......



I had to yank the valve on my 882 once(sombody i had as a non boater put line in my well and it got into the pump) and it was worse scine i had to remove everything in the rear of the boat to get to it and its under the tank. None of that makes the system crappy in my opinion. Jsut a poor design location by tracker/nitro

 

[TOMMY RICH]

OK...maybe not crappy. Poor design:unsure:

 

[Jim in VA]

Back to basstrackerma's question - I'm willing to bet you have some debris in the valve. I had an 02 PT175 and the same thing would happen occasionally. Especially fishing the Potomac. All it takes is a leaf, a bit of grass or some other muck to cause the valve to stick and keeping it from closing all the way. My solution was to take the garden hose with spray nozzle and shoot water through the drain and then move over and shoot water up through the intake. Couple rounds of that usually flushed out the problem and the livewell would work again. Make sure to do that with the selector on EMPTY if you go that route.

 

[Bass Tracker]

Thanks for the tips all.



I went home last night and seen I actually had 3 holes in the transom. The "OverFill" The "Boat Plug" and the "Aerator Intake/Drain" .



I removed the "mesh net" on my intake and sprayed the hell out of it with the garden hose, I then Filled the livewell with garden hose and Emptyed it completely. I will reglue the mesh net today and see if I have better luck tommorow when I try it on the water.



and yes, i see were the pump is located and it just plain SUCKS to have to change that if thats the problem...dam i hope its not.. because once it is filled the "aerator" part works great.



Now my main question is. Just how "fast" should a livewell fill up when working correctly?? Like 1min tops. or is 5-15min normal?

 

[Jim B]

It will take a few min to fill up the wells. You most likley have a 500gph pump that does the fill and that equals out to ~8 gallons per min at best or more like 5 real world. Depending on how big your wells are it will take a little bit of time.



I know on my Z7 they take a good 6 or 7 min to fill up. They hold ~30 gallons of water.

 

[Frank Ingram]

my livewell switch is stuck to drain. i can't physically move it to fill. lol. i have to run the pump all the time to get the thing full and to keep it full.