94 Ranger R70 Bilge Question

[Larry Selvidge]

Hello, we have just purchased our first boat, a 94 Ranger R70 "fixer-upper". It came with no manual/instructions, of course, and the previous owner had not done much with it except put it in the water and fish.....which isn't all bad. But he'd never used the live wells, and didn't know much about them. I'm curious if it's OK to test those well pumps while the boat is out of the water to find out if they are functional, and if I can do that should I be able to hear them come on if they are working properly?
I'm also curious if I should hear the bilge pump come on when I flip the switch on the console, even if there is no water in the bilge (again, out of water , on the trailer)? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I'm willing to try just about anything, but don't want to make a bad situation worse, so I thought I'd ask before I just blundered ahead!

[bugman63]

I did test mine out of water and if you hit the switch I heard the bilge make a noise. my mechanic said if you hear it its working he then put about 2 gallons of water where the bilge sits and tuned it on and it pissed out like a race horse. and I have 2 pumps 1 for the boat and 1 for the livewell

[Larry Selvidge]

That worked, thanks! Turned it on, heard it, poured in some water and it pumped right out. Guess I'm overthinking things!

[bugman63]

no problem, happy fishing

[terry5357]

I bought an R70 in 94 with a ProV 115 would run 55 all day long and handled rough water pretty good for what is actually a 16 1/2' boat. They call me t 17' because of the 6" swt back on the transom.

[Larry Selvidge]

Terry, good to hear from a former R70 owner! This is my ignorance of boats, but I was curious what you meant by the 6" swt at the transom? What is an set?

[Larry Selvidge]

Sorry, I meant to ask what is an swt, not set?

[11pounder]

Larry welcome to the site. I own an R73 and I'm pretty sure he was talking about the 6" built in set back on the transom.

[Larry Selvidge]

OK makes sense. Thank you!

[terry5357]

Yes "set" back, see how the back of the boat sticks out where the motor is mounted, that's the built in set back, kind of works like a jack plate. I bought min brand new and it was a great boat until the divorce got it.