Need to get to my Bilge and Aerator Pumps not working 1990 184 F/S

[sonnyvann]

I am going thru all the wiring and changing out switches and cb's. I want to get under the floor and replace bilge and aerator pumps, and wiring also. The boat has three batteries and a large fuel tank in the hold and I am wondering if the tank will have to be removed. It looks like that the main battery sets on boards??? between the recess in the tank and maybe removable?? Just wondering if I am gonna have to remove the tank before getting started.

Does anyone have a pic of a stripped out battery section exposing the bilge area?
Does anyone have any advise about this job?

Many Thanks,
sonny

[ChampioNman]

Tank stays in place. Pull the batteries, charger oil tank out. Mark your battery cables so you know which battery they go to. Once all that junk is out you can then pull the false floor out and access the pumps and if you have an old transducer now is the time to knock it out. Spray the bilge with purple power or some other de-greaser and rinse it out. No one likes a dirty bilge. Here is a tip that makes replacement easier, I use bullet connectors on the pump wires, on the boat side I use a male bullet connector on the positive battery wire and a female on the negative then the opposite on the pump. Makes it a quick job to swap them out should one fail.
One other tip take your battery compartment lid off and lay on the back deck instead of leaning over the side of the. Bilge diving is no fun.

[TheKodiakWay]

I just did mine also. While down there I replaced my live-well lines and fittings. I also second the recommendation on pulling the hatch lid!

[WI Basser]

You don't have to pull the fuel tank but working in the bilge area of this boat is much easier with the tank out of there. Everything you need to do in the bilge is a pain so I tend to delay this work if possible till winter and complete other project work throughout the winter months. Things like cleaning up that spaghetti plate of wiring; installing battery cutoff switches or circuit breaker switches, transducers, live well lights, a live well pump out, Oxygenators, additional high capacity bilge pumps and under deck lighting, etc. Even upgrading your trolling motor wiring is much easier with the tank out of the way and you have to remove the fuel tank to work on the Hydro Air pump.

Start as others have said by removing the rear deck lid.
Then remove all equipment from the most forward area between the fuel tank projections.
Next disconnect the wiring from the fuel sender as well as the fuel line, fill hose and vent lines from the tank. If you have fuel in the tank remove the sender and pump or siphon the fuel out. Also force the hoses and lines back under the splash well and out of the way.
It doesn’t look like much but the tank will not come out if the carpeted sheet metal panel behind the tank and the vinyl trim from around the lip of the rear deck opening is not removed. Remove the screw in each of the upper corners of the carpeted sheet metal and grab hold of it with channel locks to pull it out. Then pull the trim away from the deck opening. Now you can work the tank loose and remove it.
After the tank is removed pull the false floor toward the bow and remove the remaining batteries/equipment.
Like ChampioNman says, clean the bilge area out real good and mark your wiring as you disconnect it. I usually take the boat I’m working on to the car wash and power wash the bilge.
One other thing…before reconnecting the fuel fill hose, apply a light coating of Vaseline to the connecting point on the tank. It can be a bear reconnecting the hose if you don’t.
This all sounds more difficult and time consuming than it is. I can remove one of these fuel tanks in about a half hour of steady work.

[sonnyvann]

Thanks All,
It is winter here so the time has come to do do do. I have already traced out all the wiring with the Champion Wiring Diagram, and man did they do stuff funky twisting and tapping wires. No Hot Buss, No Ground Buss, and No Sealed connections to start with. I have correcter this all that. Everything sealed and silicone'd where needed. All courtesy lights switched to LED as well as NAV and Anchor. All new CB's and Panel Switches trolling motor wires and connector good to go.
I do have a trusty Hydro Blaster here at home nad believe me it is gonna be clean before I dive in. LOL

I don't no about a Hydro Air Pump... Do you mean the Fish Aerator?
Being a fat boy I probably will go on and pull the fuel tank so I sure appreciate the guidance there.
I have not seen a live well pump so I was wondering if it were in the floor with the bilge area???
I still have to tackle the Aerator circuit so of course must locate the pump.
If someone has a pic of a stripped rear compartment it would give me a visual of where things work.

Thanks to everyone for your time here!

[ChampioNman]

Nope Hydro air pump is behind the gas tank and then the panel it is a separate pump. All it does is recycle the water from the livewells thru the bubbler or PVC line in the well. The Aerator and livewell pump are one and the same. Flip the switch to fill and the well fills. Flip to aerate and the timer kicks in and uses the same pump but runs until the timer kicks it off. Water goes out the overflow and out of the boat provided the check valve is working properly. I've never pulled my tank out and in this stage of the game have no intentions of doing so.

[sonnyvann]

Dang, I thought i heard i heard the pump behind the tank...gotta pull

[WI Basser]

Here’s one more thing I recommend and do every year on my Champ. Getting at these pumps takes some effort and time and you don’t want to do it more often than necessary especially if it could have been avoided. So, every year when you put the Champ away for the winter, run some R.V. antifreeze down your pump lines (its non-toxic and cheap). Be sure to get it into your Hydro Airline too. That line goes from one side of your live-well to the other and holds water all the time. It won’t jostle out going down the road or evaporate either. That Hydro Air pump is the reason I learned how to take the fuel tank out in the first place. Previous owner let it freeze and that cracked the pump. The live well just emptied into the bilge if you filled it. My Champ is garage kept but it gets cold here in Wisconsin so antifreeze in the lines is part of my winter storage routine.
Well, you’ve got plenty to do this winter. Have fun and if you run into a problem, someone will be around here to help out.

[ChampioNman]

One thing I did do after fighting years and years of having to pull out the false floor to get to the pumps was to build a new and improved false floor. I built a frame out of aluminum square tube and hinged it so the smaller area flips up. I used Kingwood Starboard for the flooring. I then moved all the pumps to the area that flips up. This way all I have to do is take out the starting battery and the oil tank. Using the bullet connectors on the wires and using the cartridge pumps makes changing them out a snap.

[sonnyvann]

Oh yes, I will spare no expense in the bilge area...I am a fat boy with no intentions of diving in there again. I love the RV Antifreeze idea. I am going to run it thru the motor but haven't thought about all the pump lines Good stuff all...big thanks

[ChampioNman]

Just keep the motor trimmed down no need to run it thru the outboard.

[WI Basser]

One thing I did do after fighting years and years of having to pull out the false floor to get to the pumps was to build a new and improved false floor. I built a frame out of aluminum square tube and hinged it so the smaller area flips up. I used Kingwood Starboard for the flooring. I then moved all the pumps to the area that flips up. This way all I have to do is take out the starting battery and the oil tank. Using the bullet connectors on the wires and using the cartridge pumps makes changing them out a snap.

Like your solution a lot. Would save a lot of time when all you need to do is change a pump or cartridge.