Ranger livewell leak?

[m_heaton09]

My livewells on auto with the pump running only fill to about the 3rd hole. Not to the overfill. Same with recirc. I filled them with a waterhose after and there was water coming out of the screen beside the drain plug while it was on auto and recirc. What do i need to do to fix this? Also why is there water barely coming out constantly when i have the pumps running and pump out off? Thanks

[jc2bg]

Your issue sounds like a fairly common one, over time. The livewell valve body contains “flappers” designed to hold the water in the livewell in both the auto and recirc positions. But over time, crud builds up on the flappers, not allowing them to close completely, or the flappers become worn. Again, preventing a watertight seal. I’m not sure what you mean by the third hole. Holes in the livewell divider? It’s unlikely that a flapper issue is so severe [unless it’s been going on for quite a while] that the livewell won’t fill when both pumps are operating. So, that leaves us with another possibility, which is that one of your livewell pumps is not operating or operating at greatly reduced capacity. The plumbing of the livewell system is such that if one pump is not pumping properly, water can escape out that side, preventing complete fill of the livewell. You haven’t told us how old your boat is or when [if ever] the livewell pumps and valves were rebuilt/replaced. You *could* have two problems.

[EDR]

Valves need new flappers. Get new valve or take apart and install new flappers. Both ways will do it, but both have different challenges.