1986 189v livewell help

[chillywillie]

Anyone familiar with the 1986 189V? My rear livewell needs a new pump & aerator. Pump I can handle (I think) however I cannot figure out what to do about the aerator.

The only way to get to the livewell plumbing is through the rear hatch. Problem is the gas tank blocks the side where the pump sits. I tried to pull the gas tank today, but after about 5 hours of trying I finally realized it wasn't going to come out (they had to have put it in before the cap went on the boat because it's much bigger than the opening and there isn't any play room to manuver it out).

Anyone have any suggestions? I really need to get this rear livewell up & running as it's the bigger of the two livewells.

The gas tank also makes it very hard to work on the livewell pump also as it's nearly impossible to get a hand back into the blige area where the pumps sit. The pumps are old Atwoods that I can no longer find so I need to redo the setup but the limited space will make it "fun".


Thanks!
Willie

[lkhartwl]

first off the age of the boat and the tank have a lot to do with it. the tank has probably swollen with age and now is a slightly different dimension than it was when it was put in. the best thing I can suggest is to totally empty the tank and then remove the fill cap and tube from the side of the boat ( or loosen it) and remove all wires and hoses that you can get to. also if possible popst a picture of the area on here as you may be missing something that we know about. I had to remove my tanks in my 201 and the first time it was a bit*h since they were original equiptment (1994) now the new tank I put in is great just slides in and out. Please send pics of the boat and tank area most of the time the tanks are accessed from the seat area and removed that way. good luck, Steve

[201pro]

Is the pump leaking or it just needs to be replaced. If all else fails, install a new pump and aerator in a different location from the original, if room allows. If you do put in a new aerator, go ahead and get the one that pulls out for a pump-out. Then you can upgrade the livewells to have a pump out with only one more step than what you already going to have to do....

[chillywillie]

Thanks for the responses guys! I'll try to get some pics this afternoon, it's raining right now, hopefully it will clear up.

I did get everything loose on the top of the tank, but I think there is a connection at the bottom that I'm missing and can't see/reach. That might be what's holding me up. The tank is completely empty so I'm good there.

I really need to get this thing out as it's hard to get much done with it in there. The only access to the livewell is the back wall, which is blocked by the gas tank. Getting to the bilge area is nearly impossible as there's only a couple inch gap to reach down through (i've gotton my arms back in there but it requires the loss of some skin every time!). Besides the livewell issues, there's other things back there I'd like to update (blige pump, flashers, etc) but just can't get to them.


Thanks again,
Willie

[chillywillie]

Almost forgot - the pump itself is dead, and the aerator appears to be dead, but I can't get to it to determine if it is. The pump has a unique mounting system that I can't find anything like it any more. It mounts horizontally to a round plate by three screws. The plate itself has the nipple that then extends down through hull of the boat. Unless I can come up with a way to mount a new style pump to the plate, I'll need to redo the whole set up which will be difficult with the gas tank in the way.

Willie

[thedavel]

Hey, just wondering if you ever got this problem solved. I'm brand new on this board but I just had the same problem and may can help.

Dave

[stratos284]

I had an 86 179v and had to remove the tank for the same reason I had to forcefully turn the tank up on its side and believe me you will shave most all the skin off your hands but it will come out just make sure you fix anything under there that might need it because when you put the tank back in your going to shave the rest of the hide off your hands I always said if I had to take it out again I was going to do it by throwing a match in the gas tank and run so good luck with that project (it will come out) let us know how it goes if we dont here from you we'll just assume that your hands havent healed yet good luck

[drfish]

Have you had any luck with the tank. I have an 86 179V and like mentioned above, the tank is a ***** to get out but it will come. You probably have a rear and front live well. You'll only have two pumps, one for each livewell. The pumps just pump the water in and it overflows out. No recirc or airation. Look at the Flow-rite site and you'll get some good ideas for redoing at least the rear livewell.

While the tank is out is a good time to check your bildge pumps, transducers, etc. Do a quick check of all wire connectors. You'll not want to take the tank out too many more times.