Problems:
Clogged livewell pump or hose, water drips out.
Front livewell doesnt work at all.
Steering cables are stiff, need some kinda grease maybe
Trolling motor shaft grinds when rotates, bearings look to be shot
Batteries have no strapping system
Front hook is coming loose, needs to be tightened somehow
Same with the hand rails
Any advice is greatly appreciated, as I've sunk $2K into motor repairs already
New Steering cables $300 + labor =$515
The mechanic quoted 6hrs labor to replace/re-plump the livewell system.
The pumps are under the battery tray/flooring.
Do the fuel tanks and flooring have to be pulled in order to reach all the plumbing?
Or can I pull the batteries and remove the battery tray???
I hope its the latter, b/c that looks easier than removing everything.
Originally Posted by ccroom
I replaced both steering cables on my 1985 373v and it cost me less then $200 the cables were under $100 apiece and I got them from my local dealer. The pumps is a easy fix just remove your batteries and the tray they sit on and you have access to everything you need to mess with.
The pumps are all under the battery tray, just remove all batterys and oil tank and whatever els and then remove the tray and you can access it all. It isnt to hard of a project.
Ditto on the above! I did all of the tasks you referenced in your post on my old '91 361-V and it was not a big deal. Plus you will learn more about your rig and be much more comfortable with dealing with repairs when something craps out on the water. As noted above, access the front hook from the bow panel and put some silicone and red loc-tite on when you re-assemble. Pumps are a breeze and also replace the valve unit when you replace the pumps. Ask specific questions here as you go, you'll get the help you need.
2006 Ranger Z20 / 225HP Merc Pro XS
All of these repairs are not too complicated. There is a lot of good info on this site and someone always willing to give you an idea of how to get things done. I like others that have had boats for a while and do most of their own work has dealt with all of the above issues at one point or another. If I can help with anything, just send me a PM.
Are you in Fayetteville NC or Ark? I just did a lot of what you are going to do to a 373V and may be able to help you out. I am in Zebulon NC (just outside of Raleigh).
Fayetteville, AR
I'm diggin into that battery tray tonight,
I will take a couple of pics of that ole rat nest under there.
Looks like somebody replaced the hoses with water hose at some point.
Also, the sprayer fitting inside the livewell is jammed up.
Is there a way to remove that line from insed the livewell?
I had trouble removing it
I replaced all the pumps/valves/acutators/cables/hoses on my '85 373V. It had the same thing garden hose as the livewell hoses. After asking around I have come to find out that was stock hosing back then. I used the clear hosing youd find at lowes to replace it with and works fine for now. Id also recommend buying flow-rite valves if your going to replace yours. I think i spent 200 or so bucks for 2 pumps/valves/cables/acuators/hosing and took about 4-5 hours the hardest part was getting all the old hosing out from the front livewell.
Frank Duffy
Harris Teeter Pro Staff
The sprayer nozzle inside the live well should screw off, just the head and you should have threaded pipe left. Once you do that you can open the valve and use an air compressor to blow backwards thru the system. Just short burst should free up anything. I used a small rag to seal the air compressor nozzle when I blew backwards thru the system.
You will also have mid way access to the front live well hoses thru the drain in the floor between the drivers and passengers sides. Not sure what you mean by "does not work at all" with the front live well but you can always use a hose to the fill the live well and see if water drains out the back. Mine were cut just under that drain in the floor. I took a coupler and another piece of hose to run it on to the back. If the pump does not work up front make sure and check you have power to the place they plug in once you get the batteries out. It is a white 2 prong connector. The wire color are listed inside the fuse block cover just in front of the motor controls at the driver seat. Mine were good old green water hose also. They may have used that at the factory back then. It is as durable as anything else you can use and I went right back to it. I bought a short good quality garden hose and all has been fine.
I built a new battery tray for mine. I used pressure treated plywood and coated it with the automotive undercoating stuff you can get at the autoparts store. Sand it a little so it gets good adhesion. for the straps I used the nylon straps that are about 18" and loops on both ends. Then used bungees to secure the batteries. I stapled them in place under the battery tray when I built it. It is not "hi tech" but it works well, was cheap and easy to replace. I put a little extra piece of plywood on the home made tray to hold the batteries in place on the long sides and the strap secures then in the middle. If you measure the tray so it fits tight you will not have to do anything but lay it in the bottom and it should not move. I also moved the batteries as far forward as I could back there and it actually seemed to help it get on plane a little better. The middle piece of the battery tray that has nothing on it is a separate piece so I don't have to remove the entire tray to work on anything.
The front hook is accessible by taking the faceplate where the trolling motor plugs in up front along with the front light switch and tilt/trim for the motor. it could be the bolts are loose on the back of the eye or the entire plate is loose but I hope for your sake it is the bolts. My plate was loose and I re-secured it again with fiberglass resin but it has come loose again. Not sure what my next plan is there.
My 373 had one "lounge" seat where your has two. I took that out and decked the front in all the way back to the consoles. You end up with a lot more fishing deck and a lot more storage.
Okay,
I broke the fitting on the areator pump housing that connects to the livewell sprayer hose..
Will this cause the lake water to backfeed thru the valve & pump and spill into the bottom of the hull?
If so, do I need an emergency stopper to plug off the mainline feeding the rear livewell valve and pump?
What have I gotten into?
I don't want to sit at home, but I dont want to sink the boat either.
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Last edited by ccroom; 05-01-2012 at 11:43 PM. Reason: photo
What if I bypass the rear valve and tie directly into the aerator pump then out to the sprayer line?
I really just need the back livewell this weekend, the front can wait.
Plus the bilge works just fine.
If you go from the hole in the back of the transom to the pump and then to the sprayer that should work but you will need a plug for the bottom drain line when you are on plane or the water will drain back out of the live well. On plane the hole where you pull water in via the pump will not be in the water so turn the pump of while on plane. When you are sitting still the pump should pull water and if hooked to the hose that goes to the sprayer that should be all good. Make sure the live well over flow hose is routed back out of the boat for which you could use what should be the inflow for the front live well temporarily... you just don't want the overflow dumping into the boat/bilge area and filling the bilge making your bilge pump run all the time (an possibly not keep up with the inflow of water). With the pump set directly to the inflow hose you will be pulling fresh water in constantly when it is running. You will need to keep an eye on the live well water level also as the pump may pull it in faster than gravity and the overflow can get it out.
You will be using all three "holes" in the transom to make this work. One from the normal bottom drain on the live well, one for the overflow of the live well, and one for the pump pulling water.
From the looks of you stuff I would do what was suggested earlier by rowanangler. These are the valves I put in mine (V2 - 2 Position Automatic Valve | Flow-Rite). Flow-Rite is the place to get anything you need. They have all the fittings, valves, pumps, and actuator switches (those straight "slide" actuator switches at the console SUCK).
Another trick to clean up your bilge area is to drop a bar of Lava soap in it. Put a little water in the bilge when you are out running around and it will clean things up pretty good.
Hey Packfan,
could you provide a detailed list to replace the entire system from scracth?
Sorry for the delay man...
Replace the actuators, valves, and pumps. Below is what I used.
Get the rotating actuator that will replace the slide controls at the helm. 1 per live well...
RK2 Actuator | Flow-Rite
Valve/Pump for livewell. 1 valve and 1 pump per live well...
This one mixes fresh and recirc water when stopped. Closes off system automatically via a flap valve when on plane and recircs what is in the live well. There are other options here like a three position valves with a live well pump out and you can vary the plumbing but this is simple and works well. Under the options choose a pump with barbed connections (for good old garden hose and uses hose clamps like what you have vs the proprietary "quick lock" ) and I got the angled connections as they seem to leave more room for the plumbing.
V2 - 2 Position Automatic Valve | Flow-Rite
I would just check your cables. if they work no need to replace them. You can unhook them from the current valves and actuators and see it they slide. if they do they should work on all the new stuff.
I have found the rear live well to be plenty if you wanna just do one. I have had 5 fish @ 20+lbs in it with no problems. If you fish with a partner and you have seperate limits the rear will not be enough for 10 fish.
Brief explanation:
The valve goes in the line from the bottom of the live well (the drain) to a hole in the transom and your cable will go on the valve to change psoitions of the valve. The pump screws into the valve and has a hose that goes to the sprayer. Then the only other thing is the over flow line. It goes straight to the a rear hole in the transom. With both lives wells set up you will have a T connector in the rear over flow line midway down the hose near the floor as the front livewell overflow will tie in there (if you dont rig the front live well then no T connector needed or you will have to plug the open side of the T so water will not run in that way). So you have 3 holes for live well stuff in the back of the boat. One for overflow (with the T connector if using the front) and one each for the valve/pump combo.
I put a bandaid on the situation.
My dad had an extra mayfair 500gph aerator pump, hose, and fittings.
Free stuff, I think he was glad to see it go to use.
I didnt change out any valves or the front livewell pump.
The original valve still works enough to get by.
I damaged the bilge pump trying to wrestle all that mess outta there.
So we swapped it out with another bilge pump from a previous boat.
It was getting late so I rewired all the pumps.
Then put the battery tray back in there and stacked the batteries in place.
Next we got the water hose and started to fill the rear tank.
The new aerator started spraying a nice hard trickle but not a full blast shot.
Do ya'll think thats caused by the boat on the trailer and out of the water??
Im pretty excited even though the bilge pump failed.
I can rig up a temporary bilge and gator clip it to the battery, if needed.
Thanks for all the input.
I will check back when the entire project is complete.
If you call flow rite ( the website has the number ) you will most likely speak to a guy named roger. He will ask for your boat info and he can set you up with everything you need just based off your boat year and model. Unless you want something a little different like a pump out valve or one of the more fancy valves or something that your boat didnt come with he can set you in literally in a few mins and a super nice guy to boot.
Frank Duffy
Harris Teeter Pro Staff
If you only have a 2 position valve fill/empty( which if im not mistaken came stock on that boat ) and your running your pump on the trailer and your lever is on the fill mode your pulling air in the back of the transom hole not allowing full pressure to your sprayer your basically bouncing the water against the impeller of the pump as theres no water coming in the back.....if you buy a V-3 valve from flow right it has a recirculating mode also with the empty/auto modes then when you run it on the trailer or on plane you will have full pressure at the sprayer because your using the water in the live well making a full circle if you want to say. when your back to fishin just turn the actuator to auto and it will allow fresh water back into the livewell as your fishing. If you go to flow rite website it has all kind of different set ups you can look at amd see if its what you want.
Frank Duffy
Harris Teeter Pro Staff
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