# Live Well Problem - Ranger RT198 - HELP!!!



## Nitro750

Caught some crappies put them in the live well. There was a couple inches of water in the live well. Turned the aerator to "auto" and very little water was pumping into the live well, however a large stream was coming out of the live well. Essentially it was pumping what little water I had in the live well out into the lake. I changed the switch to "manual" and had the same thing happen. I have another "T" shaped switch on the right hand side of the boat below the console below the ignition which can be set to Auto/Empty/Recirculate. I tried Auto and Recirculate and had the same results. Anyone have any ideas???


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## Fishingisfun

I don't have a switch like your auto/empty/recirculate but it sounds like from what you say it pumped the water out and the system did not add water to the live well. That seems like empty is the only function, maybe the valve is defective and when you turn the valve to different functions the inside does no move so you only have the one function. The handle turns and nothing inside happens. You may try filling the livewell manually with a bucket to see if it will recirculate or just pump the water out. You wouldn't have to be in the water to try this. A second thought is the water intake is clogged so it only empties and has no intake of water. My livewell draws draws in water from the lake and an overflow inside the tank allows water over a set depth to drain out. If the intake clogged I gues it would just empty the well. Good luck


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## crappiedude

Can you hear the intake pump running? If not, it could be clogged with a piece of debris.
Most aren't very complicated systems. You can pull the pump and check it out pretty easily.


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## Dross

I say take a "fish" snake( or some call it a Wall snake) and run it thru your water lines. My boat's old(78' BassHawk), wells fill up as soon as the boat hits the water because the drain line is wide open for both wells. Don't know how they are in the newer boats.


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## Nitro750

Fishingisfun said:


> I don't have a switch like your auto/empty/recirculate but it sounds like from what you say it pumped the water out and the system did not add water to the live well. That seems like empty is the only function, maybe the valve is defective and when you turn the valve to different functions the inside does no move so you only have the one function. The handle turns and nothing inside happens. You may try filling the livewell manually with a bucket to see if it will recirculate or just pump the water out. You wouldn't have to be in the water to try this. A second thought is the water intake is clogged so it only empties and has no intake of water. My livewell draws draws in water from the lake and an overflow inside the tank allows water over a set depth to drain out. If the intake clogged I gues it would just empty the well. Good luck


Thanks for the advice. I haven't been back on OGF to check responses. I wonder if I could take a garden hose and force water into the intake to see if there is debris.


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## Nitro750

crappiedude said:


> Can you hear the intake pump running? If not, it could be clogged with a piece of debris.
> Most aren't very complicated systems. You can pull the pump and check it out pretty easily.


Thanks. For replying. I'll give your idea try.


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## Nitro750

Dross said:


> I say take a "fish" snake( or some call it a Wall snake) and run it thru your water lines. My boat's old(78' BassHawk), wells fill up as soon as the boat hits the water because the drain line is wide open for both wells. Don't know how they are in the newer boats.


I'll give it a shot. Can't hurt. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I can force some water through the system. I've had the boat for a year and hadn't used the live well. I guess I assumed it would work when I tried it.


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## crappiedude

Nitro750 said:


> Thanks. For replying. I'll give your idea try.


If that is your problem, BPS has a replacement nut (for holding you aerator pump in place) that is cover with a screen to help keep debris out. I've had mine stop a few times and this did the trick.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-aerator-strainer


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## Mo_Transplant

Nitro750 said:


> Caught some crappies put them in the live well. There was a couple inches of water in the live well. Turned the aerator to "auto" and very little water was pumping into the live well, however a large stream was coming out of the live well. Essentially it was pumping what little water I had in the live well out into the lake. I changed the switch to "manual" and had the same thing happen. I have another "T" shaped switch on the right hand side of the boat below the console below the ignition which can be set to Auto/Empty/Recirculate. I tried Auto and Recirculate and had the same results. Anyone have any ideas???


The t switch is your valve that decides where the water goes. You want to run in auto most places. Recirc is for nasty water and you dont want to bring it in to your livewell. The switch on the dash runs the pump. Auto fills for 4-5 minutes and repeats in a cycle. Manual is just what it says. The pump should bring a garden hose amount of water into your livewell. If not, chech the intake on transom for blockage.


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## Dross

Didn't think about it earlier but as with my boat, is your live well pump a Mayfair Cartridge pump? If it is, remove the cartridge and see if there's a blockage there. BTW, a few years ago I was having a heck of a time finding a water leak. After hours of filling boat and both live wells, separately that is, up with water, colored with deep red water coloring, checking all the hose connections I could find, and putting fiberglass and resin over any sign or hint of a crack , chip in my hull, * without any results, when at the lake the next time, I noticed water leaking in around the O-Ring on the pump. Hahaha, easy fix in the long run.*


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## StevenMcc

Turn your pump out off by pushing in the nozzle in the left livewell.


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## whitaker201

Sounds like you have the flow-rite livewell system. Look for the red nozzle in your livewell. You should be able to push it in. This will allow water from the lake to be pulled in or when the handle is on the auto setting when you get on plane it will recirculate the water. When you pull the nozzle out it will pump out the water from the livewell.


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## whitaker201

https://flow-rite.com/sites/all/fil...01.1555288420.1527778219-698992615.1527778219

This should be the nozzle you have in your livewell.


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## Nitro750

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I've been offline for a while because I've been out of town.


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## BMustang

We joke about the livewelll in my 2003 Tracker. We call it the "Dead Well".

It has never worked properly. I have a bucket that I use to manually fill the livewell when needed. When I pull the plug, the water all runs out.


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## crappiedude

BMustang said:


> I have a bucket that I use to manually fill the livewell when needed.


Probably has some debris stuck in the pump. Most of these systems are pretty basic and are fairly easy to clean out or replace if that's needed. It doesn't take much to stop most of these pumps.


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## whitaker201

BMustang said:


> We joke about the livewelll in my 2003 Tracker. We call it the "Dead Well".
> 
> It has never worked properly. I have a bucket that I use to manually fill the livewell when needed. When I pull the plug, the water all runs out.


Make sure the pump has the output hose clocked to the correct position. It needs to be pointed up so you do not have airlock.

Check out the PDF's from Flowrite:
Pump Orientation:
https://flow-rite.com/sites/all/fil...304.644311583.1528895444-698992615.1527778219

Hose routing:
https://flow-rite.com/sites/all/fil...203.644311583.1528895444-698992615.1527778219


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## BMustang

^^ Thanks for the tips!!!!!


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## juggerman

Inside live well..push or pull the valve ... I just bought a Ranger deep V I couldn't get mine to work either if your I just either pushed it or pulled it and it pumps it out the side of the boat. I just didn't know how it worked at the time should be able to read in your manual. Hope this helps

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


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## whitaker201

BMustang; You are welcome


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