Noob with a shoddy bilge pump

[CreamOfWheat]

Hey all, first time poster here. I've been looking around, but can't find info on my exact problem.

The bilge pump in my 96 Speedster is acting up. At first it wasn't working at all, and immediately blowing any new 3A fuse I installed. I pulled the pump and cleaned it up. Now it spins and doesn't blow the fuse anymore, but it won't shut off. The dash switch seems to have no effect. From what I've read on here I think this could be because the float switch is stuck on? I've messed around with the switch a bit while it's still attached to the hull, but no change. It's obviously riveted on, so kind of a pain to remove. Is there something about an in-line fuse for the float? I wouldn't mind just having the bilge pump manually operated from the dash, as I don't ever have the boat in the water long. Anyway, just looking for some input. Guess I could just install a new float and plug it into the existing wiring hardness, right?

Thanks for any thoughts

 

[DriveFast]

I don't know that yours is the same problem, but here is how mine has been acting. When I bought the boat, the seller showed me the pump and said it was manual only. She didn't realize there were was an automatic water-level sensor attached because it had never worked. I cleaned up the sensor, and it started working---some. After only a couple of trips out, the sensor failed again and I wound up with deep water around the engines.

This weekend, while waiting for repair, I tried cleaning it again. This time, instead of just using a pressure washer, I went for soap, hot water and a scrub brush. As soon as I shot full-strenght Dawn on the sensor (before even adding hot water and having NO water in the bilge) the pump started working---and it wouldn't shut off! I had to quickly find and pull the fuse. After I soaked the sensor in hot soapy water and scrubbed it, it is once again working fine. After thoroughly rinsing out the soap (since soap film messes them up too) I then wiped down the sensor with an alcohol-soaked paper towel.

So if yours is running constantly, you might just have a problem with a defective or dirty sensor. Try scrubbing the h.e.c.k. out of it before moving on to repairs or replacement parts. I recently saw a replacement sensor on ebay for around $28.

Good luck!

 

[Dr Honda]

Yep... your auto switch is stuck. You will have to drill the rivet to take it out.

 

[CreamOfWheat]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't had a chance to work on my problem, but hopefully I will in the next few days. Just thought I'd throw my question out there to get some tips before I started. So am I to understand there is no in-line fuse on the pump or float? Just something I've read somewhere, but it could have been in reference to another model.