330 Express Bilge Pump removal

[Sea Dragon]

Hello there,
I just bought a 2002 330 Express to use primarily as a sports fishing vessel on the the southwest coast of British Columbia and as a weekend getaway for my wife and I around the local archipelago of the area around Victoria. One of the items identified in the purchase survey was the aft bilge pump not being operational either by float switch or by switch on the panel. As any 330 owner from this vintage will attest, getting at the pump and float switch is not an easy task. Both the pump and float switch look to be original installs. There is no discernible identification on the pump visible and the float switch is a fully enclosed style from Sure Bail.
So, I am looking for info on how to access and remove these items from the aft bilge and replace with new ones.

 

[seasick]

If it is original, it had a very long life! It may have been changed.
It may be the type where the pump can be popped off of the base, Try looking/feeling around the lower sides for tabs. If you see mounting tabs with screws on the outside of the base, it probably doesn't have the pop out feature You know it is possible that the pump is good but there is a wiring issue. In any case, one way or another, you will have to cut the tie wraps and them remove the hose. If the hose is also old, even with the band clamp off, you may not be able to remove the hose. In that case you will need to cut the hose past the plastic barbed fitting. You should be able to tell where the fitting ends ny feeling the hose or bending it to see where it tends to bend.
If you want, you can cut the wires where the splices are mid length and connect a ground wire and a hot wire to see if the pumps works. If it runs, you probably have a bad connection in one or more of the splices .Before cutting wires, you may want to mark them so that you know later on where the wires go. At a minimum take a photo.

 

[Sea Dragon]

Thanks, all on my to do list. First step is to get access to the area. Will try removing the deck transom hatch fwd of the generator and see if I can slip in over the generator and freshwater tank to get close to the items.

 

[ElyseM]

i can't attest to 2002, but my year had access to the pump via the pie plate at the transom. long arms required. good luck, ron

 

[Sea Dragon]

You are correct Ron. Tried to reach it from the 6” deck access while on the hard. Could just get my fingers half way down the pump sides. No screws visible. So will try from the generator hatch. Thanks

 

[glacierbaze]

Is the top black, or dark blue? If the bilge is dry, turn your phone camera on video, tape the phone to a yard stick, go all the way around the pump, and see what you have to work with.
I wouldn't disconnect, or cut, anything until I knew if it would pop out of the base. Looks to me like everything will come up within reach all together, if it does.
You should have a fuse very close to where the float switch connects to the battery, or the battery switch. You should also be able to check whether the manual 'on' switch has power to both the input and output terminals,

 

[Sea Dragon]

Top is dark grey, body is light grey. I will put my phone camera on a stick and give it a go, great idea! Wiring checks will be my next to do.

 

[HMBJack]

I replaced mine through the 6" deck hatches. I don't think you'll get close trying to go up and over the generator.
It can be done going straight down through the 6" deck hatch. Get into the right position and reeeeeeach!

 

[Sea Dragon]

Was yours the same as the one in the photo? If so how was it affixed to the deck?

Thanks,

 

[glacierbaze]

You can gain a little bit of reach by removing the ring for the hatch. The hole will be slightly larger, but the edges may be sharp.

 

[fsc60]

Changed everything on my 01
I have a gas generator. I put a blanket over the Genny and crawled in. The wire comes in under the water tank, if you follow the wires they come up on the port side of the tank. I cut them at the pump, pulled them out and brought them over the tank. Now you can make all your connections above the tank and then install the pump from above. Much easier than trying to make connection down in the hole. Hope that makes sense

 

[ocdansar]

I’m changing mine now . Outside standing on a ladder no problem but my motors are off right now. I changed the hose also and added a high water alarm and a pump on the platform the generator sits on.
my old pump was still working so I used it for the high water pump. I replaced my rear pump with a rule 2500.

 

[Sea Dragon]

This is an update to my thread on the aft bilge pump access issues. First I wish to thank everyone for their ideas and comments on this. They were very helpful. In the end I did have to go over the top of the generator to get at the pump and float switch. Not a lot of room but could get in far enough to reach the pump with one hand. Thanks to Glacierbaze for the video on a stick suggestion. With the video I was able to determine that to remove the pump from the base I needed to reach down the side of the pump with a finger to press a release which allowed the pump tp be rotated a quarter turn counterclockwise for lifting out. The pump was indeed an original Attwood 1700. The pump motor was seized solid. I needed to break the mounting screw bases off the Sure Bail float switch to get it out. Have replaced the pump with a Rule 2000 which has the same amperage draw as the original Attwood, so no issues in that regard, and have relocated the new rule float switch so that it is reachable thru the 6" access port in the wetwell. Hopefiully will not need to do this again for awhile.

 

[ocdansar]

I got mine swapped out thus weekend. What a pain. Standing on a ladder outside the transom was able to do it by feel. I replaced the hose and added a new thru hull for the high water pump right beside the one for the bilge pump.