Bilge pump replacement

[MikeBravo]

Posted this in the 320 thread with no response, thought I would try here. My bilge pumps are not working properly on my 2007 320. Does anyone have a good suggestion on how to reach either of them in the ER? My arms aren't long enough.

 

[Boater420]

Nothing easy about this job and no special tools either. I had to remove my logs and the engine hatch lift to reach them and it still wasn't easy.

 

[Lazy Daze]

There is no easy way or "trick". You're not missing anything - it's about as straight forward as they come. Gotta get dirty. Or hire a bilge monkey.

Now, you don't mention what's actually wrong, but a typical thing is that they get gunked up with crap that is floating around in the bilge. If this is the case, the first thing to do is clean the bilge really well. Then, put some water back in the bilge, along with bilge cleaner. Let it soak for a while then take a ride to slosh it around. Clean again. Then take a hose and blast the pumps with it. In most cases, this gets rid of most of the gunk/slime. Clean once more.

The only "trick" I'll add is that if you need to replace them, sometimes it's easier to just cut the wires and install new ones.

 

[MikeBravo]

Nothing easy about this job and no special tools either. I had to remove my logs and the engine hatch lift to reach them and it still wasn't easy.

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[MikeBravo]

There is no easy way or "trick". You're not missing anything - it's about as straight forward as they come. Gotta get dirty. Or hire a bilge monkey.

Now, you don't mention what's actually wrong, but a typical thing is that they get gunked up with crap that is floating around in the bilge. If this is the case, the first thing to do is clean the bilge really well. Then, put some water back in the bilge, along with bilge cleaner. Let it soak for a while then take a ride to slosh it around. Clean again. Then take a hose and blast the pumps with it. In most cases, this gets rid of most of the gunk/slime. Clean once more.

The only "trick" I'll add is that if you need to replace them, sometimes it's easier to just cut the wires and install new ones.

Thanks and I think i'm going to go the bilge monkey route.

 

[wayne0]

When I did mine in a 340, I had to pull the port exhaust log and take out the center support that holds the coolant bottles. I'm not a small guy. Big PITA. Stupid setup.

 

[Little Ducky]

I was looking at mine over the weekend when I was cleaning my bilge area and thinking the same. How in the world.

If I had to do it again I would reengineer them a little to make getting at them a bit easier.