I think I have a bad water pump but wanted a second (or third) opinion before I start the job.Here are the symptons I encountered while dewinterizing and working to flush the lines:1. Freshwater tank full.2. Pump motor running (by sound and vibration)3. No pressure building up.4. Checked lines for leaks or missing caps using external water pressure. System is sound and sealed (best news of the day). 5. Shifted my pump inlet valve to Winterizing and drew no suction on a pan of water.6. Based on number 5 above, I am convinced I do not have a priming problem or obstructed line to the full freshwater tank. 7. Conclusion: I have a bad pump and need to extract the motor/pump and replace the pump. Would love to hear other proposed troubleshooting steps or alternate repairs before I open up the system this weekend. Thank you in advance.

Disconnect the intake and output water lines from the trailer and see if it acts the same. Chances are it's fine, in which case you have a leak somewhere in the trailer that's preventing the pump from building pressure.

It might just be a priming issue. Try this; turn on pump, open faucet at the kitchen sink, put your mouth over the faucet outlet and give it a good suck. If you are drawing air, not good and most likely the diaphragm in the pump is shot. If you can suck water but still won't pump, most likely the motor needs servicing. Mine did like yours and I could restart it by priming the lines with a good suction when the faucet was open and the pump on. It would loose prime if left without operation after a day or so and I'd have to do again. Turned out my winterizing valve had cracked threaded fixtures. All three of them! I removed the winterizing valve and used a faucet hose from Home Depot to 'hard wire' it. In winter, I unscrew and hard wire it the other way.

If yours has the plastic little bowl with the screen filter on it, right at the inlet of the pump, it's possible that little plastic bowl is cracked. If you have one, and it did not get emptied out, its possible water in it over the winter could have cracked the plastic and therefore, it's sucking air.

Turn pump on........open a faucet and let it run (air is system has to be expelled before pump will move water)

Confirming Bad Water Pump | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Apr 24, 2018
Turn pump on........open a faucet and let it run (air is system has to be expelled before pump will move water)
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Apr 24, 2018
If yours has the plastic little bowl with the screen filter on it, right at the inlet of the pump, it's possible that little plastic bowl is cracked. If you have one, and it did not get emptied out, its possible water in it over the winter could have cracked the plastic and therefore, it's sucking air.
Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Apr 24, 2018
It might just be a priming issue. Try this; turn on pump, open faucet at the kitchen sink, put your mouth over the faucet outlet and give it a good suck. If you are drawing air, not good and most likely the diaphragm in the pump is shot. If you can suck water but still won't pump, most likely the motor needs servicing.
Mine did like yours and I could restart it by priming the lines with a good suction when the faucet was open and the pump on. It would loose prime if left without operation after a day or so and I'd have to do again. Turned out my winterizing valve had cracked threaded fixtures. All three of them! I removed the winterizing valve and used a faucet hose from Home Depot to 'hard wire' it. In winter, I unscrew and hard wire it the other way.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Apr 24, 2018
Disconnect the intake and output water lines from the trailer and see if it acts the same. Chances are it's fine, in which case you have a leak somewhere in the trailer that's preventing the pump from building pressure.

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Confirming Bad Water Pump

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