Some pointers I thought might help for installing a 500 GPH bilge pump in an 800 SX-R

edmoto · 09-04-2010, 09:47 PM

Sorry for the long post, but I believe "more" is always better than "less" when it comes to installing something, especially a pump meant to keep a hull from filling with too much water!

The details:

500 GPH bilge pump, the "Bilge Pump 500 Deluxe" as per Riva Motorsports.

2006 800 SXR, stock except for intake and ride plate.

I also ordered the Blowsion mounting plate for the bilge pump. I chose to mount the pump onto a bracket versus epoxy it onto the inside of the hull. This would allow for removal later without too much drama. I did not take pics of the install as I was having a friend help me and it was his time, not mine, that we were using up earlier today, so I didn't want to slow the process down taking pics every few minutes and bugging my buddy (he wanted to get on the lake, too!).

Mechanic skill level, 10 being able to assemble a nuclear device like McGuyver, 1 being "Ughh, me hit two rocks and rocks make noise" ability. Friend: an 8 or 9. Me: a two or three.

Took 3 hours for both of us to do the install. Once installed, the system works as advertised and is real nice. If I had to do it over, I probably would get the 750 series bilge pump with the auto switch to turn on and off automatically. Just a little fancier set up, but I still like the 500 pump with manual on/off. Just have to be sure to turn it "off" so there is no chance of burning up the pump when it evacuates all the water from the hull.

The Blowsion bracket installs with the two engine-side screws of the OEM bilge pick up. To unscrew those two phillips-head screws, you need a super long (preferably magnetic) screw driver. It is a bear to get your hands in the compartment to unscrew them otherwise. Once the screws are out, put the Blowsion bracket lined up with the two screw holes and screw back into the holes. OEM bilge is unblocked, and the 500 bilge is just in front of the OEM bilge. Good low spot in the inside of the hull.

Mock up the bracket and 500 bilge pump before screwing anything back in. The bracket will secure the 500 pump just under and to the side of the drive shaft. Mocking up the pump as it sits in the bracket will allow you to turn it the right way so the bilge pump hose is aimed the right way away from anything. Sounds simple, but it took us an hour to do that part.

You will need a rivet gun to secure the 4 rivets that come in the kit to secure the bottom blue base of the bilge pump to the bracket. No rivet gun? You'll just have to epoxy. No biggie, and probably easier to just "glue" the pump in versus securing it with a bracket. But I like being able to take the pump out again, and there is no risk of the epoxy cracking loose from vibes, etc.

Big pain in the rear: stuffing the manual bilge switch wire from its mounting spot on the handle bars through the OEM handpole. You wont be able to do it without using a trick. What we did was take mechanic's wire (like the type you twirl around t-posts to keep barbed wire secured on a fence line) and pushed it through from the top to the bottom of the handpole. It has enough strength to go through without coiling up, and is "slippery" enough that it won't hang up on the cables/wires that are in the handpole already. The OEM handpole has an inner "tube" that is used to feed the cables and stock wires through. It is too small to just try forcing another electrical wire through it. By using the mechanic's wire, we could tape with electrical tape the bilge switch wire to the end of the mech wire, and by pulling the mech wire through the handpole tube, it also pulled through the bilge switch wire. Then at the bottom of the handpole there is a rubber bootie that is zip-tied at the top of the bootie. This keeps the cables and wires that exit the handpole and which go into the hull from creating an open void for water to sneak into the hull. There is a gray rubber slotted plug that separates the cables and wires (I guess to avoid them from chafing each other) and the top of the bootie. We just wiggled apart one of the slots in this plug to stuff the switch wire into it so the switch wire could continue on its journey into the hull. Note: have plenty of zip-ties to secure the wires of the bilge pump, the pump hose, and switch wires when you are re-securing everything out of the way. I imagine with an A/M handpole, this is much simpler. But otherwise, you will need to use a "snake" to feed the switch wire through the handpole. Time: about 1 hour.

Use the inline fuse holder provided. There is no mention of installing it in the instructions, but a little sticker on the pump wires warns to use it to avoid burning up the pump. The wires involved (switch wire hooking up to the pump wires, hooking up to the battery... the instructions for all that excluding the in-line fuse holder were pretty good) are easy to install, as long as you have a wire crimper, wire stripper, and a heat gun. I suppose you could put the wires together using a pocket knife and a pair of pliers, but those three tools really make a difference. Wire crimper to smush the wire connectors securely onto the wires, wire stripper to take off the wire sheath without cutting into the wires, and a heat gun to shrink the plastic around the wire connectors and create a waterproof seal at the wire connections.

Last point I'll make is drilling the hole into the hull to allow for an exit point for the pump hose to expel the water it is picking up from inside the hull. When my friend brought out his drill and bit to make the hole, it was spooky. Just pick a spot for this hole up high... the pump has enough strength to force the water out much higher that the pick up point of the pump. Drill from the outside in. Put a cloth (terry cloth best) inside the hull at the point where the drill bit will poke through. Not up tight, but close enough to catch all the fiberglass dust and debris that will spill into the hull from the bit as it punches through. Don't get the cloth so close that the bit digs into it, just close enough to catch that debris. Otherwise, have a good vacuum to suck all that stuff up, as my friend and I both believe if you don't, the bilge pump will suck it up and that dust/debris will likely clog it or burn it out. We started with a 1/2 inch bit (the hole needed is 1 inch for the exit fitting). From there, we used a bit that we rolled around the initial hole to bring it up to size. We decided against using a 1 inch bit because as we were drilling in with the 1/2 inch bit, the gel coat on the outside would crack off (just a little) from the outside diameter of the bit. If we used a 1 inch bit, we thought the gel coat would crack and flake around the hole beyond what the fitting could hide. By rounding out the hole little bit by little bit up to the 1 inch size, we avoided that possible issue. You will need sealant... it doesn't come with the kit.

The wiring (connecting and crimping) and drilling the exit hole took about 30 minutes. We spent the last 30 minutes admiring our work and zip-tying things away and cleanly from moving parts.

If we mocked up the pump before screwing and unscrewing everything a few times, that could have been 30 minutes. If we had gone straight to snaking the switch wire through the handpole rather than trying to fight it through, maybe 20-30 minutes. With the wiring being last (about 30 minutes) I think this install could be done in about 1.5-2 hours tops.

Bottom line: have the right tools, mock things up before securing them, cheat the wire through the handpole with a snake, and have sealant, heat gun, crimper and wire stripper, and a long magnetic phillips head screwdriver.

Took the ski out after install and just as I was beginning to suspect there was a little too much water in the hull (the OEM bilge works only when the motor is running at speed, not at idle or when stopped), I clicked the 500 pump on, it spat out water at a good clip for about 4 seconds, then the flow slowed, and I turned it off. I went straight to shore and opened the hood, and the water left in the hull was hardly anything, and certainly within the ability of the OEM pump to handle. The 500 pump is good insurance, just as everyone has said before.

Hope this helps the next guy. Good luck.

subhard · 07-07-2011, 04:00 AM

You are the man. Thank you. I have the kit an an 04 Im installing this week. I'll take pics and post em. You've inspired me.

theVetteman3 · 07-07-2011, 02:46 PM

Very nice write up! Thanks for putting that all on here. I'm going to put one in my xir tonight!

edmoto · 07-07-2011, 09:48 PM

Here are some pics that may help see/understand what I tried to explain. This pic shows the Blowsion bracket mounted. It is secured to the OEM bilge by those two screws. And it shows the blue bilge "bucket" that the bilge pump snaps into riveted onto the bracket. This is where I suggest you decide how you want to orient the blue "bucket" to the bracket because the two little arms that allow the bilge pump to snap into it allow the pump to be mounted into the bucket only a certain way. Meaning if you are not careful, you could rivet (or epoxy if you don't want to rivet the bucket onto the bracket) the bucket in such a way that when you snap the bilge into place, the bilge hose could face backwards, or toward the firewall, or some such direction that makes routing the hose outward more difficult than it would need to be. NOTE: doing this mocking up and securing the bracket to the OEM bilge pump can be frustrating given the limited room for hands in this area of the hull. It helps greatly to become friends with a couple of hobbits with long arms and small hands to reach in there and do all this mounting. Either that, or apply liberal amounts of liquid engineering (i.e. beer) to the project to help ease your likely frustrations.

The next pic shows how close the bilge will be (when snapped into the blue bucket) to the driveshaft (use your imagination a little and picture the bilge sticking up and nearly touching the driveshaft). While the Blowsion bracket and the mounting of the bilge will not actually make the bilge pump touch the driveshaft, it is prudent to make sure you snap the bilge pump into the bucket completely and securely. If you don't, the bilge can wiggle loose a little and move just enough that it WILL touch the driveshaft, causing the friction of the driveshaft rubbing the outer plastic of the bilge pump to melt away its plastic. How do I know this? Been there... done that.

Good luck! And my prior comment about "burning up the pump" is untrue. I now leave the pump on all the time, and it works fine. The pump can run even when dry without harm. Just be sure to turn off the pump or it will drain the battery after you finish riding for the day.

P.S. These pics were taken when I pulled the motor for a new ski project recently, but they show the bracket and set up of the bilge mounting location clearly.

theVetteman3 · 07-10-2011, 10:33 PM

One more tip, for putting the hole in the hull, a Harbor Freight stepped drill bit works fantastic. It took me maybe 15 seconds to make the hole. And of course the vacuum to clean up the dust.

subhard · 07-12-2011, 02:10 AM

Heres some pics from my install so far.

Here's where you'll need to feed your wire through the top of the handle pole.

Here's that gray collar that sits under the black tubing at the bottom of the handle pole. That metal wire on the left side of it is the wire I used to pull my switch wire through.

Here's the top of my wire and the end of my switch taped together with electrical tape. I did this then covered it with a bunch of lube to help it slide through. I highly advise for lubing everything to help it slide through.

Finished product.

I used four little machine bolts sawed off so they're shorter to hold the pump bottom on my bracket.

subhard · 07-16-2011, 12:56 AM

Just wired mine:

Here's a pic of the waterproof fuse setup. You cut off a 8" or so piece of the black wire coming off the bilge switch, then strip about this much jacket off the remaining end to feed through the fuse housing. Then you just pinch one end of the fuse on this tail end, then push the setup down where it belongs, then repeat on the other side except use the 8" section of wire you cut off. That end will hook onto the positive battery terminal.

subhard · 07-16-2011, 12:59 AM

Should look like this when you're done.

subhard · 07-16-2011, 02:36 AM

Then hook up the white wire coming off the switch to the brown wire on the pump using one of these:

I did this then wrapped it all with electrical tape just to be safe.

subhard · 07-16-2011, 02:41 AM

Put battery terminal adapters on the black pump wire and the black switch wire. The black pump wire goes to the negative terminal, and the black switch wire goes to the postive terminal. Make sure you use a heat gun to heat shrink the battery terminal adapters around the wires. And I used some more electrical tape around all the connections just to safe.