99 21i Tapps problem

[victoriatigeowner]

Hi there, can anyone help me with this issue.

My tapps appear to be stuck on setting 7 (full wakeboard) and doesn't seem to want to come back to 1 (ski mode). Now, unless I am mistaken the tapps is the black plate on the back of the boat in front of the water output and is on small hydraulics.
I am new to this boat and am trying to figure it all out.
If I am correct in understanding what the taps are, I would assume that at setting #7 this black plate should be down (perpendicular to the water) therefore causing some drag and pushing more water down to create the wake. In the #1 position it would be parallel to the water.
When I hit the toggle switch (in the throttle) I can hear the motor working, and the guage went up to 7. When I hit the down switch there is no sound.
There appears to be oil in the little cylinder on the top of the motor (which is under the spotter seat) all connections under the dash and on the toggle switch (in the throttle) seem to be intact and free of any corrosion.
I'm not sure what else to check.

Any suggestions?

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to using this site to get to know my boat a little better.

Cheers

[taffmaster]

actually on full wakeboard the plate should level with water. If you pump is working when you press the toggle switch that is a good thing. Mine was not when i first got it. Unplug the pump and pull it out make sure there is plenty of fluid up to fill line. You will want to use regular tranny fluid ATF. Once filled try again as the hydraulic pushes it down your fluid should leave the pump. if it is still not moving you probably have a frozen hydraulic arm. Give the people at bennet marine a shout with questions they are extremely helpful.

[victoriatigeowner]

thanks Taffmaster. Appreciate you correcting me. I had it backwards obviously. as for the pump (under the spotter seat) i should disconnect the hydraulic lines and remove?? won't this cause the fluid to leak out?
I assume you fill this at the black thing (real technical i know - lol) on top that unscrews (has a green wire connected)?
I will also touch base with Bennet. Thanks for the tip.

[taffmaster]

sorry i didnt realize you had an i. i have a v drive and it is a pain to fill reservoir without removing it. i bet it is just low on fluid. fill that bad boy up and see if she works

[Wakesurfection]

Yup just unscrew the cover on the TAPS pump. The inlet should be on the bottom right of the TAPS. Remove the inlet cover and fill it up with a turkey baster using ATF. Do you want me to post some pictures up on how to do this? If so, I will post some pics this weekend when I get to my boat

[lohe]

Mine didnt work on my 21i when I got it. Pulled the thing out and found it was almost empty on fluid.





You dont have to pull it all the way out to fill it, but also on mine the pump on top did not run.





After filling it up I found a broken ground wire going to the pump, fixed it and mine worked after.

So first thing is first, check the fluid level it sounds like your pump is working. And like the others said Wake is the plate level and ski in the plate down.

[victoriatigeowner]

thanks

Taff, Wake and Lohe, thanks for the information. I'll give this a shot this weekend when I'm back up at the lake.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers.

[victoriatigeowner]

99 tapps still not working

Hi everyone,
I have checked my ATF and it was low. I have filled it up, and the motor works when push the toggle into wake mode, however nothing when trying to put back to ski mode. I am currently still stuck in wake mode.

Any thoughts?

thanks

[NICKYPOO]

Did you check the fluid after? If there is a leak somewhere, the pump will just push the fluid out the leak.When you try to run the taps to 1, does the fluid level in the tank drop?

[victoriatigeowner]

fluid leak

Hi, thanks for the reply. I dont think there is a leak, however I will double check.

cheers

[NICKYPOO]

If there is no leak, that narrows it down to a bad pump, a pinched or clogged
line or a jammed ram.

[Jason B]

If everything works in one direction I would think it is the switch (in the opposite direction) that is not working properly. Those switches are cheap and fragile. Plus, they are dirt cheap to replace.

Do this....

Pull apart the 4 wire connector near the pump. It will have a black, green, yellow & blue wire.
Get a volt meter. On the boat side of the 4 pin connector (NOT the connector on the pump assembly!!)
Put black lead on the black wire and the red lead on the green wire. Have a helper hit the switch up/down. You should see 12 volts in each direction. If you get 12 volts in the one position and not the other then either your switch is bad (I'd start with that 2$ piece first) or your relay is bad.
Now put the black lead on the black wire and red lead on the yellow wire, you should have 12 volts when the switch is pressed up.
The black wire and the blue wire should show 12 volts when the switch is pressed down.

If all that checks out ok, your switch and the relay are working correctly.

Now grab a 12 volt battery and make a jumper wire so you can test the pump assembly. On the 4 pin connector attached to the pump use that jumper wire to connect the ground lead directly from the battery to the black wire on the pump connector. Then with the positive lead from the battery, you have to hit the green AND blue pins at the same time to lower the unit. If nothing happens your problem is within the pump or a stuck piston thing. Now, connect the black lead to the ground still and hit the positive lead to BOTH the green AND yellow leads on the connector on the pump assembly. It should go up. If it doesn't, then again you know something is wrong from the pump on back.

If all that works as it should but you still get nothing when everything is connected, try running a ground wire directly from the negative battery terminal to the black lead on the pump assembly to bypass the ground from the relay. Mine had this problem. After spending no less than 8 hours figuring out all of the above (and pulling out some hair) I narrowed my problem down to a weak ground. I ran a new, seperate ground wire straight from the pump all the way to the ground output on the relay and SHAZAAM, works like new!

Ok, that was kinda long ... hope it helps somebody!!

[victoriatigeowner]

thanks

Thanks Jason B, that should give me something to do today.
cheers