Groco Heads won't prime

[Joseph Ruzzi]

On my J/40, Spada, I have the original Groco HF heads.   I've had a long-term annoyance where one or the other of the heads won't prime with water to flush.   Right now, both heads are doing it.   Has anyone else seen this situation?  I believe the head inlet hoses are fully below the waterline, so they should be normally filled with seawater.  

I bought a complete pump assembly that I'll be using to see if there's a crack in the pump body that I can't see which is preventing priming.   I'll also take off the head inlet hose at the seacock to make sure the through-hull isn't blocked.  Another thought is to take apart the inlet valve on the pump body to check if the valve is stuck closed against the valve body.  Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[Todd Stevens]

I have a similar problem with my air conditioning pump (which rarely gets used.) I think the solution is to add a tee with a dedicated priming valve, but it hasn’t bothered me often enough to do it. 

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[Kirk Daniel]

I do not know your location but I found a company in Lake  Park , Fla. that helped me  561-841-3000.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 11, 2026, at 1:00 PM, 'Todd Stevens' via J/4X Owner's Group <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I have a similar problem with my air conditioning pump (which rarely gets used.) I think the solution is to add a tee with a dedicated priming valve, but it hasn’t bothered me often enough to do it. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/80371D49-6560-4E74-A9EE-E27AB023078D%40me.com.

[Sam Foster]

Joe, We have the same issue. I have found two ways to deal with it. Keeping the pump shaft lubed, make sure the hose fittings are tight, and pumping very vigorously often brings in the water. When that happens too often, I get a rebuild kit and usually fix it for a season or two. Note, I often find salt and corrosion on the light foil flapper. I’ve also wondered about hairline cracks but never found any. Hose leaks have seemed more likely. 

I’m planning a retrofit the aft head to an Aqua T

Sam

Cahoots #44