How to Replace a Pump in a Rug Doctor

There are a lot of things that can go wrong outside the pump or in tandem with a pump failure. In order of frequency:

1. There is a metal screen filter inside the clean water tank over the intake hose. That commonly gets clogged so check that. It also some times comes dislodged from the base of the tank and will be sticking out the top of the water which obviously prevents it from getting fluid.
2. Hoses get kinked. This is particularly commons where the hose goes up in to the upper motor housing on some models.
3. Use a multimeter to check continuity from the plug all the way to the pump. Generally if there is a continuity issue the brush motor also does not fire and it is an issue with the switch in the handle. I have seen however where the brush motor does fire but the lead that goes from the wire loom to the pump is corroded and does not have continuity.
4. The spray tips can clog but this is incredibly rare. These are pretty high pressure pumps and they pretty much blast anything out of the system. However, if a highly concentrated detergent is used it can create sediment build up in the tips.
5. A defective new pump is obviously possible. We’ve installed over a thousand and never had one bad out of box. Of the hundreds of “defective” pump returns we’ve taken not one was actually defective except for the cases where the customer returned their obviously previous defective pump and kept the new one (which is why we no longer sell on Amazon, their customer base seems to be more prone to scumbaggery). You can test the pump by simply putting it in a vice to hold it and plugging a hose in to the intake in to a water cup and hot wiring it. This however is not a thing I suggest you try unless you are an authorized service center.

Unfortunately, all of these issues with the exception of the screen are a pain to track down. 98% of no spray failures are just bad pumps so most people have success simply replacing a pump. There is that one out of 50 though that gets hairy.