Help - pump running, flow runs dry

If I fill pump well full of water, for several minutes, it bubbles and fills up, close lid cut on pump, it starts prime sequence, sucks all water out of line, then just runs dry. What could cause this, something stuck in round from pool to pump? I have tried it with valve on main drain, and on skimmer.

Water flows fine through sand filter and pool jets, until it just runs dry. I refill main line, one time for like 10 minutes, it would bubble every now and then, but no water returns to pool, unless it's through bottom drain maybe?

Could I have a clog? Or a broke line? I live in Florida, and it was 75 degrees today. It was working fine yesterday. Wife was kind, and cleaned pool yesterday, so maybe something happened with that?

I leave to go out of town for a while tomorrow, so really don't want to leave it shut off. I know pump run dry, it will burn out. Any help is greatly appreciated.

If the pump fails to prime and/or runs dry, stop the pump. If you're already out of town, call home and have the pump turned off until you return and have an opportunity to fully diagnose the problem.

As you've suggested, it might be a fracture in one of the supply lines, skimmer housing, maindrain or a blockage. You could try to eliminate sources by changing valve to 100% skimmer and, once the pump is on and primed, observe the skimmer throat. If no or very little water is being pulled from the skimmer, you've at least isolated the problem to the skimmer line. Others have found success in dislodging obstructions using a drain king... there are probably threads on this site that describe this in some detail.

A couple of questions:

1. What do you mean by "it bubbles"? Do you see air bubbles in the pump basket while it is running?

2. DOes the pump lose prime immediately after turning on, or does it take some time?

3. If it does run for any time, do you have normal pressure, or is it higher or lower?

4. Did you say it takes several minutes for the pump basket to fill with water (with the pump off and the lid removed)?