Thanks for the replies...

I have noticed that:
1) my dog scratches the nearby lawn and the grass is thrown to the pool. It settles at the bottom and much of it has made it into the drain at the bottom.

2) when I turn the Jandy valve to the drain (and cut off the skimmer basket), the pump goes crazy loud and no water seems to be flowing from the drain side into the pump filter basket

3) I have backwashed twice. The pressure on the gauge is pegged at the high end. I turned off the pump for a couple of days and the gauge dropped to zero. But when I turned it back on, the pressure rose to the top of the gauge again.

4) the drain at the bottom still has a little suction, because recent storms in Phoenix have thrown leaves in my pool and the leaves seem to be drawn to the drain and move back to it when I move them away.


I'm thinking that I have a clogged drain line and something wrong in the pool filter (perhaps it's got all the grass my dog has put into the pool...)

Is there a flow chart for pump related issues?