If it is a roller style pump these things are generally built from stainless steel at high tolerances. They do not like air, I have pulled a few apart that failed very quickly in a simialr situation. What I found is that and although stainless the rollers had the slightest surface rust jamming the rotation, once cleaned up the pump ran but I could never seal it back up once pulled apart. So best to avoid sucking in air for even a short period of time.
Roger
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