I have had my pump for my 1000 gallon pond for 5 years and it has worked fine for all this time, however, today I got shocked, when I was trying to fish some leaves out of the water. The fish are all fine, but just to be safe I unplugged the pump which also runs my waterfall.
Has anyone had the same experience? Can I repair the pump or do I need to replace it??

I would check the cord to see if there is any damage to it, yes you can fix a motor if you know how.

If you got shocked, then the fish are probably getting shocked. That could result in bent spines or outright death. While the pump might be fixable by an expert, I wouldn't risk it. Buy a new pump. If the pump has exposed wiring, a ground fault circuit interupter should shut off the power. Do you have one of those? One of my outlets trips a lot mostly due to ants living inside! My father replaced the whole thing but the ants keep returning.

Well, I took it out and checked the pump and cord and couln't find anything wrong with it form the outside. While my husband and I were talking trying to figure the problem out, he suggested that the plugs could have gotten wet when I cleaned the filter the day before. Very possible! Would that really shock us?
Anyway, the plugs have dried in teh meantime and we put the pump back into the pond and started it. And so far there is no electric shock. If that was the problem, it has been solved, I will just keep on checking if the water feels save. (Hate to touch that water wondering if I get shocked again! Nobody wanted to volunteer for that job!)
For now thank you for your advice. I am glad I found this website!
Karin

Personally, if I got shocked I would consider that an early warning and get a new pump. If you had been grounded, like one hand on a steel rod driven into the ground and the other hand in electified water, the curent would go in one hand and out the other and could result in death.
If it was the wet plug you got zaped from, it should be 5ft away from the pond and well protected so it can not get wet. This is serious stuff. Water and electicity don't mix. Be carefull!!

Normally, if the plug or outlet gets wet, the circuit breaker should trip. If it didn't, you may not have a ground fault circuit interupter. If so, you need to install one. The pond should be on its own dedicated circuit breaker. The outlet should be away from where it normally would get wet and on the high end of the pond if possible. Hopefully, there's nothing wrong with the pump itself. Electricity going through the pond can harm the fish even at low levels, perhaps too low for you to feel it when you put your hand in. Be careful.

... just to let you all know: I did go out and bought a new pump and trashed the old one. The old one was a Little Giant Pump, the new one is a LAGUNA. How long is pond pump supposed to last? Does anyone know? The old one was 5 years old. Hopefully the new one will last longe ....
Thanks for everyones advice earlier!
Karin

The cheaper pumps usually come with a one year warranty. They tend to die the day after! More expensive pumps have 3 year warranties. My OASE Nautilus pump is still going after 10 years and one month! Little Giant pumps don't last long. I bought one that died in less than a year (didn't bother with the warranty; it was a cheap pump). Laguna I think is better but I've never had one myself.