[cabmandone]

My take is it's completely coincidental. Typically a pump is set several feet off the bottom to prevent picking up sediment.

Installing a new pump isn't hard. I've done it several times on new wells for homes that I built and on my own home. Main thing is, once the new pump is installed, sanitize the well.

Upon further review.... Take a look at the pressure tank. With the tank completely drained, the bladder pressure should be around 2 lbs below the pump cut in pressure. It's also possible that you have a two check valve system where there's one at the tank T and one in the pump itself. The check valve could have debris preventing it from working properly.