tomater

I bought a house with a 17000 gallon inground pool. I have a 1 horse pump and on the suction side I have a center drain and a skimmer.The discharge side has one return line that is working. The other discharge line goes to a gear changer then to the floor system with popups and two side return lines. I have this portion of the discharge lines shut off because the two side return lines leak.I would like to add solar heat to the pool threw the floor system.My question is can I cap the leaky side line discharge at the gear changer,remove the guts or bypass the gear changer and run the floor system wide open? I believe this would give my pool better circulation.