Culligan Mark 89

There should be some water in the tank to dissolve salt for the next regeneration, unless the unit has a pre refill feature, meaning it adds the water at the beginning of a regeneration instead of at the end and leaving it sit there for days etc.. I don't think it does because of the age of the model so yes, you should see at least 1 gallon of water for each 3 lbs of salt used in the salt dose. plus about 2-3" that is always left in the tank that cant be sucked out.

So... if the control is not keeping the correct time of day, you have a bad motor, loose wire nuts on the motor wires, a stuck piston or brine valve preventing the motor from keeping time and moving the piston into the service position etc.. OR... a stuck float valve in the salt tank.