oops, is that noise bad?

[Jason B]

So I was winterizing the boat today and all was going well. I pulled the petcocks to drain the water. Changed all of the oils no problem. I stuck a hose in the bucket of antifreeze and started the engine but it never sucked it up. So, brilliant as I am, I put the bucket on the swim platform and sucked on the hose to prime it before reattaching it to fake-a-lake. Everything good to that point. Then I start the engine again and the neighborhood dogs went crazy. The howl coming from the moving parts against the non-moving belt was ugly!

I obviously need a new impeller (duh) and most likely a new housing. Is there anything else my dumba$$ self should definitely get before I rip it apart to chck it. I mean, is there anything else that is for certain to be ruined besides the impeller and the housing?

Is there a trick (other than priming the hose) to ensure I don't do this again?

[zad0030]

The other day at the ramp my belt seized up for no reason, tightened it up and i was good to go.

Loosen the belt and try to turn the pump by hand before you go taking it apart.

[Moki]

If it the impeller is frozen, then that's all you have to worry about other than making sure that you have all the pieces of the impeller.

I hook a hose up to my fake lake and get water running through the engine before I drain the water out and hook up the antifreeze. Also, my bucket is actually one of those semi-flexible 5 gallon water container. So, I push down on it to force water into the impeller. Sometimes, your impeller is fine and just the tines have been pushed backwards. If so, you can either take it out and straighten the tines or you can try giving your engine a little gas when you start to see if you can reverse back the impeller.

[TRD]

Jason,
I can't find the link that I posted the pictures of my impeller. I would have been about 3 wks ago. My impeller came out in 6 pieces. That is exactly what my boat was doing. I never changed an impeller before so I really wasn't wanting to do it. I was trying to warm up the boat to get the oil out and mine was already froze up. So here is what I did and that is why I made that sheet up I sent you. Change out the impeller ONLY. NOTE: I pulled the 2 themostat hoses off up on the top of the engine and ran water throught them to flush the pieces if any out. Then I put and airhose and blew through the same hoses. I got 3 more pieces of impeller out that way. I then just followed that sheet and winterized that boat. Now when you take your hsg off check the bottom of it to see if it is damaged. I plan on changing my impeller hsg out before next season.
If it is, check w/ Anhaney. Like I told you the other day he is getting me the parts I need after Christmas. That is what those numbers were on that sheet.

ZAD, that is how my problem started. I took my boat out 3 times w/ the belt stopping and making noises. I didn't know what was going on and I ran my boat about 20 hours before the impeller final went bad. Good luck.

[chpthril]

Jason,
I can't find the link that I posted the pictures of my impeller. I would have been about 3 wks ago. My impeller came out in 6 pieces. That is exactly what my boat was doing. I never changed an impeller before so I really wasn't wanting to do it. I was trying to warm up the boat to get the oil out and mine was already froze up. So here is what I did and that is why I made that sheet up I sent you. Change out the impeller ONLY. NOTE: I pulled the 2 themostat hoses off up on the top of the engine and ran water throught them to flush the pieces if any out. Then I put and airhose and blew through the same hoses. I got 3 more pieces of impeller out that way. I then just followed that sheet and winterized that boat. Now when you take your hsg off check the bottom of it to see if it is damaged. I plan on changing my impeller hsg out before next season.
If it is, check w/ Anhaney. Like I told you the other day he is getting me the parts I need after Christmas. That is what those numbers were on that sheet.

ZAD, that is how my problem started. I took my boat out 3 times w/ the belt stopping and making noises. I didn't know what was going on and I ran my boat about 20 hours before the impeller final went bad. Good luck.

This one

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...2&postcount=39

[Jason B]

I got it all torn apart today. I hade 9 pieces of impeller. Oops. I am 99% sure I have all except maybe a couple tiny pieces, and I kinda doubt that even.
The pic is before I pulled the impeler out.
I'm pretty sure the housing is ok, I couldn't feeel any gouges or anything.

[Jason B]

forgot to ask-
is there anything else I need to do once the new one goes in? Should I fill the line with antifreeze or something?
I don't want to go through this again!!!!

[chpthril]

A dab of silicon grease around the housing will reduce friction until it primes up. Also make assembly easier.

[Jason B]

I was wondering why the bolts looked so perfect on everything as I was pulling it all apart. The impeller I blew up is the original impeller--5 years old.
It's stamped with a date exactly like the new one is. Makes me wonder what other maintanence was neglected!
It was suprisingly easy to change.

[chpthril]

I was wondering why the bolts looked so perfect on everything as I was pulling it all apart. The impeller I blew up is the original impeller--5 years old.
It's stamped with a date exactly like the new one is. Makes me wonder what other maintanence was neglected!
It was suprisingly easy to change.

Am I just lucky, or do inboards just dont last as long. I replaced the impeller in my first I/O once in the 4 yrs I had it. Replaced the one in my 2nd I/O before we sold it to get the Tige. It was 8yrs old and looked/felt like new

[raythompson]

I/O Impellers

I don't think inboards are harder on impellers than I/O's. I had an I/O and I had to replace the impeller every three years. I owned the boat for 20 years. It never stranded me once.

Not nearly as easy to replace as an inboard as you have to drop the lower unit on the I/O. That involves draining the lower unit oil, removing 5 bolts (one is under the trim tab), dropping the heavy and bulky lower unit, then removing the pump housing. Reinstallation requires putting the impeller key on with grease on the shaft so it sticks, putting on the impeller, then pump housing, then the bushings. Next you have to put on new O rings for the oil channel. Align the splines in the shaft while making sure the shift left is in the proper position, lift the lower unit up and align all the parts (shaft, water port, and shift lever). Of course you have to drop the lower unit at least once on your toes just so you can show it who's the boss. Once the lower unit is raised up for the third time you install the five bolts, trim tab, and refill the unit with oil.

For an inboard you remove the pump housing, pull out the impeller, install new impeller with lithium grease, new pump housing and gasket. You are done. Of course you sometimes have to be a contortionist with a V-Drive. But it is really much easier.

And changing an impeller every three years is really cheap insurance against problems.

[chpthril]

Mercs with the Alpha are in the Foot, but not to bad to do. I could change one in about the time it takes to change the one on my current V-drive.

My last I/O was Volvo Penta, and is hung on the engine and belt driven much like an inboard. Remove a few bolts and the plate comes off and slide the impeller out. Much easier then a V drive IMO.

Just seems funny that there is such a diff in life span. May be the amount of hours used compared to the avg I/O owner.

[Jason B]

I may be buying another one real soon. The housing had a few ugly spots. I wasn't sure if they were there as a result of the impeller implosion or if they were there all along. I didn't want to spend another 100$ or waste another night of the freakishly warm weather we're having, so I sanded the ugly spots with 320 then 600 and installed the new impeller with copius amounts of Bel-Ray waterproof grease.

May be a good thing that I can now change an impeller in <1hr.....I may be doing it tomorrow.

[Jason B]

Forgot to ask-
Is the housing supposed to be slightly oval? I'm assuming it is since it was working fine before I ran it dry, but it struck me as wierd to have a shape other than perfectly round.

[chpthril]

I may be buying another one real soon. The housing had a few ugly spots. I wasn't sure if they were there as a result of the impeller implosion or if they were there all along. I didn't want to spend another 100$ or waste another night of the freakishly warm weather we're having, so I sanded the ugly spots with 320 then 600 and installed the new impeller with copius amounts of Bel-Ray waterproof grease.

May be a good thing that I can now change an impeller in <1hr.....I may be doing it tomorrow.

Whats this stuff?