Water Pump Replacement

Occasionally, I am forced to make some repairs to my old boat in order to keep her fishing.

Generally I don't mind making these repairs, as I do like the challenge of fixing problems and learning of new things, especially when it comes to boats/baits/fishing.

The last couple trips out I had a warning buzzer sounding after making a long run, this alarm was indicating an overheating issue.  With the water pump impeller being original to the engine (30 years old & untold hours on it) I decided to start the repair by changing it out for a new one.

After much online research and talking with several folks that know about these things I begun the dis assembly process.

motor with lower unit removed

lower unit with old water pump housing removed and ready for clean up

old exhaust leg gasket (probably need to replace this...maybe ??)

New parts kit arrived, time to start assembly

water pump impellers,  new on left, old on right.

old stainless steel impeller cup, notice the wear grooves

new stainless steel impeller cup ready for installation

lower unit with all the new parts installed and ready to go back on the engine.

After I got everything back together I took it to the boat launch and backed it in the water for a test fire.   Upon starting the was a nice strong stream of water shooting out of the tale tale hole, so everything in the pump area seemed to be working as designed.  A couple quick shifts from forward  to reverse, just to make sure I had all the linkage connected properly and everything seemed to be correct. 

   All in all this was not a real hard project.... the hardest part was re-connecting the shift shaft linkage which is located under the carburetors on the power head.   They are located in place you cannot hardly even see it, let alone work on it...but after a short while of  frustration I finally got it connected right...I'm sure the marine mechanics that do this sort of thing a lot have a few tricks that would have helped save some time but it's a good feeling to be able to solve problems yourself.

 Now to find some time to take her out and make a few long runs to see if the over heating issue is fixed.