'59 18hp - No Water to Powerhead After Seal Replacement

[Rick K]

Hi all,
Don't get up to the forums much as I haven't been into the boating thing for a little while. Figured it was time to dust off the ol' girl and get her going.

I have an issue with a 59 18hp/FD-13R. I took the powerhead in and had the upper and lower seals replaced. Got that back, put it all together, fired her up for a few seconds and put her away for storage. This was a few years ago.

Last nite I fired her up and there was very little water pumping. Figured after it sat for so long maybe the impller was junk. Pulled the lower unit, and the impller is like new and there was water in the pump (Ill replace anyway though).

Question: Upon installation of the powerhead, is there something that I could've missed that would make it NOT pump water thru the cylinders?

All that's really there is two gaskets with a metal plate between them and then a small plate that goes over the backside of that. Everything seemed to go together perfectly.

I assumed that if the water tube didn't slide into where it belongs, that the lower unit wouldn't bolt up, so that's why I'm pointing to the powerhead.

It fired right up - on the first pull i might add, so I'm hopeful that the motor isn't going to become an anchor. I'd really hate to pull that powerhead again, as it's a miserable venture.

Any ideas, pointers or advice is always appreciated.

Thanks as always,
Rick

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: '59 18hp - No Water to Powerhead After Seal Replacement

Drop the lower unit and check the water tube, reseat it if necessary...it's real easy to get that LU on without the water tube in the grommet. Done it more than once in the past.

 

[Rick K]

Re: '59 18hp - No Water to Powerhead After Seal Replacement

Thanks... I'm about to go out there now an mess with it. My IPL shows a a grommet on top of the water tube as well as the one attached to the top of the water pump. I'm wondering if that got screwed up during assembly.

Appreciate your response,
Rick