Fresh water pump won't prime!

[pwhoel]

Hello,

I have a 2002 volvo penta 5.0gl-b. I just replaced the impeller on the fresh water pump and know i can't get it to prime. I took of the intake hose and hooked up ears to the lower unit and water came out the the intake hose at the impeller housing. So it seams to me water is getting to the pump. I also checked all my hoses and none are leaking or cracked and the hoses clamps on them are tight. I don't know what the problem could be. I can hear the impeller spinning when the engine is running, so that really has me confused. The only thing i can think of is maybe it is sucking up to much air throught the ears on the lower unit and thus it won't prime, but like i said before water was running through the hose but maybe it doesn't matter. If anyone has any ideas i would appreciate it because i just don't know. I saw somewhere that you should let it run at 1000rpm's with a graden hose hooked up. is this true? if so maybe thats the problem because i am only letting it idle( about 700-800rpms),so maybe it doesn't have enough suction. Please help if you can.

thanks
patrick

 

[Coors]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

Is the hose on full?

 

[Don S]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

I sure hope you didn't run it too long without water too it. Did you prelube the impeller with grease or liquid dish soap?
Are you sure you got the two hoses on the proper port of the pump?

 

[pwhoel]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

The hose is on full. Also i ran it only for about 30 seconds without it sucking any water. And yes the hoeses are on the right ports, i marked them before i took them off. Was 30seconds to long? Thats how long the paper work that came with the impeller said to run it.

patrick

 

[pwhoel]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

also i did prelube it with the stuff that came in the impeller kit.

 

[Don S]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

Might check that the oring that seals the pump housing to the pump didn't get damaged when you put it back together. You did put a new one on didn't you?

 

[GunnerJack07]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

Had a similar problem on my Bayliner with Volvo... Did the same things as you did and spent a couple of days scratching my head. As I was reluctantly getting ready to remove the exhaust manifold and troubleshoot, just for giggles I disconnected the outlet line from the seawater system resevoir and shot water in that direction. Guess what happened...?! I discovered a clog in my water exhaust line and the pressure from the water hose cleared it out. Maybe you could try that out....

 

[firstcoastmarineservices]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

have a 2002 volvo penta 5.0gl-b. I just replaced the impeller on the fresh water pump and know i can't get it to prime

try this as well
i worked for a large volvo dealer 4 years and have seen this many times, this is what i do everytime i change an imp on a volvo.
i pull the hose that comes up from the raw water(fresh) pump to the thermostat housing,that is to say, i pull the hose where it goes onto the thermostat housing, got me? i pull that hose loose and start the eng. w/ water to the outdrive, and prime the system that way, when the water starts to flow i reach in with the eng running and hook up the hose , thats pretty tricky and if your not comfortable get the system primed up shut the eng off and reconnect the hose and restart and check the flow.
if it just wont prime up i have seen times even with pretty new volvo's that had to change the pump housing before i ever got them to prime. some pumps had plastic parts on the housing and they were the worst, the new housings all are bronze or whatever.
good luck..

 

[pwhoel]

Re: Fresh water pump won't prime!

Thanks for all the replies. I took off the hose that comes out of the pump and tried to prime it that way. when i did water came through it but when i hooked it back up to the thermostat housing i got nothing. So i took off the thermostat housing and it was clogged. So i fixed that problem and put it back to gether and then started it and it primed instantly! Thank God, because i was starting to get worried. Thanks again for all the replies, you guys helped out a ton.

patrick