Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

[Luna Sea]

Took the lower unit off, ordered the rebuild kit. Cant budge the impeller! Put the tools away at 10 o'clock, frustrated. Don't want to damage the lower end. Got some penetrating oil sprayed on it. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

Mike..... That happens. At times the impeller can be freed by simply striking it with a hammer between ther blades, close up to its center, in a back and forth motion. If that doesn't do it, cut the rubber away, then using a good sharp chisel, split the hub. (Been there many times).

 

[Luna Sea]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

Thanks, will try the hammer next. Was going to cut the rubber away with a hacksaw? Do I have to worry about the little pieces of rubber falling down-it looks like some kind of spring under there. And will whacking it with a hammer/chisel damage anything? Is this a concern? And now that I'm talking to a technical person... It's a 1985 120 hp and I just did the compression check. Both starb cylinders are 120 and both port ones are 150. Starboard thermostat housing gets much hotter than the port one. Changing both along with the water pump rebuild. Engine loses rpms after 10 or 15 minutes at high speed, cuts right down, but then runs good at low speed. Water coming out was pretty hot, couldn't keep my hand under it. HOPING engine safety/overheat was doing this. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

Did you buy an impellar or the whole kit to do the replacement? I had mine stick too but I split it with a chisal. I replaced the entire housing too.<br /><br />Bob

 

[Luna Sea]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

Ordered the kit, top and bottom plates were grooved up. And ordered the thermostats. Housing should be ok, haven't tried pressing out the wear plate yet though. Have another question, regarding putting it back together. There's a hefty grommet type of rubber bushing on the base of the shift rod, and there's an o-ring just sitting on top of it. This must go up inside somewhere? Thanks

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

I recently had the same problem on my '89 88hp.<br />I used WD40 and also heated the driveshaft just above the impeller. After I got it to move about 1/8" I them tapped it back down with a hammer and continued to work it up and down while adding more WD40..............it eventually broke free.<br /><br />Good luck!

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Frozen Water Pump Impeller, 120 Evinrude

Mike, I just finished a water pump rebuild on an '85 John 140 ... the same motor as yours. There's no O ring on the shift rod, only the larger grommet seal you referred to in your post. May be someone left it there on an earlier rebuild. The only O rings in the full kit are the drive shaft top, the larger pump body body to wear plate seal and the inner upper pump housing seal. <br /><br />I also had some trouble removing the impeller. I ended up damaging the wear plate (it had some grooving and needed replacement anyway. I think the plastic cam/key has something to do with the hard to remove thing. In any case, I used a sharp cold chisel between the wear plate and the impeller, but the split the hub sounds like a better way and allows saving the wear plate for reuse if it's any good.<br /> <br /> If there is any groving in the SS pump body liner (in the top), replace it. Any significant grooving in the wear plate or the liner will affect the pump capacity.