How many years on one impeller??

[Bondo]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

By not doing the maintenance when it's due, you are almost guaranteeing that nuts and bolts will be seized and give you trouble. I think that's what is called a 'self-fulfilling prophesy'...

When I installed my engine new in 2006, I took each bolt out of the drive and put a liberal coat of grease on them, each and every one! Each time I do the service now, they all come out like they were put in yesterday....Same with my trailer brake caliper bolts. I put a good quality water-proof grease on them and 5 years later, when I needed to replace the pads, out they came, just like new....

Just saying...

Chris.........

BTW... Aren't we suppose to be helping people do the right thing here? Not telling them how great it is to avoid doing the maintenance? :facepalm:

Ayuh,.... I'm a Big fan of Greasy nuts, 'n bolts too,.....

 

[spdracr39]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

BTW... Aren't we suppose to be helping people do the right thing here? Not telling them how great it is to avoid doing the maintenance? :facepalm:

I just want to emphasize my method is not the recommended protocol it is just what has always worked for me and I am only stating it because it has always worked for my situation.

 

[thumpar]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

I just want to emphasize my method is not the recommended protocol it is just what has always worked for me and I am only stating it because it has always worked for my situation.

Always, so far. Wait until your impeller detonates itself. Watching gauges won't help. They usually go all at once. I can tell you from experience that alarm is loud and the tow is embarrassing, especially being towed by an OMC. :facepalm:

 

[Walt T]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

Tell ya'll a secret... I let my block freeze so I could say the boat needed a new engine and built a bad *** 383 stroker. That's one way to get what you want. Course she doesn't know about that. Doesn't know about the girlfriend either but hey that's a story for another day

 

[MarkSee]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

.....and the tow is embarrassing, especially being towed by an OMC. :facepalm:

:lol: :lol: :faint2:

 

[mr 88]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

Had a pair of expensive Timberline boots that I rarely wore,they were my going out boots.Bottoms looked like new and they were 12-15 years old. Took a airplane trip and as I was getting up I noticed all this black crap on the floor in front of me, I thought to myself what a crappy cleaning crew. Got in the terminal and started to walk,felt a bit funny,looked at soles and they were falling apart from age,not use.Every two years I change mine.

rubber starts to deteriorate due to age. as Chris mentioned, it also takes a set.

I use 2 years max on an impeller.

 

[oldandintheway]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

I bought a boat recently with a 1973 135hp Evinrude from the original owner. The boat has not been used since 2003.
The owner told me that he has never changed the impeller. He said that that it has never been a problem. And yes, in salt water.

I think that it is time.

 

[achris]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

I've no doubt that there are dozens of stories of people who defy the odds, and just love the idea of 'living on the edge'... And I also know that for every one of those, there are a dozen people with the opposite story, only they (rightly) are too embarrassed to air their dirty linen in public.

The recommendation from the manufacturer is there for a reason, not to be flaunted and made fun of....

So, to re-iterate (for Mercruiser 'Alpha' style drives)... Short vane impellers, one year recommended, 2 years maximum. Long/floppy vane impellers, 3 years.... This is regardless of the number of hours the engine has run!

Anyway, I don't think we need any more stories of how you got 10 years out of it.... The OP asked about the recommendations....

Chris.......

 

[Lou C]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

By not doing the maintenance when it's due, you are almost guaranteeing that nuts and bolts will be seized and give you trouble. I think that's what is called a 'self-fulfilling prophesy'...

When I installed my engine new in 2006, I took each bolt out of the drive and put a liberal coat of grease on them, each and every one! Each time I do the service now, they all come out like they were put in yesterday....Same with my trailer brake caliper bolts. I put a good quality water-proof grease on them and 5 years later, when I needed to replace the pads, out they came, just like new....

Just saying...

Chris.........

BTW... Aren't we suppose to be helping people do the right thing here? Not telling them how great it is to avoid doing the maintenance? :facepalm:

I'm a big believer in not leaving things bolted together, that you know...sooner or later...are going to have to come apart...and as a salt water boater....I've learned a thing or to....like how to split a salt water drive that hasn't been taken apart in about 5 seasons...well let's just say...this took some ingenuity...involving a piece of all thread....and a couple of appropriately sized bolts...and 3 scissor jacks. I put one jack under the 2 bolts installed in the lowest mounting holes in the front end of the drive and one under each side of the all thread going through the holes that the trim ram rod would usually go...a few turns of each jack and the upper unit popped right off...in this case it wasn't seized bolts that was the problem, but salt build up on one of o-rings that seals the upper and lower....I put OMC gasket sealer on every single bolt that goes in salt water (drive bolts, anode bolts, impeller housing bolts, the 3 drain plugs that are in the pivot housing on the Cobras, etc) works like a charm. I also change my spark plugs every year even tho they don't need it, because of wear..but because of the eventual corrosion...

As far as impellers, the Cobra uses an impeller that is more like a typical inboard engine mounted pump and they last longer, but even then I have used them 2 seasons max. What I have noticed is that they do not really wear to a degree you can see, but they do take a set and used ones do not pump as well as new ones even though they may look the same.

Workin' on this boat...I'm smearing OMC triple guard grease and OMC gasket sealer wherever its called for in the factory manuals...and have not had much trouble with nuts and bolts on a boat that sits in salt water on a mooring 6 months out of the year...and is parked 300 feet from salt water the other 6 months...
These 2 products work so well, I use em on both of my Jeeps as well, seeing as how the only offroadin' they do...is on the beaches of Long Island....here is a pic of the older one...now my son's at Robert Moses State Park on the western tip of Fire Island...one of my favorite spots on all of Long Island....

 

[Lou C]

Re: How many years on one impeller??

To the guy above with the old 'Rude....be real careful removing that lower unit....you might be lucky....or you might have to get creative....like I did above.....alu housing+stainless bolts+salt water = trouble....