Impeller change

[abe321]

Hi There, Hope someone can give a little advice on this, I'm gonna be needing a new impeller soon for my alpha 1 bravo leg, A couple seasons ago i attempted to change the impeller myself by the manual way so i got the drive off replaced the new impeller and could not get the drive back on again. had to take it to the mariner and got stung just to replace the leg. since been told to first have the throttle in the forward gear whilst removing the leg and replacing it, is this the correct way or is it a little more trickier than that.
Thanks
Abe

 

[Bondo]

Re: Impeller change

I'm gonna be needing a new impeller soon for my alpha 1 bravo leg,

Ayuh,..... I'll assume this is an Alpha 1 drive, as the Bravo drives have the Impeller mounted on the motor....

Who's Manual were you usig,..??..??
If you add alittle more Info about the Vintage,+ Motor you've got,...
I'm sure We can hook you up with a copy of the Mercruiser Factory Manual.....

Yes,.. Everything must be in Forward Gear,+ Held there.....
The Shifter,+ Cables,+ Linkages are the easy part,... Just stuff it in Forward before you start....
The Tricky part is that the Lower Unit likes to pop back into Neutral as you're trying to reinstall it....
I put a Bungee Cord around the Propshaft,+ secure it to the Cav-plate to hold Tension on the propshaft, in Forward gear...
That keeps it from Popping Out.....

 

[abe321]

Re: Impeller change

Bond-o. Thanks for the info. Sorry yes its an alpha 1 drive, engine is a 4.3 merc. I have the manuals for engine and drive. Am trying to keep the costs down by doing bits myself and your reply sounds not too dificult. any other points to note while doing this task.

Thanks Again
Abe.

 

[Uraijit]

Re: Impeller change

Check the engine alignment while the drive is off. Once you get the drive partially on, and the shift dog lined up, if it goes in part way, but not all the way, you may need to give the drive a good kick to get it to seat.

This has been dubbed "The Mercruiser Kick".

 

[abe321]

Re: Impeller change

Check the engine alignment while the drive is off. Once you get the drive partially on, and the shift dog lined up, if it goes in part way, but not all the way, you may need to give the drive a good kick to get it to seat.

This has been dubbed "The Mercruiser Kick".

Thanks uraijit, What do you mean by the "shift dog" I take it thats the leg dont mean to sound rude but not used to yank slang, am scottish.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Impeller change

Ayuh,....
That's where the Drives shift linkages align with the shift linkage on the Gimbel Housing......

 

[abe321]

Re: Impeller change

Ayuh,....
That's where the Drives shift linkages align with the shift linkage on the Gimbel Housing......

Bond-o, I take it this is an important process that the shift linkages align with the shift linkage, I assume this method will be pointed out in the correct manual.
Thanks Again

 

[Bondo]

Re: Impeller change

I assume this method will be pointed out in the correct manual.

Ayuh,...... Absolutely....

 

[buggiedad_67]

Re: Impeller change

Check the engine alignment while the drive is off. Once you get the drive partially on, and the shift dog lined up, if it goes in part way, but not all the way, you may need to give the drive a good kick to get it to seat.

This has been dubbed "The Mercruiser Kick".

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa???? why would he have the complete drive off just to replace a impeller?????????

 

[abe321]

Re: Impeller change

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa???? why would he have the complete drive off just to replace a impeller?????????

Buggiedad, Your getting me a bit worried here now. I've got to take part of the drive off to get to the impeller housing yes!. do you agree with whats been said already.
Thanks
Abe.

 

[bigbob_FTW]

Re: Impeller change

I would normally only pull the lower unit for the impeller change. You can pull the drive once a year to check the alignment.

 

[buggiedad_67]

Re: Impeller change

Buggiedad, Your getting me a bit worried here now. I've got to take part of the drive off to get to the impeller housing yes!. do you agree with whats been said already.
Thanks
Abe.

yes i sure do agree but i dont pull the hole drive off just for a impeller, just the lower half. what bondo posted in #2 is just the lower half, if you follow what he said should not take more than a hour or so to do.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Impeller change

abe, ya can do your impeller change either way. remove the lower only, or remove the whole drive. if ya remove the whole drive. ya'll have to seperate the lower from the upper after drive removal.
if ya remove the lower only. ya'll just going for the impeller replacement. then replaceing the lower onto the upper. just like ya did last time. as ya know, it can be a bummer to get the lower to mate with the upper when it's on the boat. but it can be done. two people to reinstall + fight it till ya get it. if ya remove the whole thing, the drive. ya still have to do the impeller. but it gives ya the oppertunity to check other things while yer doing the deed. like alignment, ujoint inspection and greaseing, inspecting the gimble brg. checking for water intrusion into the bellows area. it is easier to reassemble the upper to the lower on the bench. that's one benifit of doing it on the bench. + the extra inspections. removeing the drive is end of year pm also. but ya can do it either way. i've done about 4 or 5 impellers by just removeing the lower. i kid ya not, the first one i did took me and the boy 80 tries to get it back where it belonged. realy bummed me out. last one took about 5 trys. i've done it once with the whole drive removed. and it's much easier to put the two halfs together on the bench. took me 2 trys on the bench to mate the upper and lower, by myself...... your choice.....

 

[buggiedad_67]

Re: Impeller change

ziggy is right what one does someone else will do it different, i have been lucky and have gotten them back on in the one or two trys, knock on wood, but that doesnt mean that the next time wont take fifty times, just means i have been lucky, but if you havent had your bellows and u joints checked it lately now will be a good time to do so,

 

[ziggy]

Re: Impeller change

but if you havent had your bellows and u joints checked it lately now will be a good time to do so,

that would be the deciding factor for me.....

 

[abe321]

Re: Impeller change

ziggy is right what one does someone else will do it different, i have been lucky and have gotten them back on in the one or two trys, knock on wood, but that doesnt mean that the next time wont take fifty times, just means i have been lucky, but if you havent had your bellows and u joints checked it lately now will be a good time to do so,

Thanks guys.