When attempting to put a new impeller into this newly acquired 1986 25XD recently, I noticed after the job was essentially done that there was a small gap between the bottom of the housing and the face plate along one edge. On the opposite side the two came nicely together. When I looked at it more closely, I realized that the housing consists of the dome proper, and a "cup" that sits inside it that accepts the impeller. It was soon evident that the "cup" was not level with the dome that it sits in. Perhaps better explained, if you had two bowls of nearly the same diameter, and you took one bowl and placed it on top of the other, and the top bowl's lip jutted just above the lip of the bowl beneath it, you could level the top bowl relative to the one beneath it, having the amount of lip jutting up the same distance all around the perimeter. On the other hand, you could also offset the top bowl whereby one edge of the top bowl could be nearly flush with the corresponding edge of the botom bowl, and that would cause the opposite side to jut up over the corresponding edge of the bottom bowl. That is essentially the situation with this impeller housing. That's why when you bolt it down to the faceplate, it's flush on one edge and forms a gap on the opposite side. A defect? Well, I bought another housing today, and guess what? It is exactly the same as the one I deemed defective. Offset just the same, and in exactly the same place. I don't get it. There is an O ring type gasket that fills the seam between the inner "cup" and the top piece of the housing, but it is clear that when the housing gets bolted over the face plate, the tension on the seal is not equal around the perimeter. It also results in the impeller being just slightly cocked, not level. Is this normal? Any help or advice would be appreciated. By the way, can Mercury somehow be called directly with technical questions? Anybody have a number? Thanks a million.
