Prop spins in 1 direction???

raywm3

Cadet
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
11
Hi guys.

I just changed the water impeller in my 1991 20 hp Mercury tiller motor. It's the first time I've ever done it, but I think I did it ok. However, for whatever reason, the motor doesn't seem to have quite as much power as before. It does okay, and the difference is small, but I do notice it. I was a little overwhelmed at all of the seals and o-rings involved in changing the impeller, so to be honest, I was crossing my fingers when I was done.

My main question is, with the motor off and in forward gear, the prop spins in both directions. ??? In reverse, it only spins in one direction which seems right. In neutral it spins freely. But in forward you can spin it by hand the same direction as it would when running. However, it does it with a "ratcheting" sound - like it clicks when you spin it.

This doesn't seem normal to me and I don't know if it did it before I changed the impeller. Could I have reassembled something wrong? I just ran it for a week and it worked, but just seemed a little slower with less power.

Any thoughts??
 

jimg984

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 16, 2007
Messages
403
Re: Prop spins in 1 direction???

should work this way
netrual spin free each direction
reverse will not spin either direction
forward spin free one direction with a clicking sound, not spin other direction
need to check that again, because how could it go forward, if free in both directions in forward shift ?/
 

raywm3

Cadet
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
11
Re: Prop spins in 1 direction???

Yep, that's what it does. It spins with a clicking in one direction. I wasn't sure if that was what it was suppose to do. (I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that it spun in both directions in forward gear). Thanks.
 
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