water pump impellers

[bailey]

I am curious with regards to the water pump impellers.After following these forums for the past few years I understand replacing the impeller is important,if the motor is overheating...Now if the motor is not used very much does the impeller become "brittle" because of little use thereby causing it to disenegrate thus causing an overheating situation. My situation is a 140hp.motor that is used not that much the impeller was replaced 5 years ago,the motor "seems" to be pumping quite well (out the pee hole) while in the lake and by the prop while running with "muffs"on on the driveway the heads don't appear hot to the touch. Now am I living on borrowed time or should I just go ahead and replace it? Does the impeller become brittle with age?

 

[i386]

Re: water pump impellers

Here's another discussion on it: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=3934

 

[F_R]

Re: water pump impellers

Nobody can tell what your impeller is like without taking it out and looking at it. But understand that the rubber vanes are under stress whether it is running or not. They may or may not stress crack. Not only that, the rubber sometimes comes loose from the metal center hub. So, if you are going to go to all the work to take it out to look, it doesn't make much sense to put it back in, does it?