Water pump leak?

[PutMeOnTheWater]

4.3 GL-D
3869251
4012141889planning on taking the boat to the lake today but figured I’d be smart and start it at home first this time. Noticed a little water getting splashed around by the belt. I think it’s coming from the water pump? The other thing that seems odd is last time I ran the boat on the hose, it didn’t really change temperature when running for 10+ minutes. Today it was up to 170 or so within about 5 minutes. Looking for any insight and for someone to tell me I probably shouldn’t take it out today. (Or someone that tells me I SHOULD) thank you!

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Found this video on YouTube
Same motor. Looks like same issue. He walks through a few different repairs before landing on the solution for him. Impeller and O ring, hose sleeves that connect to the housing worn out, and then finally replacing the entire pump assembly because the built in seal had failed. I assume these are the steps I’ll need follow as well. As far as taking it out today, I think I could go, not the best idea but should be okay if I keep an eye on it? And the water on the belt may affect the power steering pump performance that could cause problems. I guess that doesn’t really answer why it got to temp so fast though. Sorry, thinking out loud and trying to answer my own questions lol

 

[ESGWheel]

Just seeing that you posted 20 mins ago. The answer is DO NOT go out. More to follow.

 

[ESGWheel]

Two issues here:

1. You are leaking water into the boat and even though a seemingly small leak the thing about them is they can rapidly become large leaks.
2. Your previous experience is you did not reach 170 on the hose (did not even move in 10 mins) and now within 5 mins you did. This is a clear signal that something is wrong with the cooling system. And overheating an engine is one of the sure-fire ways to destroy it.

My suggestion is to pull the Raw Water Pump and thoroughly inspect it. I suspect you will find several issues including a damaged impeller. Pull it, disassemble it and post pics and ask lots of questions.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Two issues here:

1. You are leaking water into the boat and even though a seemingly small leak the thing about them is they can rapidly become large leaks.
2. Your previous experience is you did not reach 170 on the hose (did not even move in 10 mins) and now within 5 mins you did. This is a clear signal that something is wrong with the cooling system. And overheating an engine is one of the sure-fire ways to destroy it.

My suggestion is to pull the Raw Water Pump and thoroughly inspect it. I suspect you will find several issues including a damaged impeller. Pull it, disassemble it and post pics and ask lots of questions.

Thanks @ESGWheel !
Got into in and here are some pics. It all looks to be good with the impeller. There’s a chance that last time I only ran it for a 3-4 mins and this time was closer to 10 but I’m not 100% sure. Here are some pictures. I’m thinking if I reassemble and still leaks than I need to replace the whole pump assembly. Also apparently there’s supposed to be a little rubber boot on the end of the bracket that keeps the pump from rotating that I’m missing as well.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Wondering also if the rust at the base of that stem may be an indicator that water is getting past that seal.

 

[ESGWheel]

I must run for now but here are my initial thoughts:

• The backing plate looks to be grooved which would limit the pumps effectiveness
• You need to take out the impeller and look for scoring in the pump housing as well (pics helpful)
• If the impeller is more then 2 or 3 years old, suggest replacing it anyway but even if you do not

Once back together, run it on muffs again and only at idle. Ensure you have good water flow to the muffs. Watch the temp and see what happens while also checking for water flowing out as expected. A rapid rise in temp and / or exceeding 170 and / or low flow coming out of the engine are all indications something wrong.

 

[ESGWheel]

The little rubber cap on the anti-rotation bracket is nice to have but not critical. Item no. 5 of link.

The inner seal does look compromised and may be the reason for the leak. Hard to tell but look at the highlighted area in the pic below.

A good source for rebuilt pumps is a gentleman on eBay link. Many have used him with good results. Me too.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

I ordered one on Amazon that arrives tomorrow . Looking at the link you shared, I might regret saving that $115

 

[ESGWheel]

many folks on this forum have had bad experiences with knockoff raw water pumps

 

[ESGWheel]

Follow up to my above comment: when it comes to critical parts (i.e. parts associated with cooling and ignition) recommend you stick with OEM or SIERRA brand. When it comes to complete raw water pump assembles, OEM or Johnson (which I have come to learn is the provider of the VP pumps). And for a rebuilt pump, looks like the gent on eBay has one: link.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Follow up to my above comment: when it comes to critical parts (i.e. parts associated with cooling and ignition) recommend you stick with OEM or SIERRA brand. When it comes to complete raw water pump assembles, OEM or Johnson (which I have come to learn is the provider of the VP pumps). And for a rebuilt pump, looks like the gent on eBay has one: link.

Just to add some confirmation to that and maybe save someone else the time of trying to save a few bucks on Amazon here’s a picture of the NEW impeller that came in the Amazon pump that was delivered today. Came pre-broken, cracked on the base of one of the fins on top.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Question on this, if I didn’t have any impeller grease. Would regular marine grease work?

I have an oem impeller that I can put in this thing, i thought the grease was lost but it’s still in the box. So more of a question for future reference.

 

[ESGWheel]

Unsure of the impact of regular grease on the rubber of the impeller. However, you can use some kitchen dish detergent to lube it up, like Dawn. Also, while the AfterMarket (AM) Raw Water Pump (RWP) may work fine for now with a new proper impeller, I would strongly suggest get a proper one as mentioned above.

My suggestion: get it all back together with the AM RWP and new impeller. Run on the muffs at idle for 30 min and monitor temps. My concern is that given the old impeller was whole you may still have unresolved issues (like blockage) so caution is the watchword.

Also it’s a good idea to get a Infrared thermometer like this link. These can help troubleshoot cooling issues.

Please post how it goes and any questions. Thanks.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Unsure of the impact of regular grease on the rubber of the impeller. However, you can use some kitchen dish detergent to lube it up, like Dawn. Also, while the AfterMarket (AM) Raw Water Pump (RWP) may work fine for now with a new proper impeller, I would strongly suggest get a proper one as mentioned above.

My suggestion: get it all back together with the AM RWP and new impeller. Run on the muffs at idle for 30 min and monitor temps. My concern is that given the old impeller was whole you may still have unresolved issues (like blockage) so caution is the watchword.

Also it’s a good idea to get a Infrared thermometer like this link. These can help troubleshoot cooling issues.

Please post how it goes and any questions. Thanks.

Will do! Only got a week or 2 of season left in KC and the other pump won’t arrive for a week or 2 so gonna give it a go and see what happens. I have the thermometer and will update. Thanks!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

the OEM Johnson pumps are cheap enough to not have to resort to the no-name off-shore sourced amazon failure prone pumps.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

Still issues with the new RWP. I had it running on the hose hookup and the thermostat got up to about 185 and I shut it off. The IR thermometer didn’t really tell me a lot (probably cause I don’t know what to look for to diagnose). The hoses on top didn’t seem to be getting warm and didn’t feel like much water was moving through the big one on top. I’m going to replace the thermostat and go from there. Anything I can do to check for blockages while I’m doing that?

 

[ESGWheel]

Good for you that you stopped! Something still wrong as you surmised. And agree with your approach. Can also do this > using the garden hose backflush the heck out of everything water related > pull off hoses, couple garden hose to disconnected hose with hands to make a seal and flush. Note: I have learned on this forum to not run without the t-stat installed, so if you were thinking of doing that to see if you get water flow, please do not.

 

[PutMeOnTheWater]

the OEM Johnson pumps are cheap enough to not have to resort to the no-name off-shore sourced amazon failure prone pumps.

Maybe it’s just this one but I looked in to the Johnsons and they’re $330. The junky Amazon one was $85. Obviously still not worth it but I was unable to fight the temptation! Aaaand now we’re here. I would say lesson learned but seems like I’ve learned this one before.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Im finding them for $180