Which mechanic do I believe?

[nightstalker]

One mechanic at the marina told me to change the water pump in my 1994, 225 Johnny every three years regardless of use. The other mechanic at the marina told me to keep an eye on the pee hole and if it sprays water out stong that the impeller is OK and doesn't need to be changed. He said you can go many years with the same impeller as long as the pee hole indicates that the water is pumping fine. I change the impeller every two years because I put about 100 hours a season on my motor and will continue to do so (small price to pay for piece of mind), but can this guy be right about only relying on the pee hole pressure to determine the condition of the impeller?<br />Stalker

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

What does your pressure gauge say?

 

[nightstalker]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

My rig doesn't have a pressure gauge built into it. Is there one I can buy that hooks up to the water outlet?

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

The gauge reads from the adaptor plate. That will actually give you the pressure that the pump puts out to feed the block. The instructions will show you where but theres a little plug in the passage now.<br /><br />Once you have the gauge then you can monitor the pressure. On my flats boat we run in shallow sandy water and we change the pump every 2 to 3 seasons. Deep water motors have had the pump for longer. We use OE pumps only. If the motor sits a long time between uses I'd be concerned about the rubber blades drying out. If the motor gets started without water to it, the pump life can be measured in seconds.

 

[alcan]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

Night stalker, basicly both guys are correct. The problem is your empeller is not going to fail while on the trailer in the driveway. Also the fact that there is other preventitive maintance issues that need to happen on an annual basis that require removing the lower unit. So you my as well toss in a new empeller as long as your there. There is no set time for a part to fail. Some go longer some don't. The idea here is to keep on top of your equiptment. This is still no gaurentee you won't have problems, but it sure keeps them to a minium.

 

[nightstalker]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

Thanks for the info.<br />Stalker

 

[jim dozier]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

It is possible for a rubber water pump impeller to perform adequately right up until it disintegrates throwing pieces into (by Murphy's law) the engine places that will do the most damage and be the hardest to retrieve. I would go with the mechanic that says every 3 years.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Which mechanic do I believe?

I've always said every two to three years for two reasons:1: it will come apart with a reasonable labor charge,2:it won't fail just before July 4th,when no one has time to fix it.<br />Impellers can go 8 to 10 years,but I've had a few that I could not get the lower gearcase off to replace it.<br />DHP