Waterpump Question?

[Western-Mass-Bass]

Purchased first boat this season and getting ready for storage. Do we change impellers as a service yearly or?

 

Thanks, Lee

[Western-Mass-Bass]

2008 mercury 25hp Elpt by the way

[BassnChris]

I change mine annually.

I think Mercury recommends every other year....but I'm not positive.

[Ski213]

Changing it is pretty cheap insurance. How often probably depends on a lot of variables. Given that it's used but new to you I would definitely change it this year.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

Roger that!!  Thank guys.

[nixdorf]

Just a tip: buy an OEM replacement.

I bought a highly rated impeller off Amazon for my 2004 Mercury. It replaced the original OEM impeller that was 10+ years old (the previous owner never replaced it). The non-OEM one lasted 6 months before it ate itself. It left me stranded 5 miles from the ramp at 0730 on a Sunday morning. Not fun.

Needless to say, I put an OEM impeller in as a replacement. It cost me $2 more. Lesson learned.

[slonezp]

Never changed them on my big motors. I did on a 15hp.

[WIGuide]

It should be simple enough to do if you're mechanically inclined. I'd say every few years and you should be ok.

[Way2slow]

Every three years is my routine.  If you run it a lot, by then it starts getting fatigued, is you let it mostly sit, by then it starts to harden and develop a memory so it doesn't flex out firmly into the larger cavity. 

 

A used motor that's several years old, one of the first things I do after buying it is replace the impeller. 

 

As mentioned, with all this cheap Chinese crap we get today, I always stick with the OEM.  Cost a little more, but I've never had one of those to fail on a motor that has been maintained.  I figure if I can buy a motor 10 to 15 years old that still has the original impeller in it, I can trust the new one to last three years.

[Glenn]

Every two years, without fail, and check it annually - and that's important.  I once found out I was running a "burned" impeller (it even melted the casing a bit) due to something temporarily blocking the intake while I was running (probably a plastic bag or debris).  Had to replace the impeller and housing.  It was only 8 months old.

 

Odd thing was that the pressure never changed.  So the only way of knowing, is by checking.

[Bladesmith,]

I change my impeller and check the housing for wear every year in the early spring as I am preparing the boat for the season. As mentioned previously, it is cheap insurance. The waters I fish are sometimes muddy with lots of sand stirred up when I'm idling along in shallow water.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

I appreciate all of the tips.   Just curious though. How long should it take before I see a stream of water coming out of it? The boat sat for a month and I was getting worried that it is taking to long to see a stream of water after I started it.

[Ski213]

It takes mine several seconds. Long enough that it felt like a long time at first. Maybe 5 seconds or a bit longer.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

It takes mine several seconds. Long enough that it felt like a long time at first. Maybe 5 seconds or a bit longer.

I should mention that I noticed this while doing a pre run with the ears and the garden hose. Maybe this would take longer? :Idontknow:

[Ski213]

How long are you talking?

Let me say that I'm basically a rookie with outboards so make sure you take anything I say with a grain of salt.

I've never timed it, but I think mine is a bigger delay in the lake than on the hose. The muff connection generally has a lot of leaks but on the muffs you don't have the same exhaust back pressure so you probably have higher RPMs and engine revs translate to higher pump revs.

Don't use that stream as a measure of pump condition. If you have a lot of experience maybe you can but outside of that all its telling you is that you're moving cooling water or you're not. Only way to really know it's condition is to physically inspect the impeller and housing.

[Western-Mass-Bass]

How long are you talking?

Let me say that I'm basically a rookie with outboards so make sure you take anything I say with a grain of salt.

I've never timed it, but I think mine is a bigger delay in the lake than on the hose. The muff connection generally has a lot of leaks but on the muffs you don't have the same exhaust back pressure so you probably have higher RPMs and engine revs translate to higher pump revs.

Don't use that stream as a measure of pump condition. If you have a lot of experience maybe you can but outside of that all its telling you is that you're moving cooling water or you're not. Only way to really know it's condition is to physically inspect the impeller and housing.

Ya. Its a go on putting it on. Just ordered an OEM impeller kit. Id say it took about 8-10 seconds to see the stream. But Id say the water has to fill the water jackets in the block so maybe that isnt so bad?

[Fishing Rhino]

I should mention that I noticed this while doing a pre run with the ears and the garden hose. Maybe this would take longer? :Idontknow:

You might not get a good stream with the ears and a garden hose.  I have to adjust the ears to a certain position, then use a handscrew wood clamp to get the ears snug.  Without the backpressure of actually being in the water, the cooling water has an easy flow out of the exhaust, and short of getting a good seal with the ears, you might not get a good steady flow out of the telltale.