I got this idea over the winter and thought I'd share it with you guys. Maybe it's already out there but I never heard of it being done. What I did was buy another inlet strainer and installed it in line between the impeller and the t-stat inlet. I just did this yesterday, and it just barely fit inside the motor box, but it fit! I had to cut the t-stat side barb to about 1/2" long, and push the barb right up to the t-stat housing inlet to make it fit. I haven't run it yet but I don't forsee any problems with it. No more worries of impeller pieces clogging any passages. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/69622.jpg" alt="impeller strainer">

I'd be more worried about the engine overheating because the impellor was shot and not enough water was being pushed through the engine! The water ways through the engine are more than large enough to pass lumps of impellor.

Not if the pieces end up in your transmission cooler, Jay. That's a huge possibility that I've seen a few times. Great idea Rob!

Joe <BR> <BR>On Nautiques the transmission cooler is upstream of the raw water pump. Therefore the impeller pieces will not be an issue. With that being said I like Rob's idea. You can never be too safe. <BR> <BR>Great idea Rob. Thanks for sharing.

I've munched 2 impellers (every single vane on one of 'em) and Jay's post makes me feel a little better. I've always had to wonder if a piece is slowing down flow somewhere. A big part of the reason I did this also, was so I know at a glance if the impeller is falling apart. However, I did find some chunks stuck on the INLET side of the impeller which I can't quite figure out. But like the man said, you can never be too safe. <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

this idea works, but on Merc engines, the tranny cooler is after the pump and before the engine. Any and all impellar pieces are then moved from the impellar housing directly in front of the screen that goes into the tranny cooler. It happens 90% of the time and that is why a cooling system needs to be back flushed everytime a impellar is trashed. Seen many guys do there own impellar change and then wonder why it still over heats when they start it up again. The water is almost completely blocked by all the pieces parts. <BR> <BR>B

Patrick, <BR>You are wrong about the impeller chunks going toward the trans cooler in the nautique. Seen it happen many times. And especially on the bottom side of the pump and in that lower hose

How do you back flush the cooling system?

Take the hose off between the trans cooler and the impeller pump and put a garden hose in there. That will flush anything out and then you know you have non restricted water flow.

Too bad you couldn't have found a smaller inline strainer to do the same thing. You really don't need much to catch the pieces but, anything for piece of mind is worth it. <BR> <BR>Chris <BR>No Slip Gator Grip <BR><a href="http://www.wakejunky.com" target="_blank">www.wakejunky.com</a> <BR>

DJL <BR> <BR>I was implying that the pieces won't get "forced" into the trans cooler. You should definitely flush all the debris/pieces that settle into the system out to avoid future problems with the new installation. Rob's installation will make the clean up very simple and provide a level of confidence that all the pieces are accounted for. <BR> <BR>Again, nice install Rob.