Should I put in a new Impellar?

My boat is in the shop. It hasn't ran since 2 summers ago. I replaced the impellar then, or maybe 3 summers ago. Is it necessary to replace it every year. I can replace it myself but right now live in an apartment so I have no place to do it.

i would

its a $30.00 part and all you need is a set of socket wrenches and some needle nose pliers

From someone who has lost impellers far from shore with nobody around (more than once) the answer to that question is always YES!

If you swap out one and it looks OK, keep it on the boat as a spare in case yours blows out. If not BUY A NEW ONE AND KEEP IT ON THE BOAT AS A SPARE. Changing them out is pretty easy but you have to have one to do it. I'd also keep spare belts. If you have a serpentine, keep a spare one, if you have multiple belts, keep at least one spare of each.

Also keep the tools needed to change them out. If you're not mechanically inclined there are plenty of other fellow boaters who will help you out but you won't get very far without a few spare parts and some basic tools.

Rant Over! HAHA! (Learn from my mistakes!)

Replace it.

whats it in the shop for? are you getting it serviced? are they suggesting it? and if there is even a chance its 3 yrs old then change it. If you can afford to "add it to the bill" have the shop do it...if not its 35 bucks and you climb in your boat and do it, which is a good idea because it is the weak link, they become cracked from being bent and age/use. I had one i changed that had only one fin damaged, once they start to go they disintegrate fast you may have to do it sometime in a pinch and having a spare impeller and tools is like a spare tire! you need to know how to change it in the field.

where is it located? I'd like to do it myself

OK all you mechanically inclined do it your self'ers... post some pics along with some instructions already!

see your water hoses two go into the pump housing it is driven by a pulley, I am talking merc inboard here, loosen the belt remove the pump and then take out the impeller and put it all back together. its a little harder than it sounds but its easier everytime.

The boat doesn't run. It stoped at the end of 2 summers ago. I moved last summer, so no boating on my boat. It is getting a new carburator and tune up. I had the carb rebuilt 2 years ago for the free (Cost of a rebuild kit) It worked for a while.

I'm thinking new impellar (installed by the shop) might be a good idea. I replaced it myself 3 years ago, its not hard. I've always timkered with my boat, it always seemed with every problem I fix, I create a new one.

Ok, here's a tutorial I found Attila:

http://www.tigeowners.com/impeller.shtml

The shop is only going to charge me $60 to install it. $30 for parts $30 for labor.

Not too bad

If it is as easy to change as it sounds....30$ for labor seems a little steep. Thats why I can't stand having shops work on anything I own..

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quote:

If it is as easy to change as it sounds....30$ for labor seems a little steep.

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At the rate of 65-75 a hour 60.00 for the job sounds fair to me. It probably takes 10 minutes just to move your boat into the shop let alone do the job.
Some V-drive boats can be a pain in the ass when it comes to accessibility of the impeller housing.

Buy a impellor puller for 50 bucks and do it your self. It will only take a few minutes. I pulled mine this winter without a puller and it SUCKED. I now have a puller

Once you've seen an impeller, you will understand why all of these people are saying to change it out.

Impellers are made out of a VERY stiff rubber. They are basically a paddle wheel that spins on a shaft VERY FAST. Their job is to push water, and lots of it. Stuffing it into your engine's main circulation pump so it can then be redistributed through the engine block, the exhaust manifolds, and even your hot water shower.

In this picture http://www.tigeowners.com/tech/images/impeller7_t.jpg
the impeller has failed. All of the veins have sheared completely from the impeller hub. The impeller is the mass of black rubber by the blue arrow in this picture. It should normally look like a ninja throwing star. Once installed, the veins should be bent over like several squeegees, or the thing they threw in that that old movie. Krull?

Now your little paddle wheel is 2 years old. I would guess that after sitting in it's installed (bent) position for two years, the veins of the impeller are basically like two week old road kill. STIFF! Imagine how stiff your rubber windshield wipers are after one summer!

The pulley that drives the impeller is smaller than the main crankshaft pulley. This causes the impeller to spin at an RPM faster than your engine.

So this brittle rubber paddle wheel spinning 5,000 to 8000 RPM inside of a cramped housing pushing water to your precious little engine. I guarantee, it will fail before the season is out. When it does fail, you will probably have a boat full of friends ready for a great day on the water. Just like the Soup Nazi. No Boating For You!

$60, $100, hell $200 is cheap insurance that you won't have a ruined day, and a blown head gasket next time you hit the water.

It's really not a difficult job to change it yourself. The first time I did this, I found a sheared bolt on the housing. Needless to say I was a little cranky about the last maintenance service I paid for.

NOTE - NEVER EVER EVER, run your engine without a water supply for the impeller. The impeller itself will overheat itself from the friction in the housing and fail with a loud screeching sound. Don't ask me how I know that.

It didnt sound like it was that tuff from what people have said. I just dont like taking things to the shop!! Is there a specific puller for each boat/engine or one in genereal for all impellers?

The newer impellers are in a water pump housing that is bolted onto the engine.

- Take the belt off the pulleys. Remove the two hoses from their ports. Note which one is the In and which one is the Out. If you can't tell, make sure you know which one is the top hose and which is the bottom. On my pump, one hose is larger than the other so you can't get it wrong.

- Unbolt the impeller pump housing from the engine. Likely just two bolts like an alternator.

Take the whole thing to the work bench.

- There are going to be 5 or 6 small bolts that hold the access plate on.

Once that is off, then you should see the impeller on a shaft.
- Most do not require a puller. Many can be removed with pliers. The plastic hub of the impeller just slides onto the metal shaft.

- Install new impeller. You will probably really have to work the veins into the housing. I used some fogging spray to lube up the housing so the rubber impeller would slide in easier. Some have recommended using a hose clamp to squeeze the veins.

- At this point you should be able to turn the pulley to test the veins are flexing. In my case, it didn't matter which way they were facing. By turning the pulley, the veins would flip over to the correct direction for the rotation.

- The Impeller probably came with a new gasket. Put it in place, and put the cover and bracket back on.

- I put the hoses back on before I bolted it onto the engine. This allowed me to move the pump around while wiggling the hoses on. tighten your hose clamps.

- Bolt it back onto the engine.

- Put belt back on. Adjust tension if you loosened it.

Sorry I don't have a picture, but my 2004 5.7L Mercruiser didn't require anything other than standard tools we all have.