stephens013
Active Member
- Oct 8, 2009
- 756
- Boat Info
- 2001 510 Sundancer
1997 400DA Sundancer
1994 Chaparel 310 Signature
- Engines
- 3196 Cat; 660 PHP
3116 Cat; 340 PHP
bigger boats run their generator a lot more than the smaller cruisers; least I do. on my last outing my gen shut down; of course at the most inappropriate moment. Water supply issue; just swap out the impeller and I'll be on my way looking like the nautical hero I some times picture my self. Well the water supply issue was a bit more complicate. Sea grass had fouled the throw hull. The raw water pump was doing a fine job to the point of causing suction great enough to collapse the water supply line from the strainer to the pump. When that collapsed the impeller pretty much sent its little wings flying down stream to the heat exchanger. So much for just swapping impellers.
Anyway; got everything unclogged, new house and ready to install my impeller but it didn't fit. I had the correct part number item, looked pretty much the same except for the centers key. It wouldn't fit in the slot of the drive shaft. Local Westerbeke guy has the same part, same issue. If you need to change impellers, or like me already have spairs ready, you might have to change the old drive pin out for the new one. A small screw driver or #2 drift can drive the pins out of the impeller shaft. One of my spair Westerbeke impellers used a threaded pin instead of a press in pin. Rather than toss it I unscrewed it; ground the threads down in the center of the shaft to fit the slot in the shaft leaving enough threads on each end to inguage the female threaded potions on the impeller shaft.
The attached picture shows the old and new pin that were in the impellers. Again, this was the correct impeller for this application. The same one my distributor/repair guy had on his shelf
Anyway; should the occasion arise don't be surprised if you new impeller doesn't fit.
And of course by the time all this was sorted out I was the only one to celebrate my victory in the eternal battle of boat vers man. Once again, just a hero in my own mind
Anyway; got everything unclogged, new house and ready to install my impeller but it didn't fit. I had the correct part number item, looked pretty much the same except for the centers key. It wouldn't fit in the slot of the drive shaft. Local Westerbeke guy has the same part, same issue. If you need to change impellers, or like me already have spairs ready, you might have to change the old drive pin out for the new one. A small screw driver or #2 drift can drive the pins out of the impeller shaft. One of my spair Westerbeke impellers used a threaded pin instead of a press in pin. Rather than toss it I unscrewed it; ground the threads down in the center of the shaft to fit the slot in the shaft leaving enough threads on each end to inguage the female threaded potions on the impeller shaft.
The attached picture shows the old and new pin that were in the impellers. Again, this was the correct impeller for this application. The same one my distributor/repair guy had on his shelf
Anyway; should the occasion arise don't be surprised if you new impeller doesn't fit.
And of course by the time all this was sorted out I was the only one to celebrate my victory in the eternal battle of boat vers man. Once again, just a hero in my own mind
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