Easy Impellar Job on 8.1's

[Newbie]

I have easy access to these pumps on both my engines (forward facing engines with straight shafts). There is also plenty of room to sit directly in front of the engines.

Is it necessary to remove the entire unit, hoses and all - or is it possible to just remove the front housing (from the pulley to the rear part of the casing) and expose the impellar for replacement? :huh:

I haven't taken a real close look at it but I remember seeing 3 or 4 bolts that seem to hold the two halves of the pump together. From this report it sure sounds like taking the hoses off is the most labour, so if it can be avoided that would be great! :thumbsup:

I might be possible to not have to remove them on your boat but, the problem is that the bolt that hold the two halves of the pump together are on the back side. With the hoses in place, it may be a major PITA to R&R the bolts.

As far as priming the pumps, all I used was a bunch of dish soap. I put some between each vane before bolting the pump body back together and another shot down the outlet port before installing.

I will do the stbd side again when its needed but I'm paying for the port side, I'm about 6'7" and it's just not worth it...

 

[carterchapman]

Newbie,

Great pics - thanks.

Looking at your impeller, it has taken on a pretty good "set" (bent rubber blades). How many hours/years of operation did you get out of that impeller?

 

[Pseudomind]

Interesting thread, has anyone heard anything about sometimes having to replace the entire pump , because the inside of the pump housing is brass, and it wears thin over time, due to rotating of the impeller blades? Look at the inside of the pump in "Newbie"s photo in post 21:huh:

 

[skibum]

The pump itself is easy enough to get to on my boat. The problem that I have is that the air lines for the single point drain system are too short and make removing the pump difficult. I broke one of the connectors for the SPD last summer replacing my impeller last season. Stupid thing costs $16 bucks. What a rip off. All I need is the stupid plastic insert that holds the plastic tube in the connector. Seperately, it would probable cost 10 cents.

 

[Hampton]

John,

What did you do to "prime the pumps" other than coat the impellers with dishwashing detergent and "crank 'em up"?

I can't remember doing it (the mind is a terrible thing), but I would imagine I opened the through hull and allowed the air to burp out of the lines from the "outgoing" hose on the back of the pump before tightening them down. This may not be necessary, but if it normally sits in water, then I would hate to start a brand new impeller up dry (even with soap). Probably being too cautious, if there is such a thing.

 

[320Bob]

John,
As a new boater and "not-even-close-to-being-there-yet" marine mechanic, reading a thread like this make me cringe. Especially after replacing a stupid $1.75 plastic coupling on my John Deere tractor last week that took me 1.5 hours. I know what it is to drop parts, cotter pins, and tools into unreachable places when doing a pita job like mine or yours. At least with my tractor I had 360 degree access compared to what I will have to endure in my slip in the future with a far more congested 320 ER compared to what you have on your 340. Maybe my marina service facility gives frequent flyer miles for impeller replacements!:grin:

 

[carterchapman]

320 Bob - you gotta have one (or more!) of these:

 

[320Bob]

320 Bob - you gotta have one (or more!) of these:

Yea I was thinking about one of those plus some of these to attach to tools like mittens when you were a kid!:thumbsup:

 

[Redhook98]

Oh boy is the 290 AJ nice for this. With the Bravo II's, I can sit down in front of my engines and take my time. It's all laid out in front of me. Took me about 25-30 minutes per motor.

Sorry, just had to rub it in. lol

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Redhook
I may even have you beat.
With the 7.4L I/O's I have about 2-3 feet of open space in front of both of my engines.

Don't look at the messy bilge. This is a picture of it before I bought it!

Last spring I changed out plugs, wires, distributer cap and rotor in around 1 hour per engine.

Removed and replace the hot water heater this spring in lesss than an hour.

Now about the water fitting leak...... we still aren't talking about how long that took to fix.
Probably will chase it down again this spring after taking fittings off hot water heater for winterization.

Dan

 

[Redhook98]

Sounds like we have the basic same engine room setup. They made a LOT of room in our engine rooms becasue V-drives were optional. Since neither of us has em, we basically have enough room for another set of engines. I have 33 inches from the front of my motors to my gen. If I put a swivel stool in my bilge, I could almost do averything from one spot!

I had similar times with changing everything out while doing my last tune-up also.

The only issue of note so far is replacing a starter on my Stbd motor. Not fun. I had to get someone to physically get under the engine to start the bolt s for me. lol

 

[Leo]

I had to change the impellers on my 1986 30 ft. weekender.It has 5.7 inboards no outdrives there was no room at all to get to them so I ended up having them done.It cost me a $1000 for the job I ended up with one new pump.​

 

[Redhook98]

Leo,
Yikes! Yeah, I do not envy you guys with some of the inboard setups. I had V-drives in my Cruisers and there was NO WAY I would have been able to get my butt down there! Both impellors were due and I nneded to tighten the stuffing boxes. I could not get down to do either so I did the smart thing and sold the boat. :-D