raw water pump problems

[sea paws]

I was changing the oil on my engines (2003 8.1 horizons) when i noticed a drip coming from my port side engine raw water pump. when i started the starboard side there was a excessive amount of water coming from the raw water pump. Is this a common problem to happen. when winterizing the boat i ran about 7 gallons of pink through each engine so i know everything was winterized. Could this have been prevented or is this one of those suprises you can expect to find in the spring.

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

It's probably just one of those surprises... My stb. pump had this issue a couple of years ago. I think some water eventually gets past the rubber shaft seal within the unit and starts to wash the lubricant out of the two bearings fixed to the shaft. Once the pump is removed, rebuilding the pump is easy. The hardest thing about the whole job is getting the pulley off/on of the pump shaft - I eventually took it to a mechanic friend that had no problem doing it (with the right tool).

My engines face forward and are relatively easy to gain access to the pumps. Yours are reversed and the exhaust tubing makes this more of a challenge. Do yourself a favour and search for threads on raw water pump removal for your boat. I recall seeing some great tips from other CSR members.

Good Luck!!

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

Here's one thread to get you started...

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/54934-Water-pump-leaking?highlight=water+pump+rebuild

 

[sea paws]

Thank you for the link. After a little reading it made me feel better it was nothing i did and something to keep an eye on for sure during the boating season. Im learning these engines with the v drives are a real pain in the A@# to work on. I have to be about 30 pounds lighter and maybe five inches shorter to get to things easy. Well the mechanic is coming tomorrow I need this to be done by my splash date.