Water Pump issues

[walkeraviator]

My wifes Grandfather has an old runabout he used to use in Salt Water. It has a early to mid 90's evinrude 150 outboard on it, but the boat has been sitting for years. Apparently he was burning out brand new water pumps in just a few hours. He went through 3 of them before he just parked it and gave up.

What could cause it to just burn em up over and over when it makes good water pressure and never overheats???

[bamabassman]

saltwater would be my best guess. salt really eats up stuff man. flush it out and see what happens in FRESH water.

[walkeraviator]

yeah, but.... how many other guys running teh same outboard in teh same water DIDNT have ths problem??? I know salt water sucks, but this boat literally was launched... run for half a day and before it could be trailered and taken somewhere to rinse the waterpump had eaten itself... so i think just salt water can be eliminated as a cause...

[WTL]

You mean burning the impeller? But it was pumping?

You sure he was doing it right?

[bamabassman]

i am with wtl on this. maybe the impeller isn't operating correctly? something is wrong in another spot to cause this. has to be pal. i ain't no mechanic, but there is something deeper i think. sorry.

[Abbeysdad]

Makes ya wonder iffin an impeller can be put in backwards????\
(I dunno, just wonderin)

[WTL]

Originally Posted by Abbeysdad

Makes ya wonder iffin an impeller can be put in backwards????\
(I dunno, just wonderin)

Sure it can, but he said that it pumped water well initially. I wouldnt think itd do that if it were reversed..

If he was just replacing the impeller in a housing that was warped, it might cause it. The whole shebang, housing, impeller, everything, isnt that much and normally its better to replace it all at once.

[TN_Bassin]

Originally Posted by WTL

Sure it can, but he said that it pumped water well initially. I wouldnt think itd do that if it were reversed..

If he was just replacing the impeller in a housing that was warped, it might cause it. The whole shebang, housing, impeller, everything, isnt that much and normally its better to replace it all at once.

It won't pump well at all. Putting the impeller in backwards will just about never work. The fins on the impeller get jerked back the other way when the shaft turns. This can result in some of the fins one way and some others the opposite way (which makes it a B!7#* to take out). However it can still pump water through this way just not as much as it should. Most of the time all it pumps is enough to create steam out the peehole, but if most of the fins were turned the right way it might pump out enough to seem normal. But seeing as how he said he's gone through 3 of them a reversed water pump would have been easy to spot.

I'm just throwin this out there but if the shaft was to be bent slightly it might make the impeller sort of wobble which might create more friction resulting in the impeller burning up. Never seen a bent shaft that would work right after it was bent but maybe this is what is happening.

Or like bama said, the saltwater could have created a coating in the housing that burns the pump up.

[Embrey]

with a pump constantly rubbing, theres not gonna be any coating...i highly disagree.

[Captmikestarrett]

Wow two possiblities..

Impellar in wrong and no vasoline on impeller. If look closly there is an a direction arrow on them.. EDIT some of them..

Always vasoline the ring and impellar before installing..

There is one more possible answer. The water sending pipe is not in correctly or damaged.

Capt Mike

[walkeraviator]

having been sitting for God knows how long, what other issue might it have now???

[WTL]

What issue might it have? Squirrels could have nested in the carb.

Thats a definite maybe of course.

[Captmikestarrett]

Mud dobbers have filed all the breather tubes and pee holes..

Capt Mike

[bamabassman]

sitting for who knows how long huh? ok, fuel lines rotten, plug wires rotten, plugs, carb rebuild kit, etc. just regular maint. stuff.

[walkeraviator]

Cuz it has been mentioned that he would sell me the boat SUPER cheap... just wondreing how much work i might have in store... i have looked the boat over and thanks to being stored in a very dry/clean place, the hull, floors, interior are in great shape... its just a beater of an outboard...

[bamabassman]

unless you are real familier with boat motor mechanics, i would suggest you take it to a boat mechanic. they can fix it up really fast and probably cheaper than you could do it yourself. i am saying this cause there are tools you would most likely have to buy to do some of the things needed. if the hul is A-OK. take it to a boat man. he'll have it running for oyu in NO TIME.

now....just what is SUPER cheap? $1.00? lol, kidding......

[TN_Bassin]

Originally Posted by Embrey

with a pump constantly rubbing, theres not gonna be any coating...i highly disagree.

You ever tried to clean calcium buildup off? You pretty much have to take a nuke to it. And if it's been a real long time since a new water pump the impeller gets real flimsy and will bend to a slight touch so the notion of a coating becomes easy. But as you would be able to see any kind of buildup when you drop the lower unit, it shouldnt be a problem.

Walker, it's a gamble. If you get it cheap enough, like boat price w/out outboard. It might be cheaper (depending on what's wrong with the motor) to just get a newer outboard or at least one you know will run. As to what might be wrong with the motor from just sitting, it could be numerous things, but if it's something like a powerhead problem things can get expensive pretty quick (if nothing was wrong with the powerhead before then this shouldn't be an issue), but if it's just degradation over time then it won't, or rather shouldn't, be too expensive.

[walkeraviator]

Basically they will be selling it to me for just enough to avoid a gift tax... but this is just chit chat... we havent actually sat down and talked it out yet... Her grandfather bought this boat YEARS ago, and I am pretty much the only one in the family interested in gettin in the water beside my Wifes father... who incidentally just got a boat for free because it was taking up barn space in his friends place...

[GregK9]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

unless you are real familier with boat motor mechanics, i would suggest you take it to a boat mechanic. they can fix it up really fast and probably cheaper than you could do it yourself.

This is what I would do. Let the mechanic get it in tip top shape - then you can maintain is afterwards if you choose.

[WTL]

Walker, certainly you should remain interested. SInce its family, and since its collecting dust, who better to be the guy that gets that thing up and running?

Everyone is right, you just dont know what you are gonna run into, but that dont mean dont see. Early to mid 90s is not really that old. It might be as simple as taking your time and putting a new pump in, or it could have other problems. Its probably worth the time to find out, and if you do get in to a little trouble a mechanic could probably solve it for a price.

[walkeraviator]

yeah... its just wierd to me as my Dads outboard is a 92 'Rude Intruder 150 and its still running having changed nothing but sparkplugs... original impeller still makes a lot fo water presssure... no powerpack issues... nothing... probably the most reliable outboard he has ever owned...