Mercury impeller replacement

[Cincybass2]

can anyone give me info on impeller replacement fo a 2003 merc 200 optimax? How 2 or where to find the info. Thanks

[Guest Author]

Same as fishead, just done my Mercury efi 225 it was cake... just check out bbc. the impeller was like $19 bucks. It took about 45 mins had my 7 year old son helping me.

[Fishhead]

Go to bassboatcentral.com, they have great step by step instructions with pictures to replace an impellor. As long as you have some mechanical inclinations you should have no problem. I'm no mechanic and I replaced the impellor in my 150 Merc EFI with only the instructions from bassboatcentral and the manual. It really was a piece of cake, I wouldn't think the 200 would be that much different.

The only tricky part was getting the shift shaft and drive shaft splines to line up. The secret to that was keeping in the shifter in the forward position when you remove the cone and gently moving the shifter back and forth to get the shaft to line up when putting it back together. The nosecone should just slide right on and once the shaft is lined up it should easily push together. Do not force it, if it doesn't slide together without force then its not lined up right. It may take a couple of tries to get it right.

A couple of suggestions:

1.) Make sure you have someone to help you and take the prop off before you start this will reduce the weight of the nosecone.

2.) If you don't have a Merc manual see if you can borrow one and get copies of the instructions from the manual. They are also really helpful and the manual for my motor actually had a couple tips for making it go back together easier.

3.) Make sure you have a torque wrench, the impellor housing should be torqued only as tight as the specs suggest.

Good luck.

[mattplapp]

Think about it, you've never done it before and it controls the destiny of an expensive motor and if done wrong you have no one to blame but yourself. You should have a dealership do it for you for a few dollars and have it on their insurance policy and not your if something goes wrong.

Matt

[Guest Author]

having "someone else" do it is:

1.) having to wait unitl they can "get you in" and if you didn't buy the boat there it could be a long wait.
2.) paying $125+ for a job that takes $40 in parts and 30 minutes of your time at most.
3.) KNOWING it was done right because you did the work yourself. The last place that changed my impellor left my speedo pick up hose between the nosecone and the housing so it became squished and did not work. Didnt figure it out until I changed it myself.
4.) I can do it in about 15-20 minutes now and I have the peace of mind every year that I have a new impellor.
5.) Its really not a big deal, almost as easy as changing spark plugs. If it was complicated, or if there was anything you could really screw up or if your simply not mechanically inclined whatsoever, then yes have some one else do it.

My reasons for doing yourself.