mercury water pump impeller

[mustangiiman01]

I have not used my boat for a few months and wanted to fire it up before i get back to using it and got a container and filled it with water and fired up my motor but the indicator hole where the water streams out none was coming out The motor is a mercury 50 hp 2004 Every thing i read says to change the impeller every 2-3 years does this sound like that is my problem or should i put it into a lake first to make sure and if i need to change the impeller are they hard to change out thx for all info

[sglass]

I changed mine in 30 min this spring on a 150 merc. You can do it yourself there is a great video on youtube that shows you how to do it on a merc. Mine was not shooting water out of the small hole on the lake and overheating so I knew that was my problem. If I were you I would go ahead and change it out if it has not been changed out in a couple years.

[fishhound]

i have the same yr and model i also noticed that the stream of water flow isnt as strong as it was. the owners manual says change impeller every 300 hrs or 3 yrs. but it seems like they would make the impeller to last longer than that im jst wondering when i change it out can buy a impeller made of better material to get more life out of it?

[sglass]

I think tey are all made of rubber. They crack over time thats why they tell you to replace it. I had no clue until mine went out that all it was is a rubber piece.

[fishhound]

thanks for the info sglass its a shame give all that money for a motor and the main part of the cooling system is made of rubber! lol aint rite.

[HURRICANEBOB]

thanks for the info sglass its a shame give all that money for a motor and the main part of the cooling system is made of rubber! lol aint rite.

Yo Fish!

Reason its made of rubber is so that when foreign objects are sucked in the water intakes, and those objects get to the impellor (like sand and grit), the impellor's rubber gives some, and does not grind that junk into the metal casing of the pump housing, causing it to go south. The rubber impellor can take some hits from junk, bend, and not die on you. A metal impellor would take the same junk, and get dinged, or take than junk and smash it into the sides of the pump housing. Really man, be glad its rubber, its really saving you money!

[PRO V LE]

This thread reminds me of the car owners that would cry they had a 50K mile warranty and the salesman never told them they had to change the oil every now and then. They did'nt even know they had a owners manual in the glove box.
I'm sorry but the comment about a rubber impellor has me LMAO!

[fishhound]

This thread reminds me of the car owners that would cry they had a 50K mile warranty and the salesman never told them they had to change the oil every now and then. They did'nt even know they had a owners manual in the glove box.
I'm sorry but the comment about a rubber impellor has me LMAO!

hey dude it was just my opinion this isnt oil were talkin about but impeller pump that seems to me could be made out of better material more bang for the buck. im not a mechanic but ive been in maintenance for 10yrs! so i know something about pms'!

[lroberts]

hey dude it was just my opinion this isnt oil were talkin about but impeller pump that seems to me could be made out of better material more bang for the buck. im not a mechanic but ive been in maintenance for 10yrs! so i know something about pms'!

No joke man! I'm a school teacher and obviously his didn't tell him " if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"!!!!

[PRO V LE]

I beg for mercy! fishound you made the statement's "all that money" and "aint rite" youre spelling by the way. The point I was trying to make is that this is a normal maintence item that as a boat owner you should know. You're post about water pump impellors being made from rubber pulled my chain. H. Bob gave a excellent answer to the reason why.
School teacher please read this entire thread and tell me where the negative comments started!
BTW. 40+years mechanic.
Now let's all go FISHIN!

[CTFSHWHISKER]

thanks for the info sglass its a shame give all that money for a motor and the main part of the cooling system is made of rubber! lol aint rite.

the reason they are made of rubber is the way they work..when the driveshaft turns the impeller{offcenter} it squishes the vanes on one side of the housing,on a merc impeller the vanes are not very long,as opposed to an omc, and if they set unturned that one side will hold it's form,making a flat spot.in a sense at this point the impeller basically "spits" water..my dads xr4 150 gets run maybe 5 times a year,i have to put one it every spring or it will over heat.
mercs don't hold alot of pressure at idle.3-6lb so it won't pee real strong unless you rev it up slighty,and the t-stats are open. cool garden hose water they may not open all the way up at idle to allow full water flow.if you aren't getting any pee stream even with water pressure on the muffs something is plugged.probably some mud dabbers like stated.
it would be hard to build a pump of meatal to fit the small area and withstand 5,000+ rpms.that would take some good bearings and materials..and as bob stated the samd and debri would eat that thing up quik..

[ironhead70]

check the hole if u did not already mudd dobers r very busy this time of the year might have blocked hole just putting it out there i would also take it to a empty ramp or get somes muffs for it i have had bad luck with the tubs before not picking up water i think it has something to do with the exhusts and the water moving around