Woot Woot did some boat maintenance

[Rizzo]

When Freshtrax got my 8 hp Nissan running last year we noticed it wasn't peeing out particularly strong. Have the day off work today so thought I would see if I could figure out how to change impeller. After a couple youtube videos I was feeling pretty good to tackle the job. Got the whole thing taken apart...noticed the impeller was in really good shape so ended up putting it all back together again. I had not actually bought a replacement impeller yet...today was actually going to be "Can I even take it apart" day. Since everything looked good, I decided to put it all back together. Anyways, when I got it all put back together, I noticed one of those tiny red seals on the floor...you know, the type you encounter when changing oil in lower unit. Having said this, I did change the lower unit oil in the same spot last fall. So...anyone know if that seal has just sat there since last fall? Or are there seals like this that one would encounter when working on an impeller? I didn't see any red seals during this process, so reluctant to pull the whole thing apart again! But also got a sick feeling that that red seal needs to get back where it belongs.

[Crazy Ivan]

Check the screws for the lower unit gear oil and see if the o-rings are there?

[Fisherman]

What he said.

[bobkayla]

Yup ,,,what he said

 

[Rizzo]

ok I like the sound of that. When I watched the videos not a single person said "watch out not to lose the little washer", so I was surprised to see it on the floor. Began to replay all the parts in my mind couldn't really think of where it may have come from. When I got to the impeller housing that sucker really did come apart (the metal cylinder the impeller spins in even came free from the plastic housing). Weird thing was, in addition to the o-ring there was also a tiny (kinda delicate) metal washer on the floor too. I am gonna chalk this up to hopefully just a dirty floor from previous work...not a spare part from this attempt

[BillM]

You'll find out in the spring I'm sure if you needed that washer and o-ring.

[Old Ironmaker]

What they said. I also thought I had to change the impellor on my 115 Mariner. Ran a length of heavy duty weed wacker line down the overflow hole and problem solved. Make sure it's long enough to get to the bottom of the lower end. I have changed a few impellors recently at the shop and never came across a small O ring Rizzo.

edit: Because the impellor spins easily and there aren't any cracks doesn't mean it hasn't softened up. Unless you know how stiff they are supposed to be it's tough to tell for us laymen unless you have a new one in your hand. It isn't a silly thing to change it anyway. I know guys that do every year. Depends how hard and how much you use the thing.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Old Ironmaker

[Rizzo]

I didn't even check how easily it spins, just took it out and felt that the rubber was really soft and flexible, no visible damage at all. As far as spinning it goes....I was surprised how tightly the impeller sits in the housing, didn't even try to spin it. Think I will order a new one to have on hand just in case. But I agree with the weedwacker line idea...probably should have started there. Will poke around in the drain hole in the spring just see if its clogged up a bit.

[Old Ironmaker]

4 hours ago, Rizzo said:

I didn't even check how easily it spins, just took it out and felt that the rubber was really soft and flexible, no visible damage at all. As far as spinning it goes....I was surprised how tightly the impeller sits in the housing, didn't even try to spin it. Think I will order a new one to have on hand just in case. But I agree with the weedwacker line idea...probably should have started there. Will poke around in the drain hole in the spring just see if its clogged up a bit.

I am going to the shop tomorrow and will ask the Marine Guru's how flexible an impellor is supposed to be. I'm thinking not much at all, the few I have changed were much stiffer than the ones removed, for sure. Different machines may differ though. I'll ask for the both of us.

[John Bacon]

53 minutes ago, Old Ironmaker said:

I am going to the shop tomorrow and will ask the Marine Guru's how flexible an impellor is supposed to be. I'm thinking not much at all, the few I have changed were much stiffer than the ones removed, for sure. Different machines may differ though. I'll ask for the both of us.

My understanding is that you want them to be soft and they tend to get harder with age.

[Old Ironmaker]

I couldn't remember which one, soft or hard. It may have been the hard one I took out not put in. Like I said I'll ask the guys at the marine. iboats.com is an excellent boating forum, those guys know their stuff and I always highly recommend it. Terrible fishing forum though. Thanks John.

[Lape0019]

Go look up an impellor kit for your motor online and see if there is a pic. They are tight to fit into the housing because they are actually larger than the housing. Before you place an impellor into the housing, the "fins (For lack of a better term) are typically straight and have to be bent with a twist in them to fit in there properly.

While I agree that you probably have some obstruction in your tube, even though the impellor looks fine, doesn't mean it actually is. My old motor had a flush port so I just flushed the motor after every use when fishing in thick vegetation and it seemed to work fine.

But if there is any doubt that the impellor needs to be replaced, you might as well do it as you have figured out it is pretty simple.

[Rizzo]

it was pretty much a piece of cake...until I found those parts on the ground! Only tricky part was reconnecting the lower unit afterwards...took a bit of wiggling to get it back into place.