Honda BF9 9.9 water pump question

Hey guys, firstly what a great site.
I am looking at buying a used 1998, 9.9 Honda 4 Stroke Manual Start from a freind. It hasn't been run for a couple of years, but on second pull fired up and ran well.
Once the smoke had cleared, i noticed the water tell tale wasn't peeing out any water. The outboard was sitting in a large bucket of water i might add.
All i could see was small puffs of steam comming out the tube, so i shut it down straight away. Is this the sign of a failed water pump ?? I can blow into the tube and there is no obstruction. The engine is in quite good condition otherwise. Are these a good unit and do they has any bad vices that develop??
Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know this particular outboard. I've worked on a couple of the later versions of the 9.9 and they are fantastic outboards. So, it being a Honda and all I'd say it is probably a good one even thought there are a few differences between the it and the post 2001 models.

Yes, you are probably correct in that the water pump needs replacing. They don't do well just sitting because the rubber impeller tends to dry out and crack with time. They are not very difficult to replace and the parts are not expensive.

The only thing these small Honda's are finicky about is fuel quality and keeping the carburetor drained during storage. Other than that, Honda makes some pretty fantastic stuff in my opinion and if I were in the market for a small outboard, that's what I would want.

Thanks a lot for your prompt reply. Yes i was 90% sure the impellor would need replacing but thought i would ask anyway.

I"ll get on to it soon and post the outcome.
Cheers
Pooey

There will be a bunch of us here standing by wishing you good luck and looking forward to hearing good things from a happy new Honda owner. Have fun!

It might also be that you did not have it in a bucket deep enough. This is a link to a picture of a the gearcase. http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Outboard%20Engine/1998/BF9.9AW%20SA%20/GEAR%20CASE%20ASSY./parts.html

The water pump is what you see at the top of the gearcase with what looks like a small smoke stack. The water in the bucket, needs to be well over the water pump's "smoke stack" (which is where the water tube from the power head connects )not just over the water intakes. It makes a big difference in how the water pump works.

Mike

Thanks for the info Honda Dude. I will try it again anyway, but there was at least 18in of water in the bucket with the skeg on the bottom. In any case i will do the impellor to give me peace of mind.
Will let the forum know how i went.
Cheers
Pooey

Hello Again to everyone. Thanks again for the forum support. Well new impeller in hand, tools ready to go, and thanks to YouTube for a visual aid. the whole job took around 2hrs to do, and very easy i might say. The old impeller seemed to look quite fine, however one of the vanes was pointing the opposite direction to all the rest when still in the pump housing. May have been an issue but not sure. It was probably put in that way from a previous service. When i rotated the impeller, the vane in question continued to look ahead and not behind like all the rest. Anyway, the tell tale now pee's water better than i do, and this should keep the little motor purring a bit longer.
Thanks again for the support, and if i can help anyone else i most certainly will. I'll keep a check for any new posts.
Cheers
Pooey

The backward vane might have been from poor install technique as you say or it could be an indication that the motor was turned backwards for some reason.Either way, it doesn't matter now as she's up and runnin' and you are happy. Congrats on your success and thanks for the update.