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Water wont pump up and pee ?

J

jimeowen

Member
Hello all, I have a very frustrating problem in which I think I have done everything to troubleshoot.

Water wont pump up to the power head ie out of the pee hole or out of an open thermostat hole !
With the muffs on water flows very well out of the lower units hole starboard side.

I have removed the lower gear housing and checked the impeller which looks fine. I have checked the tube up to the power head and cleaned out the pee hole filter. All clear.

I'm going to remove the lower gear section again, but can anyone suggest a good test once this is out again or any other reason why water wouldn't pump up ???
 
how old is the impeller?i would replace it while you have it removed...at what rpm is it not pumping on the hose...some of these motors are borderline and water may not come out of the p hole at idle on a hose...after you have replace the impeller either submerge the lower unit in water using a barrel or something and then run the water into the barrel using the hose...or better yet back it into the water at a landing and see if its pumping good...you dont have to launch the boat...leave it tied down and just submerge the lower unit on the motor...
 
Thanks guys, I'll try a few things. The impeller isn't very old as the boat was serviced a few years ago. The water used to Pee every time until just recently. The only things I have done since is remove the prop to clean out all of the gunky oil and secondly had been trying to start the bloody thing (I think on old fuel) for many many times without any muffs on. When I did check the impeller I did turn the axle clockwise to squeeze the impeller back inside, so the key must have worked to achieve this, right ? Anyway, I'll have another look over this weekend. Is there a manual way of checking if water is pumping up ? ie turn the axle by hand and get water out of the pump !
 
Racer it's model J115PXEEM. So I connected my water hose directly onto the tube going up to the head and water did spurt out of the pee hole. So that is not blocked. Next I checked the impeller again and it all seemed fine including the key. Then I turned the lower section upside down and poured water into an intake hole. I then turned the shaft by hand and water did pump out of the plastic outlet. So that is not blocked and the pump does pump. I will re-install the lower unit again tomorrow and fingers crossed it will all work (didn't last time though) :>(
 
Thanks Chris, is that just to check whether it actually goes into gear properly before I hit the ocean again ?

I wasn't sure if you could put it into gear on the muffs but I guess that's just a safety thing ?

One thing about this motor is the fact that you have to remove the lower cover just to be able to release the gear rod. I've noticed other motors are clever enough to split this rod and join it where the lower section meets the middle section. That is much more encouraging to change the impeller more often.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
I think he wants to confirm the driveshaft is actually turning the impeller. It is very rare but possible the splines in the crankshaft have stripped you would have noticed metal shavings on the upper driveshaft splines. When running on the muffs dont run it past high idle even in gear you can damage the engine and or the prop running high rpms without a load on the prop.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
As expected I put the lower section back on and still no pee. The prop does spin when put into gear so I guess we know the shaft and impeller are actually turning. I've taken it off twice now....where from here ?
 
Chris, yes it's looking that way but not getting any water at all up to the head just doesn't seem right.

Kim, I'd like to try something like that. When I had the lower unit out and upside down it did appear to pump. I may have turned it anti-clockwise at some stage, would this be so tragic ?
 
Time to look closely and measure stuff.--------Possibly the water tube is buckled and not reaching the pump outlet.---Measure how far up the tube is inside the exhaust housing,----Compare that to how far the pump outlet sticks up from the lower unit.--------Is there a seal installed in the pump outlet ?
 
jimeowen said:
Chris, yes it's looking that way but not getting any water at all up to the head just doesn't seem right.

Kim, I'd like to try something like that. When I had the lower unit out and upside down it did appear to pump. I may have turned it anti-clockwise at some stage, would this be so tragic ?
Click to expand...

If the cup and wear plate are worn, the pump will just cavitate. Put a new complete pump in and retest in a bucket of water.. If it doesn't pump after that, then you can do all that is outlines above. This is a simple pump.
 
Racer, there is a rubber seal type piece that sits on top of the pump outlet pipe extension which definitely slides well onto the middle section tubing when installing the lower unit. I think Chris is correct in replacing the whole pump. I'm still wondering from Kim whether turning the drive shaft anticlockwise might be a killer after re-seating the impeller. If so I did do that when it was upside down. This is a simple pump, why is it so hard ? :)
 
Describe the procedure you used to install a new impeller.--------Put impeller in the housing first or on the shaft first ??
 
ok:

1. I grease and slide the o-ring down to the bottom of the drive shaft
2. I put the key in place on the drive shaft
3. I slide the impeller down the drive shaft (key entry facing down)
4. I lightly grease inside the metal insert of the housing cover
5. I slide the housing cover down the drive shaft
6. I slowly turn the drive shaft clockwise to fit the impeller inside the cover (prop of lower in North direction)
7. I bolt the housing to the lower unit

The bottom plate is smooth but does have a slight ridge where the cover must meet this plate when bolted down.

The metal insert of the housing cover is very smooth and has no ridges at all.
 
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I assume it is a long shaft, about 1 metre long. That extension tube just pulls straight off. When you take out the two screws and remove the top plastic section there is a round soft plastic insert in the outlet hole that looks ok. The rubber bit at the top of the extension tube is ok too.
 
Ok, I attached a hose and drill to the drive shaft and put the lower in a tub of water....and it doesn't pump water !

So does this mean the pump looks faulty or is something else possible ?
 
Thanks for your help guys. Apart from the hassle it's a great learning exercise. Amazon gives you a good price for this kit and I was going to ask if gasket glue is really required ?
 
Chris, I've just ordered a complete kit off of an Amazon site for about AU$75 delivered to my door. In the meantime I am going to do some more testing of the lower units water flow. The plan is to turn it upside down and check that there is good flow from inlet to where ever it comes out to the pump area.
 
I'm still bemused why all of a sudden my water pump stopped working. Here's a thought, because I was trying to start the motor without running the muffs, thinking it didn't matter as the motor wasn't actually running, the pump was dry and got very hot. The heat produced by this effort displaced the metal insert of the housing so it was able to turn and move away from its useful position ie the inlet and/or outlet slots didn't line up and allow water to pass. Does this sound feasible ?
 
jimeowen said:
I'm still bemused why all of a sudden my water pump stopped working. Here's a thought, because I was trying to start the motor without running the muffs, thinking it didn't matter as the motor wasn't actually running, the pump was dry and got very hot. The heat produced by this effort displaced the metal insert of the housing so it was able to turn and move away from its useful position ie the inlet and/or outlet slots didn't line up and allow water to pass. Does this sound feasible ?
Click to expand...

Well I'm glad you got that figured out. But just for future information, you cannot test a water pump by running on muffs. You could completely remove the impeller and water would still circulate, being forced through by the pressure in the hose. Unless something is blocking it, as you found out.
 
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