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impeller change surprise

Wow!!!! Huge surprise on a Honda impeller---I thought you needed a hand grenade to break off a Honda impeller blade
 
What's MORE important is what you DIDN'T find! Have you accounted for all the missing pieces?
 
I think so. In my opinion I think that if the pieces of the vanes came off in one piece, I doubt if they could make it through all the water passages and out the exhaust on their own. I'd first look around the t-stats. You'll need to remove them anyway to reverse flush the engine.
 
The trouble with using the tell tale stream to determine if there is "adequate" cooling is that it CAN be deceiving. While it certainly tells you that the pump is pumping a generous supply of water, it is a "branch" circuit to the cooling passages and can be completely clear while a blockage could exist in the block very near the "T" junction or, where smaller pieces come off, in the thermostat housing or even the cylinder head.

Like Mike says, the pieces tend to fall down when the engine is stopped but can be pushed up the tube when running.

Having debris UNDER the pump could lead to having it "suck up" while running hard and entering the pump housing. This could destroy your NEW impeller.

Good luck Capt.
 
OK so I changed inpellar and gaskets while switching impellar.
Can someone give me procedule on back flushing.I e. Pullling. The thermostats
Do I back flush using hose flush connections w foot off and thermo stats off ?
While pump was apart I didn't see rubber fin from old impellar
 
I don't know if this is the correct way to do it or not. What I have done in the past on other motors is to remove the lower unit then remove one t-stat at a time, put the end of a garden hose in there, seal it with a rag and duct tape, and turn on the water.

A local marine mechanic does the same thing but uses an old sump pump on which he has reduced down the outlet to fit a garden hose. He'll set that in a bucket with a mixture of Salt-a-Way to de-salt old corroded engines.
 
I've never done one of the larger engines but I too would go with chawk_man's suggestion, knowing that he has a methodical and logical approach to doing things on his rig.

But here's the fun part for me and why I "lurk". You, Capt., always seem to have some insightful observations when you do things as well so I'll be waiting to see what you come up with as you work through the task.

I really DO like that sump pump/salt away trick.

One trick I have for flushing is to use a toilet valve flapper with a hose adapter to seal the stat opening for flushing. I also have one rigged with an air hose nipple for blowing through the system with shop air. Works on some engines but not sure how it might apply here.

Good luck.
 
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ok so I took thermostats out poured a little salt away in each side used hose nozzle to flush out chambers dumping water into bucket to catch any pieces. There was no visible pieces so going to water test and keep an eye on it for the next few trips out not sure what happened to piece of Impellar. I also took flash light and looked up water tube , it was clear no blockage. I used weed eater line to ensure pee hole tube was clear also. Tryed blowing air thru pee whole to no avail. If issue arrives will pull side cowlings off try blowing air thru block connection where pee hole hose connects maybe w thermostats out?
 
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On a side note I am really good at getting a lower unit off :) can do pretty quick using my rachett 14 mm box wrench to get bolts out that I box just for this :). Thanks for input to all
 
we'll good news took boat down to do a water test, one pic at idle and one throttle upped water flow was very strong both..:)
thanks to al for imput .nev fond found impeller piece but will keep a eye on it

thanks all for help
 

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How old was that impeller? I like to change mine yearly, but some people like to run them for hundreds of hours and say they never have any issues. Just curious of the age on that one.
 
I plead guilty last changed 1/30/13 , 500 hrs ago :(
But I checked it beggining of this year inspect , grease, ..In past changed every season so I tryed to go every other year guess back to yearly
 
Jamie,

In my opinion the telltale stream looks pretty weak at idle. It appears much weaker than what I see on my 2007 BF225 with 1600 plus hours. The stream at throttle up looks comparable to mine.
 
Okay - have you ever changed the entire pump as opposed to just the impellor? The metal plates and seals will wear out, especially when it ingests sand or mud. Just a thought.
 
I like to change the impeller yearly but the kit every other to be safe. It's cheap insurance, especially when you run offshore.
 
Wow, I'm glad you said something about the idle stream chawk! I don't get to "play" with the big boys but I too thought the idle pic showed an anemic pee stream. I hate to comment when I don't know for sure so glad to see my instincts are good.

As far as the impeller change interval is concerned I think experience and what "works" is a good guideline. But, you being in the charter business Capt. Jamie, I would consider going by the book. While there's probably nothing really wrong with checking it and saving a few dollars, it is not as easy a position to defend as having done it as prescribed by Honda if anything were to go wrong offshore and you were being accused of any form of "negligence".

Just sayin'
 
Just one other thing, on the 200/225 the tube to the telltale and the nipple it's attached to easily gets clogged with anything, including algae. I keep a piece of 400 lb. mono on board to clean it out when needed. Also, .80 weed whacker string works, too.

I don't think a clog is Jamie's problem however, since he has a strong telltale at higher rpm's.
 
I don't know.....The pumps do increase flow pretty dramatically when the rpms go up. I was thinking that is what I would expect with a partial blockage and increased flow.....weak stream with low flow and much stronger stream with higher flow.

I do forget though. Are you running twins? If so, do they both pee the same?

Did you power some water or air down the tell tale circuit when the lower end was off?

If it's not blockage in the tell tale, which couldn't actually hurt the engine anyway, then I would be worried that I had sufficient cooling for any extended idle time.
 
yes I used weedeater to ensure no clogged as well,
yes I have twins going to take a look at other engine at idle ill post pic of that on also

yes did try to push air thur pee hole also
 
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