omc stringer??? new guy waterpump question.

Hello there,

wicked newbie here, never had a boat before and I have zero experience.
however I'm getting my hands dirty and learning as i go.

what i do know: I'm not pumping water, and I've got a frost plug out of the back of my motor.

What i don't know: if the impeller is behind the ball gear in the outdrive or the intermediate (I've been able to find a video of replacement but not sure exactly which bit I'm looking at) I'm trying to pull apart as little as possible so I don't get things too fouled up.
also I'm not sure what my best approach is to get to that plug. please educate.

I'm including some pictures that may or may not prove helpful. I'm not even sure what sort of drive I have but I know the boat is a 1975 for what it's worth.

Water pump is nowhere near that ball gears.----Evaluate the whole boat and motor before you spend any money.

ok, noted. I definitely don't plan on sinking much cash into her. so far I'm only in a couple hundred though so I figured I couldn't lose if i could repair her myself.
from the video i watched on line the impeller was right behind that gear in the fifth picture. (maybe I'm incorrect in calling it a "ball gear".

could you tell me where i need to look for the impeller?

Bottom of the upper gear housing.----Need to take out 4 bolts.----3/4" socket does the trick.

oh ok!
i guess i could have done that without dropping the whole outdrive, but i have to pull the motor eventually anyway to get that freeze plug out and replaced.
I'll crack the lower off now and see what I can find.

oh awesome! thank you!!
i saw that parts list elsewhere on this site but was unsure if that was actually my drive.


I've tried to access this by removing these six bolts on either side but had no luck.


do I just need a bigger hammer? Should I rehang it on the intermediate so it will drop down easier?

or should i remove these bolts on the top of the unit and slide the whole thing down?


when i started to take it apart i backed these out a bit but when i realized it was dropping the lower unit i quit and re-tightened.

If I remember right, you do remove the 4 (or 5) bolts on the top of the drive and drop the lower unit along with the exhaust housing (that big piece between the upper and lower units. That's where you'll find the waterpump.

exactly right! thank you so much!!





with the help from this forum and some patience i got to the root of the problem. a busted impeller housing.
I'm not sure what would cause this kind of damage but I'm guessing poor (or nonexistent) winterization which I know is the cause of my other problem up in the motor.

now to scour the interwebs for a new impeller housing and start a motor pull while that ships.
Thank you all 1000% for all the knowledge imparted to me.