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Mercury 9.8 Water Problems. Please Help.

O

olvalco

New member
Hello,

I have owned a Mercury 9.8 with sn# 3734111 for about 2 years now. After a sticky float and broken plastic fittings I have the motor up and running strong. However, now the water is starting to slow down, sometimes to a dribble at idle. I have ran vinegar and other cleaners through it and that actually helped a bit. I noticed that the fitting on top of motor that connects hose to outlet has some build up of salt. Is there a way to clean inside the housing that that fitting goes into. I see a plate there on the side that has white sticker but I don't know whats behind it. Can i take off and clean, then make new gasket? Also when operating at full throttle for a while after I come to a stop the motor has a hell of a time restarting. Thought maybe it had to do with heat. Any help would be appreciated.
 
The impeller on that model needs to be replaced about every 2 years.-Just the way it is.--Also at the top of the water tube there is a plastic washer.----This washer has been known to melt on severe overheat.---It then blocks the flow of cooling water.------The 9.8 is a wonderful motor and needs to be maintained once in a while.----The plate on the side is the exhaust cover.-I would look at the impeller first as it is not hard to do.
 
Thanks, I appreciate the prompt response. I went to a marine repair shop and they told me it would cost $500 to do an impeller job. Kind of scared me a bit because I thought it must be pretty difficult. The motor does shoot out water very well when moving but at stop it dribbles. Any direction on how to remove and replace impeller would be great. I am going to start looking into it. Thanks again.
 
You have to remove 2 nuts and the lower unit comes off.--Then 2 nuts to remove pump housing.----New impeller is $20 ----This is a 20 minute job on a fresh water motor.---------I think I would run away from a shop that quotes $500 for that.
 
I most certainly agree. The guy must be too good for my little repairs. I even asked if he would order the parts for me, as I always try to buy local instead of on the internet or WALMART. He told me to try the internet. Well I appreciate the help I will start now.
 
Okay I just looked at the motor and I have the cowling off. Where are the two nuts that you talk about the separate the lower unit?
 
Put motor in forward gear.----------You need a 9/16" wrench at the front and a 1/2" socket just above the prop.-----Lower unit comes off.---Pump is found on top of the lower unit.---The rest is fairly obvious I think.
 
Okay I found them. Guess I didnt look hard enough. I dropped the lower unit and the impeller and pump were very gummy inside and there was one blade missing on impeller so I got it out. Im going to order new one and possibly the pump. Youre the man btw. Very helpful.
 
I found the piece it was trapped in impeller. I do not think that is a $500 job. Thats robbery. I do have to ask though while I have your attention still. I put pump back together as I have to order the parts still. After that I could not get the unit back in. I see the front shaft has flat side on the end. Did not notice one for the propeller shaft. Just wont go back together. the water tube isnt obstructing and it is within an inch of pump. Any ideas?
 
Is the guide tube for the water pump in place?--Did you put the gear shift in forward ?---Are you turning the flywheel slowly while gently pushing the lower unit into place ?----This all should be easy !
 
I see that there is a rubber guide tube and I could guide it but i cant get the smaller shaft in it seems. It looks simple, theres two shafts with grooves and the shaft is the stud for the forward bolt. I have it in forward. What do you mean by turn flywheel?
 
Gender:Male
Location:Rockdale, NSW
Posted 12 April 2014 - 01:30 AM
I want to thank everyone for the replies and the comments trying to rectify this problem. As stated, I have had this issue since new and the boat is now 10 years old. I was told by the marine place that sold me the boat new that there was no issue with heating and that they had actually replaced the water pum, ( at a cost of $500, 'Warranty?, the water pump doesn't fall under warranty'
Well last weekend, being 29th April, 2014, I chose to buy a water pump, impella kit, and replaced the water pump and housing myself. To my dismay, and disgust, I found the bottom gasket of the water pump housing, had a tear in it. It was therefore replaced and after water testing that day, the temperature gauge did not get above 1/4 warm. All this time, a $3 gasket was the reason for this temp issue. I was not able to use this boat for its intended purpose because I believed what I was told by the marine place that sold me the boat and motor.
They are yet to hear from me about this as my anger has yet to calm. They will hear from me in the coming weeks. I wish I could name and shame this place but am not able to as I don't wish for repercussions from this site.
In this time, I had lost interest in using the boat, taking my family out in it, and after consulting with mechanic authorised to Solve this issue, was not able to for fear of the unknown costs involved.
I have a renewed passion for fishing, have taken my youngest son last week into Botany, and have has the pleasure of seeing him hooked up to decent sized Kingfish on several occasions. We are about to join the local fishing club in Sans Souci and plan on making up for lost time.
Thanks again all who took the time to try to help..
Regards
Wes
 
Just for the record, it took me about 20 minutes from start to finish to replace the water pump housing, impella, bottom plate and gasket. My point being, don't be afraid to do a bit of research on how to do that particular job, ask other people for advice, and give it a go yourself. If I had done so 10 years ago, I would have done it ( for starters), I would have resolved this issue back then and would have saved myself $1000 dollars.
the water pump kit cost me less than $100 AU.
thanks again for all the input from everyone.
 
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