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Spinning the drive shaft with a drill. Enough rpm for impeller to work?

rixter66

Member
I was wondering if the rpm from a drill was fast enough to make the impeller on my 15hp Evinrude work. I tried it with my cordless drill that spins at about 900rpm, but not much happened. All the parts in the water pump have been replaced.
 
Did you have the pump submerged? If all the parts have been replaced you should be able to assemble the entire motor and it should work. The common failures from water pumps are running the impellar's dry or not having the water tube not properly seated in the motor.
 
It is a positive displacement pump at lower speeds and 900 RPM is plenty of speed to make the pump work !!-----------------The pump is not considered to be self priming and must be submerged.-----------You did install a factory impeller I hope !
 
Did this trick years ago. Put it in a large bucket and submerge the g/c where it would normally run in the water on the boat. Use your drill and see what happens. Good way to test it.
 
The gearcase was submerged about 4 inches above the intake vent. I was expecting water to shoot up the discharge tube, but nothing happened. The parts I instaled were the OMC parts, and I did it according to the diagram on the manual. Guess I need to tear it apart and see what's up.
 
You must submerge to ABOVE pump housing.
Then put a short (5-10") tube into the grommet and test.
Watch out so the water does not enter into the drill, or you will be the one squirting!!
 
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