Water pump replacement - Alpha One Gen II

[tdappleman]

Well - it is finally time to replace my water pumps. I've ordered the parts and will do both drives at the same time. My question is on the sealing and lubrication of the drives. This says to use Mercury Perfect Seal and also Special Lube 101. Are these the only items I can use or are there substitutes? Want to make sure I do it correctly so if this is it then I'll place my order since I can't find it locally - but wanted to get the opinions of the board.

 

[tdappleman]

I guess no substitutes... I went ahead and ordered the real stuff - no sense playing around with the drives.... Amazing how much they can charge for grease and sealant!

 

[280 SeaRay]

I like the real stuff..... I have never happened upon anything similar to these two items. Good luck on the impeller replacement.

 

[tdappleman]

Thanks Jeremy - I hope it goes well too!

 

[hmonarch]

I don't know if you have ever worked on a drive before so here and some general suggestions:

1. If you don't have a stand to put your drive on while working on it, get one. A good work area is well worth the expense to buy or the time it takes to make one.
2. Get a MerCruiser manual or pull one up on-line and print off the instructions.
3. Get some help removing the outdrives. They are heavy.
4. Take your time. Don't rush. Take a few minutes after you have the new/rebuilt pump on and before you put the upper and lower cases together and re-read the instructions. Think about what you have just done and if anything you did is different than the instructions, consider the implications.
5. Fix yourself a drink after you have finished putting the drives back on. You deserve it.

 

[Weave]

Let us know how it went....Post some pics if ya can!

 

[tdappleman]

Thanks guys - hoping to have all the parts/grease/etc here by tomorrow and plan to tackle on Friday. I have limited experience working on drives but it doesn't look very difficult. One question I do have after reading various instructions is this: Does the drive really have to be removed completely or can you separate it on the boat and just remove the lower unit. I'm thinking the downsides would be I would not be able to lubricate/inspect other pieces while I'm working on the pump. True?

I do plan to take pictures while I work - helps me ensure I get it all back together correctly and hopefully will help others on the board tackle this job.

 

[midway]

You do not have to pull the complete drive off of the boat, you can just unbolt the lower unit and drop it off. I just recently pulled my lower unit by myself and reinstalled it by myself. I put the drive in trailer position, put it in forward gear, drain the oil, remove the 7 bolts necessary, that includes the one for the anode that hides a bolt, disconnect the hose in the front if it is there, then I get hold of the skeg, tap with a dead blow mallet and it hopefully will come down, change the pump, reassemble in reverse order. The get a book advice is an excellent suggestion, it helps a lot to have that especially the first time. I have on my old boat pulled the whole drive off to grease ujoints by myself, I put a board under the skeg and raise the trailer jack until the skeg just touched the board, loosen everything and pull it off and put it back on by myself, the hardest part of the complete drive R&R is balancing the drive while turning the prop to line of the splines of the drive shaft with the engine coupler.