What necessitates impeller kit vs impeller alone change?

[glocklt4]

Alpha 1. Searched the forum and couldn't really find an answer.

Impeller is $20. Kit looks to be $110-150. Big difference.

Is it more of a "while you're in there" thing, or is there a point at which you need to do the kit?

My 200 sport is a 2005, and when I bought the boat last August the surveyor said it looked fine. Going to replace it now since I am not 100% sure on it's age, and I've had the boat for over a year now.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You won't know till you're in there. The housing and wear plate can get, well, worn. If I remember correctly, it comes with various o-rings and wear plate gaskets as well. Granted, the o-rings are not expensive, but they are things that should be replaced every so often. If it was me, I would get the kit and start fresh. That way you know what has been done - not just that it "looks OK".

On edit: look for grooves in the housing and wear plate - they don't have to be very deep to cause problems.

 

[glocklt4]

You won't know till you're in there. The housing and wear plate can get, well, worn. If I remember correctly, it comes with various o-rings and wear plate gaskets as well. Granted, the o-rings are not expensive, but they are things that should be replaced every so often. If it was me, I would get the kit and start fresh. That way you know what has been done - not just that it "looks OK".

On edit: look for grooves in the housing and wear plate - they don't have to be very deep to cause problems.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I've been trying to research the procedure to see what it's going to take. Never taken my drive apart before. Just didn't want to get a kit that's $100 more when I didn't need to.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Not much to it. Leave the drive in forward. Don't forget the bolt underneath your cavitation plate anode. Here's a couple pics to give you a better idea. The first shows the correct way to put the impeller back in (the right way to "bend" the vanes):

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[glocklt4]

Great, thanks for the pics! I have done lots of car engine work, so I figure this shouldn't be too difficult. Getting everything to seal really well seems more important though.

 

[Lazy Daze]

While it might be something "new to you" - when you break it down it's really no different than anything else you've done on a car. It's one of those "put it back together the way you take it apart" things. Good luck with it! :smt001

 

[glocklt4]

While it might be something "new to you" - when you break it down it's really no different than anything else you've done on a car. It's one of those "put it back together the way you take it apart" things. Good luck with it! :smt001

Good to hear, and what I was hoping when I started getting into it. Having entered the "boat realm" relatively recently still, I am still a bit shy towards working on mechanics I haven't seen yet. Once you take apart a car engine and transmission, you (for the most part), know what they all do. There are exceptions of course, ha.

 

[glocklt4]

Next question... Merc or Sierra parts? Looks like the Sierra are quite a bit cheaper.

 

[Skuza]

One of those deals where "while your in there". Do it now or take it apart and do it again later. Hey practice makes perfect then!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Next question... Merc or Sierra parts? Looks like the Sierra are quite a bit cheaper.

6 of one, half dozen of another. Some will swear that Merc parts are better. Overall, though, I wouldn't advise against Sierra. Go with whichever one makes you feel better. In other words, you'll be fine with the Sierra. I'm a Merc dealer and I buy as many Merc parts as I do Sierra for myself.

 

[glocklt4]

One of those deals where "while your in there". Do it now or take it apart and do it again later. Hey practice makes perfect then!

Lol, ask me how I know how to replace a distributor on my corvette in under 4 hours now when the book time is nearly 11! :smt009

 

[glocklt4]

6 of one, half dozen of another. Some will swear that Merc parts are better. Overall, though, I wouldn't advise against Sierra. Go with whichever one makes you feel better. In other words, you'll be fine with the Sierra. I'm a Merc dealer and I buy as many Merc parts as I do Sierra for myself.

Cool, thanks for the advice! I guess I'll get the Sierra kit ordered if I can find it at a considerably lower price.

 

[Nehalennia]

I would stay away from Sierra. It's knock off crap in my opinion. Look at it this way, if the Merc(recemmended) kit is $100 and the Sierra (knock off) kit is $50, is it worth the extra $$$ if the Sierra's performance is lower or decides to take a crap on you. I say this knowing that a few years ago a friend installed a Sierra starter in his boat, then if crapped out after two months, he returned it, got the replacement, another 3-4 months go by, crapped out again. No he has a Merc starter in there that has been in there for 3 or 4 years.

 

[glocklt4]

I finally got around to pulling the drive apart last night. It has been in the 70's & 80's here until a couple days ago when it dropped to 38-55. So I had to keep taking her out .

Anyway, It wasn't bad at all getting the drive apart once I remembered the bolt on the underside of the anode at the tip of the drive .

The impeller doesn't look bad. Still feels pretty rubbery, and all the fins are there. The seal that goes on top of the pump was starting to show some rubber fatigue though, with small cracks. So I'm glad that I am doing it.

I'll post some pictures tonight after I get everything replaced hopefully.

Really appreciate the pics again! I'm very visual and that helped a lot.

 

[glocklt4]

So i replaced all of the seals and impeller tonight then was double checking the service manual. Looks like they are calling for quite a few different lubes on seals. I could not see any residue of old lubes/greases on the parts they show. Did you guys do this? I used gear lube on the seals when i put it back together, but i may need to pull it apart again and use theright stuff.

Also i found this interesting link regarding one of the sealants and the torque of the bolts holding it on: http://crowniehq.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4722


Edit: I just took it apart again and then took apart the bottom plate to the impeller housing that was on there before. It matches the pictures that you posted where the housing has layers. The replacement piece has rubber on the bottom and top of it that are not separable. The top piece has a raised up ridge too to help seal the housing well. I am not sure that the directions in the service manual apply the same way to this replacement piece... That raised bead of rubber should offer a lot of additional sealing compared to a flat non-rubber gasket. Just not sure if any additional sealer should be used.

 

[glocklt4]

I've searched the entire "internets" and can't find a picture of the lower housing piece I have that's all 1 unit with the gaskets molded and attached to it. Pretty sure the kit I got was 817275Q4. Maybe they just recently changed out the 3 piece (lower gasket, Stainless bottom cap, and upper gasket) for the all in one solution so that there are less problems with leaking...?:huh:

 

[JohnEGraham]

RE: Next question... Merc or Sierra parts? Looks like the Sierra are quite a bit cheaper.
Stay away from the Sierra if you need a Trim level sensor. It was a different then the Merc. and was not working properly I opened it to take a look and a piece fell out and cracked. Now I have the buy the two sensors ( because they only sell them in pairs ) Trim & limit switch.
I called Sierra and they said to send the part back ( can't find anymore) with original invoice. So now I guess I got to buy it again because its a big job ( engine was out last time when it was replaced) and I will be spending money again for another POS.
Go with Merc. John G.

 

[glocklt4]

RE: Next question... Merc or Sierra parts? Looks like the Sierra are quite a bit cheaper.
Stay away from the Sierra if you need a Trim level sensor. It was a different then the Merc. and was not working properly I opened it to take a look and a piece fell out and cracked. Now I have the buy the two sensors ( because they only sell them in pairs ) Trim & limit switch.
I called Sierra and they said to send the part back ( can't find anymore) with original invoice. So now I guess I got to buy it again because its a big job ( engine was out last time when it was replaced) and I will be spending money again for another POS.
Go with Merc. John G.

Yep, I went with Merc. Trying to be sure I do the reassembly correct now.

 

[glocklt4]

Well, she's back together now. I used permatex 2 on the bottom side of the pump housing, but didn't bother with anything where the two housing pieces go together since it had such a significant rubber lip to it. Put 2-4-C on the drive shaft gear that goes up into the upper drive. Made sure that the small orange o-ring for the drive fluid was in place multiple times. Made sure that the raw water pipe lined up when mounting it together too. Only tricky part really was keeping the left over oil in the lower unit from dripping all over me as i tried to put it back on and line up the drive shaft gears at the same time.

So the drive is mounted back together and fluid is in it. Letting it sit and any bubbles "bubble up" over the weekend while we're out of town. Sunday afternoon I'm going to start her up and make sure that it's all working right.

 

[midway]

You should have changed the oil while you had it apart. The drive is supposed to be filled from the bottom hole until the oil starts to run out of the top hole, then you put the top plug in, remove the cap from the resivoir, and pump until the level is correct in there. They make an inexpensive pump that fits the quart oil bottles and makes refill easy, also eliminates the air bubble problem.