impeller

[supra650]

The boat was professionally winterized. On the water I immediately noticed high water temp and shut the engine off. Back on land I pulled the 1 year old impellor out and It was in pieces. Can I just replace it or what else should I do?

[OUI]

Just buy a new empeller - they go bad even if winterised properly. Check your local marine stores, west marine or skidim.com. Some people recommend pulling them in the fall so they don't stick or create a set to the rubber.

[skiman_61]

Yes, they do go bad on their own, BUT not every one knows how to winterize an inboard. I had the same thing happen to me, do it all my self now. That way I can just be mad at me if something is frigged up.

My impeller went out this morning on my 1989 Comp. It was easy to pull out but am unsure on how to get the new one back in the housing. The original impeller had curved blades and the new ones are straight. My questions are

1. Do you need to curve the impeller blades to fit in the housing?

2. If so. how do you do it?

3. And does it matter which way you curve the blades?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get back on the water soon.

Thanks
Greymac

[lowdrag]

Replace it, but keep a close eye on your engine temp the next few times out. There's always a possibility that the cooling system sucked up enough pieces of the impeller to cause an obstruction.

Yes, you do need to curve the impeller blades to get the impeller to fit and to eliminate the chance of them getting shreaded when you fire the motor up, they should be in the correct position. I have heard of people pushing the impeller in just far enough to catch on the keyed shaft and then turning the motor over, not starting it, to get them all in the correct postion. I've never tried it though so I don't know how well it works. You can do the same thing by hand by just observing which way the shaft spins and then rotate the impeller the same direction as you push it in until it locks onto the shaft.

It's also a good idea to lube the impeller prior to install. I've heard of people using everything from grease to vaseline to dish soap for this. It will ease the install and eliminate that extra wear from the first dry start with the new one.