How often do you change your Impeller?

[D-GOOSE]

I agree with you 98

With Hwoods thinking why would we change the oil, fuel filter, trans oil, Lube the trail or replace your tire's until you have a problem. If it's not broke why fix it.

Maintenance is the key to keeping your boat in tip top shape for many yrs to come.

[Hwood]

i completly disagree with you 110%... it's such easy inexspensive maint. you would be dumb not to do it knowing what could happen...

lets see, over heat... hmmmm, what could it do... Blown seals and gaskets, blown piston rings, warped exhaust or intake manifolds (exspecially hammerheads that have aluminum manifolds and pistons), melted fittings or hoses, failed mufflers... a lot of things that can leave your boat dead in the water...

Would you risk that pain in the a$s for a $35 part? Every other year or every 100 hours is 100% worth every minute i spend changing my impeller...

You started this thead saying you had one fail at 30 hours! Maybe I should get into the impeller business. I know what overheating can do. I'm not saying to run the boat WOT with a roasted impeller dude. There is sufficient time to shut your boat down if it's getting hot before doing any damage.

With Hwoods thinking why would we change the oil, fuel filter, trans oil, Lube the trail or replace your tire's until you have a problem. If it's not broke why fix it. .

Not Hwood's thinking. Leave that to Hwood, thanks!

[NorCaliBu]

With Hwoods thinking why would we change the oil, fuel filter, trans oil, Lube the trail or replace your tire's until you have a problem. If it's not broke why fix it.

Not Hwood's thinking. Leave that to Hwood, thanks!

That is a great response.

I disagree with your "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" sentiments about impellers...but to each his own. Just make sure you have a spare so that the person that did change theirs doesn't have to spend 2 hours towing you in when it does detonate. Cause eventually...it will.

I did like your response though.

[Hwood]

I disagree with your "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" sentiments about impellers...but to each his own. Just make sure you have a spare

I did like your response though.

I definitely recommend carrying a spare, and the tools to change it. This can be done in about 15 minutes, conveniently about the same time it takes to drink 1 beer.

Comparing oil to impellers is apples to oranges.

Happy boating! Ice should be out in a few weeks.

If you carry a spare what's the point of changing it every year?

[NorCaliBu]

"It can be changed in 15 minutes"...not always. I had one completely disintegrate and it clogged the tranny cooler something fierce. If you're going to roll the dice be sure to take the tools necessary to remove the tranny cooler and something along the lines of a bicycle spoke to clear the cooler tubes. I carry a couple of 300mm bicycle spokes in my toolbox for just such an occurrence.

[electricjohn]

"It can be changed in 15 minutes"...not always. I had one completely disintegrate and it clogged the tranny cooler something fierce. If you're going to roll the dice be sure to take the tools necessary to remove the tranny cooler and something along the lines of a bicycle spoke to clear the cooler tubes. I carry a couple of 300mm bicycle spokes in my toolbox for just such an occurrence.

How old was the impeller that disintegated?

[Bill_AirJunky]

"It can be changed in 15 minutes"...not always. I had one completely disintegrate and it clogged the tranny cooler something fierce. If you're going to roll the dice be sure to take the tools necessary to remove the tranny cooler and something along the lines of a bicycle spoke to clear the cooler tubes. I carry a couple of 300mm bicycle spokes in my toolbox for just such an occurrence.

It would be interesting to note the make of that impeller, how long it was installed & what conditions it failed in. Something caused catastrophic failure like that to happen...... I'd be making a point to figure out what & not let it happen again.

[Sixball]

If you carry a spare what's the point of changing it every year? Throwing away $$$ in my opinion. I ran one for 400+ hours and finally took it out last year. Still looked OK with a few chips out of a couple veins, but kept the engine plenty cool. It did take a bit of a "set" from sitting in the housing for 5 years but now I remove it during winterization.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, spend the $$ on gas.

i completly disagree with you 110%... it's such easy inexspensive maint. you would be dumb not to do it knowing what could happen...

lets see, over heat... hmmmm, what could it do... Blown seals and gaskets, blown piston rings, warped exhaust or intake manifolds (exspecially hammerheads that have aluminum manifolds and pistons), melted fittings or hoses, failed mufflers... a lot of things that can leave your boat dead in the water...

Would you risk that pain in the a$s for a $35 part? Every other year or every 100 hours is 100% worth every minute i spend changing my impeller... The last thing i want to do is be changing my impeller during a vacation because it failed... i would rather just do it and have the piece of mind that i did what i could to take care of my boat and hopefully it return the favor to me...

How often do yo look at the temp gage? You must have the big speakers and amp the boat will sound an alarm also and if its that hot your nose should have some sense thing may not be well.

Let me guess you must be one of those wake boarder not enough speed to keep the boat cool well playing. My background has tough me to be aware of things going on around me so I have no problem with running a one year old impeller. You can find parts from a blown impeller up to one year after and that is even if you pull the trans cooler and clean it after you lose an impeller.

When I had my V drive I changed each year. It was a much harder job changing the impeller. I also have seen more than one impeller blow in less than a season so even that won't keep you trouble free.

[Tom Sawyer]

I'm finding this thread particularly interesting. I recently took my boat into the dealer because the bracket that holds the impeller in place on the front of the engine had snapped. When they got it done the told me I owed $400 for a new raw water pump. Since I thought this would all be a warranty issue, I was pretty upset, so I contacted Indmar and the owner of the dealership. Long story short: They replaced the pump because the housing was worn, and it's not covered by warranty because the impeller hadn't been replaced.

I'm still a little skeptical because I've never heard anyone on here talk about having having to replace a raw water pump for this reason (or any reason for that matter). The boat has been used two years (150-200) hours without an impeller change, but it has never overheated. I put close to 500 hours on my last boat over two impellers with no problems.

I guess a big part of why I'm upset it that they didn't contact me before replacing the pump. That said, I don't mind paying if in fact it really needs done and it's because I didn't change out the impeller. I'm going to pick the boat up in the morning and they're supposed to show me the damage, so we'll see what my thoughts are then.

I'm curious about what you guys think.....could the pump itself be damaged from using a worn impeller???

[NorCaliBu]

How old was the impeller that disintegated?

Not Sure. It was the first summer that I owned the boat. I bought it when it was 2 years old and had 26 hours on it. Maybe the lack of use caused it to dry out.

It would be interesting to note the make of that impeller, how long it was installed & what conditions it failed in. Something caused catastrophic failure like that to happen...... I'd be making a point to figure out what & not let it happen again.

I could almost guaranty that it was the OE impeller. I believe it failed due to lack of use, it just plain dried out and became brittle. Any boat that gets winterized and not used for 3-6 months could have this same issue.

I'm curious about what you guys think.....could the pump itself be damaged from using a worn impeller???

I don't see how. But stranger things have happened, I suppose. If the normal maintenance schedule calls for the impeller to be replaced annually in order to keep the warranty intact then I would d@mn well be changing that impeller annually.

[D-GOOSE]

Tom did your give authorization to replace the parts? I’m sure others will chime in, but if boat deals are like car repair shops then they have to inform you of all repairs and cost. I would inspect the pump, bracket very closely. This is just me thinking out loud, but if the bracket broke and put the impeller housing at an odd angle it would force the impeller to wear the housing. Look at the impeller fins for odd wear and where it was, IE the fins or side.

[Sixball]

Tom did your give authorization to replace the parts? I’m sure others will chime in, but if boat deals are like car repair shops then they have to inform you of all repairs and cost. I would inspect the pump, bracket very closely. This is just me thinking out loud, but if the bracket broke and put the impeller housing at an odd angle it would force the impeller to wear the housing. Look at the impeller fins for odd wear and where it was, IE the fins or side.

If the bracket broke the wear is likely to come from the pump vibrating not on old impeller. I would ask for their take on the two year old impeller wearing the housing. Just can't see a good working impeller hurting the housing.

[Gordo]

I am going into my 3rd year with the Globe "run dry" impeller -- I'm a fan!! Since I have a V-drive, I have to hire a contortionist to help me change the impeller. So having to change it every 3rd or 4th year is great!!! Globe is a good product. They have produced impellers for harsh environments for commercial products for years. They only recently started producing consulmer products. You can also purchase Globe products through defender.com. My boat takes Globe model 100J. I believe most Malibu's use that model.

[Tom Sawyer]

Tom did your give authorization to replace the parts? I’m sure others will chime in, but if boat deals are like car repair shops then they have to inform you of all repairs and cost. I would inspect the pump, bracket very closely. This is just me thinking out loud, but if the bracket broke and put the impeller housing at an odd angle it would force the impeller to wear the housing. Look at the impeller fins for odd wear and where it was, IE the fins or side.

If the bracket broke the wear is likely to come from the pump vibrating not on old impeller. I would ask for their take on the two year old impeller wearing the housing. Just can't see a good working impeller hurting the housing.

Well, when I went to pick it up they told me that the pump had been damaged from sucking something inside (not covered by warranty). There was a fin missing fin from the old impeller and the old pump did have some scratches cut into the back of it, but I thought replacing it was overkill. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was since it was working with no problems before I took it in. There position was that if they see any damage they have to replace it from a liability standpoint.

I told them I was disappointed that I wasn't contacted before the pump was replaced, but I probably would have said to go ahead anyway. I guess my only other option would have been to tell them to put my old pump back on.

They did do a nice job...indmar picked up the new pump bracket and also a new heat exchanger on the side because it had broke loose as a result of the broken bracket. Hopefully, I won't need service again, but if I do I'll have to keep a closer eye on them.

[NorCaliBu]

TS - You should have received an estimate for repairs when you dropped off your boat at the service center. If the total bill is more than 110% of the estimate the dealer must get authorization to perform the work. You could have refused to pay for it, but then that would be a bridge burned and that's never good. I think you did the right thing but the dealer did handle the situation poorly. You should have been notified before the work was done.

[Hwood]

I'm not all that familiar with Indmar engines, but it sounds like the trans cooler is after the RWP???

[NorCaliBu]

I'm not all that familiar with Indmar engines, but it sounds like the trans cooler is after the RWP???

About a one foot piece of hose between them. If an impeller shreds the pieces head straight for the tranny cooler.

[Hwood]

Is this basically all Indmar engines? I'm more familiar with PCM, that have the tranny cooler before the RWP.

What is the advantage/disadvantage to it being after the RWP? It sounds like it acts as a filter for impeller pieces, which may be keep them out of the engine.

[98mallybu]

Is this basically all Indmar engines? I'm more familiar with PCM, that have the tranny cooler before the RWP.

What is the advantage/disadvantage to it being after the RWP? It sounds like it acts as a filter for impeller pieces, which may be keep them out of the engine.

I don't think if it really matters if the transmission cooler is before or after the raw water pump... by my assumsion is that the raw water pump can "push" much better than it can pull, hence why all PCM's have a sea strainer? Mercruiser is set up like a Indmar with the trans cooler and fuel pump cooler after the raw water pump.

But with no filter on a PCM after the raw water pump it's going to be a lot harder to get all the impeller chunks accounted for when the impeller blows... They would all get stuck in the thermostat housing and thermostat.. what a pain in the butt... I'm a big Indmar fan!!

[oldfooter]

Question number two does not allow me to answer if I have never had damage.....I replace my impeller every year and thus have not experienced damage. Add an option stating: Never had to change out impeller due to failure.

Again, question number three doesn't allow me to answer if I have changed my impeller.

Edit the poll and I bet you get a few more responses......thanks.

[malibuwaterdog]

Problem with Poll.

Every 2 years and have a spare on board.

[LS1boarder]

What's the best way to get the damn thing out of there? I have changed mine once at the beginning of last year, and probably won't change it at the beginning of the year. I only put 40 hours on the boat last year. It's really hard to remove without marring the internal parts of the shroud. Any tips for a newbie?

[areamike]

What's the best way to get the damn thing out of there? I have changed mine once at the beginning of last year, and probably won't change it at the beginning of the year. I only put 40 hours on the boat last year. It's really hard to remove without marring the internal parts of the shroud. Any tips for a newbie?

Same thing happens to me

http://www.reddenmarine.com/site/new-detai...m?id=SDL6600201

Impeller puller. That's the only solution I see.

[NorCaliBu]

What's the best way to get the damn thing out of there?...

I remove the cover and squirt a little binding lube, hair conditioner, dish soap,...whatever is handy, into the pump. Disable the engine via the killswitch and then bump the starter a couple of times to work the lube all the way around the impeller/pump housing. With two pairs of pliers grab onto two impeller blades 180° from each other and pull/wiggle the impeller out. It's not a difficult enough procedure to require a special tool.

A little lube on the blades of the new impeller will aid in the insertion process. It's always better with lube.

Perverts.

[Bill_AirJunky]

In the past I had used paint can openers to hook behind the impeller & pull it out. But this was on a direct drive & the impeller housing is right in front of you. On the Vride, the motor is facing the transom & space is tight. So tight I could really only get one hand in there at a time. Pulling the impeller out with pliers wasn't working when I replaced mine last weekend, even when I bumped the engine a few times. I ended up tieing a piece of string to a paint can opener, drapeing it over the exhaust muffler. With one hand I could thread the paint can opener in between the impeller blades, hook the back of it, hold it, and then pull the string with the other hand. Because it was draped over the muffler, the string pulled it straight back. Worked like a charm & I had it out in a few minutes.