95 Mercrusier raw water pump

[TimW]

I just purchased my first Malibu, a 1995 Sunsetter with a Merc 350 Ski edition motor (only 291 hrs). I was wondering if anyone ever converted one of these to a bolt-on crank driven fresh water pump. It looks like if you reduce the number of pulleys from 3 to 1 you will have enough clearance for the engine cover to close. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. It appears the 3-piece pump is going to be a problem to change the impeller each year, plus it is the original plastic and checking DIM a brass is over $350.

[Eric LX]

I just purchased my first Malibu, a 1995 Sunsetter with a Merc 350 Ski edition motor (only 291 hrs). I was wondering if anyone ever converted one of these to a bolt-on crank driven fresh water pump. It looks like if you reduce the number of pulleys from 3 to 1 you will have enough clearance for the engine cover to close. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. It appears the 3-piece pump is going to be a problem to change the impeller each year, plus it is the original plastic and checking DIM a brass is over $350.

Tim, I have the same set up and have thought about doing the same thing. I will probably switch over to the Jabsco next year unless someone has a slick way to make this convertion. I will be interested to see what others have to say.

[Woodski]

You can replace the plastic housing with another similar unit from several suppliers like West Marine, SkiDim, etc.. for much less. If you keep water in them, they last a long time. As for reducing pulleys, I think you are referring to the main crank pulley's three grooves and not just removing the Jabsco pump and it's pulley. There are both single and double groove pulley's available from many sources, places like Summitt Performance that will replace the existing triple groove pulley, they are also available in machined aluminum. Keeping the Jabsco pump, you can still go to a 2 groove pulley. To do the pump swap, you will need to get or fabricate a retention bracket to keep the pump from trying to spin.

[AZ Sunsetter]

I have a 1996 Sunsetter with a Mercruiser Black Scorpion 5.7L and the raw water impeller needs to be replaced every season. I wish that there was a 'fix'/modification for a more robust solution to this pain in the a**.