Inspecting/changing impellor

[Fab1]

Here I'm installing the leg back into the engine making sure the spline on the drive shaft lines up with the splines in the power head and the pump tube seats correctly then installing the 4 bolts I removed.Connecting the gear shift linkage.All back together.

well there you have it,I certainly learnt something from this and hope you guys have too.

The key points when doing this job is to remember your working with aluminium so be gentle as you can easily strip threads by over tightening or crack plastics like your impellor housing.Lube everything,clean all bolts,surfaces,Work out the rotation of your drive shaft to aid impellor installation,Start all bolts/nuts by hand and snug them all down evenly.I go by feel as I've been working on things for a long time but i suggest torquing all nuts/bolts to people that may not have much experience and most of all learn from everyone as you never stop learning.

I have learnt today that maybe changing an impellor yearly is a bit much but then again it's piece of mind isn't it.

Hopefully someone learnt something and I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks for reading the saga guys.

Cheers.

[Sigma]

Well done fab, another great DIY article that I found very very helpful. Keep them coming. Thanks to a number of your articles, I have done a few things myself that I had no idea how to start...thank you.

Just one question. Since you found that there was some rust and discoloration of the grease when you took the impeller housing out, did you end up changing the seal to the gearbox or would this be normal?

[Fab1]

27 minutes ago, Sigma said:

Well done fab, another great DIY article that I found very very helpful. Keep them coming. Thanks to a number of your articles, I have done a few things myself that I had no idea how to start...thank you.

Just one question. Since you found that there was some rust and discoloration of the grease when you took the impeller housing out, did you end up changing the seal to the gearbox or would this be normal?

Thanks mate,I'm glad my articles have helped you.The rust was just surface rust(Muck) around where the edge of the seal meets the drive shaft.

contrary to popular belief Stainless if left with muck built up on it combined with saltwater residue will start to rust.Obviously not as fast as mild steel but still.

If you decide to buy an impellor kit they usually come with all  o rings gaskets,impellor etc but the driveshaft seal will need to be purchased seperately.

If your gear case oil has water in there it's either this seal that's leaking,the prop ones,or the gasket on the drain plug and in some cases when guys have hit something hard the gear case housing is cracked.

cheers.