Let the boating frustration begin....

Joined
May 20, 2012
Messages
6
I recently purchased a 1996 sea ray ski ray with a 5.7 mercruiser 350 mag tournament ski. Boat is in amazing shape but had the engine maintenanced to make sure everything was up to par. One part that was changed was the water pump impeller, and after a test run noticed some leaking going on, so we completely changed the water pump all together. Took the boat out today and immediately the engine temp shot up to 220. water pump was hot and small black pieces were in water hoses and strainer. obviously the water pump wasnt getting water and the impeller got torn up, but what could of cause it? My only two guess's was the the two hoses conected to the water pump were mixed up or the impeller was put in the wrong way:confused:... New to the boat scene so any info on these engines would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!:)
 

makonnen

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Apr 4, 2012
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184
Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

Start by telling us the leg. Is it an Alpha or Bravo drive? I'll assume Alpha as you really can't put in a Bravo impeller backwards.
 
Joined
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Messages
6
Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

Start by telling us the leg. Is it an Alpha or Bravo drive? I'll assume Alpha as you really can't put in a Bravo impeller backwards.

Thats one thing I still have no idea about. How can you tell if it's alpha or bravo?
 

jthor3277

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Jul 25, 2009
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104
Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

It's probably an Alpha One Gen II. The quickest way to tell the Alpha and the Bravo apart is the fact that the Bravo drive has a rather large access cover on the back part of the Upper Unit. Not to mention the upper gear drive shaft plate pretty much covers the entire top part of the upper as well. And it shouls have Bravo written on the decals if present. Upload a picture if you really want to clarify. Thanks for the post.
 
Joined
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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

heres a couple pics of it.
30rse34.jpg


103e5ux.jpg


when i got home yesterday i pulled the spark plugs and water started pouring out. obviously this is a terrible sign, but is it possible that the water leaked in there after the engine was shut off? because when it was running its didnt hydro lock, i manually shut it off, so im praying the damage that bad. Do you guys know anything i can check too see how bad it really is?
 

Don S

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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

It's a ski boat, straight inboard, there is no outdrive.

I would bet money you have the inlet and outlet hoses on the raw water pump hooked up backwards.

sea water pump.jpg
 
Joined
May 20, 2012
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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

It's a ski boat, straight inboard, there is no outdrive.

never said there was.... I'm aware its a direct drive, I'm just trying to figure out what i should be looking for to see how brutal the damage is.
 

Don S

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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

I edited my other post. have a look.
 
Joined
May 20, 2012
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6
Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

I edited my other post. have a look.

Thats what i was guessing. I've been looking online to try and see which way they are supposed to be hooked up but can find anything. Im assuming the inlet hose would be on the left and outlet on the right..? The mechanic who put it on hasn't responded to me so no help there. Anything i can check to see if they're on correctly?
 

Don S

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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

Click on the picture I posted. It shows you where the inlet hose goes.
 
Joined
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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

Click on the picture I posted. It shows you where the inlet hose goes.

Perfect picture! thank you Don! The pumps were on correctly so my only guess is that he had the impeller on backwards which would make sense out of all the sand size black rubber pieces in the strainer and hoses after i pulled them out.
 

Don S

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Re: Let the boating frustration begin....

You can't put the impeller in backwards, but you can get the hoses mixed up if your not careful. Don't ask how I know that.
 
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