Need Help: 1983 Mercury 9.8 HP motor-overheating & not pumping water

[tazmaru08]

Need help? I replaced the water impellar housing kit because very little water was coming out of the water pump hose and what was coming out was steaming hot. No water at all coming out when idling. Sporatically coming out at high rpms. Also getting exhaust gas through water holes. Does anyone know what the problem could be? The motor starts but it is running hot. Could this be a gasket problem?

 

[namik]

Re: Need Help: 1983 Mercury 9.8 HP motor-overheating & not pumping water

When you replaced the impeller housing did the face plate for the top housing get installed. The parts I bought came with the 2 housing halves, seals, centrifugal slinger but not the stainless face plate. When I installed the new housing and impeller I failed to install the face plate from the old pump. My 9.8 ran as you described, after installing the face plate there is good water flow through engine.
You can check if the is pump is working by taking off the lower unit and putting it in a 5 gallon pail of water and running the drive shaft clockwise with a drill. You will need a dill with a 1/2 chuck to fit over the drive shaft.
Put a 2 ft piece of copper tubing in the pump outlet to see if the pump will lift the water that high and maintain a steady flow.

 

[backyard mechanic]

Re: Need Help: 1983 Mercury 9.8 HP motor-overheating & not pumping water

If you used the impeller kit to rebuild your WP there are two things that may have happened on assembly. One; the key on the WP impeller got pushed out of the key way. Two, you may have missed the water tube on reassembling the LU to the upper housing.

Another possible problem is chunks from your old impeller got lodged up in the water tube or perhaps in the engine water passages. A 1/2" hose directly hooked to the water tube will tell you if there is problems with blocked water tube or engine passages. Good luck...