Sierra water pump for a Johnson

[WaterWitch2]

I put a Sierra water pump kit on my Johnson 1978 140hp and the housing had no provision for the upper seal. It has ribs in the location that the seal would go. The original one did have a seal. Is the Sierra kit redesigned to not require the seal? I ran it on muffs one time after I did it and it pees well and has plenty of water out the exhaust. Should I be worried or should I take the boat out and just run it?

[reload]

Not sure about that particular motor but some just use sealant. Are you sure someone did not put the gasket in when it was not required?

[WaterWitch2]

The seal I'm referring to is #31 in this diagram. It is a lip seal.

[reload]

I think it should have that seal.

[WaterWitch2]

The problem with the Sierra housing is that there's no place to install the seal. The water pump kit didn't even come with a seal.

[reload]

You replaced the whole housing, it would only stand to reason if the new one did not have a place for the seal they wouldn't send you one.

[Gary H NC]

I ran into that Exact same thing on mine. I could not figure out why no lip for the seal.I ended up using my old housing and just putting the new impeller in it.
I thought it may be a screw up by Sierra..

[WaterWitch2]

I ran into that Exact same thing on mine. I could not figure out why no lip for the seal.I ended up using my old housing and just putting the new impeller in it.
I thought it may be a screw up by Sierra..

My housing was slightly melted or I would have used my original housing to solve the problem.

[WaterWitch2]

bump

[Dhadley]

The OMC / BRP housings no longer use that seal either. They all have ribs in that spot.

[WaterWitch2]

So I shouldn't worry about it and run the boat?

[HighTrim]

Id just use a gasket sealing compound on it, but one of the mechanics on here may know better.

[Dhadley]

Nothing to worry about. Just go have fun. When they first changed that we cut those ribs out and installed seals on the race motors. Never saw any difference so we quit doing it.

[28sstony]

Im having this exact same problem right now.

So, I guess the verdict is that there is no seal and just put it together and run it??

[ezeke]

As Dhadley said, the new OEM pumps don't have the seal. They do have a seal (o-ring) between the top of the steel cup and the housing that needs to be in place.
Click the thumbnail below for the diagram that comes with the new OEM pumps.

[28sstony]

Thanks a ton for that pic!

the pump kit I bought didnt come with any instructions whatsoever.

[ezeke]

A lot of Sierra diagrams are on line: http://ww2.sierramarine.com/sierra/c.../222_seloc.asp

[28sstony]

OK, There are 2 o rings, the larger of the 2 is more like a gasket. For the life of me I cant figure out where theese two parts go. nothing that looked even close came off of the old pump.

[ezeke]

Depends on the kit; OEM or aftermarket.

On the OEM kit there is a larger groove at the bottom of the impeller for a o-ring, so that the impeller can only work in one direction.

Then on all kits there is a wide o-ring that fits very well between the top of the steel inner impeller housing and the water pump housing, and, finally, the o-ring that goes in the groove at the top of the drive shaft to keep water from rusting the inner cavity of the crank shaft. The top of the drive shaft still needs the Moly Lube on the splines.

[28sstony]

OK, the one on the right fits the top of the driveshaft perfect. The one on the left actually has squared edges and isnt like a standard O ring. The O ring between the steel liner and the plastic housing is already in place.

[28sstony]

Also, whats with the small hole in the outer flange in the housing?

Looks like it was filled with silicone on the original housing.

[ezeke]

As stated, depends on the kit.

Where? A much better discription of the location of the small hole will be helpful. If it is the vent at the top of the housing, it would never work rght with silicone blocking it.

[28sstony]

The housing that was on there is the old style, Im guessing original to the 1978 motor its on.

My mysterious O ring/ gasket and hole in the housing are on a new Sierra kit.

[ezeke]

See if that flat ring fits at the groove in the upper part of the housing.My bet is that it will.
It should make a good seal between the metal impeller cover and the housing without blocking the air vent.

[28sstony]

Your right, it does. There is a beefy O ring that came with the kit that is the exact same diameter, thats what I had in the groove. Does the flat ring go in the groove and the O ring go somewhere else?