Squeaky water pump?

I was winterizing my 1990 GT100 today and all went well. The water pump works fine both on the hose and on the lake. I had the spark plugs out and was turning the engine by hand (and yes the right direction) and I noticed that the water pump makes a squeaky noise, like the kind of noise you'd hear when something is 'squeaky clean,' or when one rubs wet rubber on something hard. It sounds like I can hear the impeller fins rubbing against the housing. This noise is coming from the lower unit, right where the impeller is, so I am assuming this is what it is. With the engine running there is no discernable noise out of the ordinary.

My question is, is this within the realm of normal, or should I be suspect? The previous owner provided ridiculously complete service records with the boat and the impeller and housing was replaced 2 yrs ago as part of maintenance by a dealer's service department. I am inclined to leave it alone, but wanted to know if anyone had any comments on this.

Thank you in advance. Brian.

Re: Squeaky water pump?

That's why you don't ever want to run a water cooled outboard dry. Normal for a dry pump.

It doesn't make noise when running in the water BC the water cools and lubricates the impeller.

Re: Squeaky water pump?

wilde1j said:

That's why you don't ever want to run a water cooled outboard dry. Normal for a dry pump.

It doesn't make noise when running in the water BC the water cools and lubricates the impeller.

Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I figured, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. Thank you!