Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

This is my first post and I'd like to pre-thank everyone for their advice, and beg their forgiveness for any stupid questions. I'm new to boats.

My friend and I recently bought a 19' Conroy, with a 3.0 liter Mercruiser and an Alpha outdrive. It died the first time we took it out and I've been doing some work to get it going. In the course of working on it, I ran it for about 5-10 seconds without the water running through the earmuffs. Did I ruin the water pump in the outdrive?

I ran it for about 2 minutes since then and it wasn't overheating but I had the earmuffs and a hose connected. So I figured it might be the hose pressure pushing water up into the engine. This had me thinking. Can I put a trash can under the outdrive full of water and lower the outdrive into it and run it that way? Also, is it a good idea to rebuild the water pump in the outdrive just as a matter of routine? I looked up a rebuild kit and it looks like they run about $30, so they don't cost a lot. Is it difficult? I looked up the process in the Seloc manual I bought, and it doesn't look all that difficult.

So I guess I have a few questions:
Did I ruin the water pump in the outdrive?
Can I run the boat with the outdrive in a trashcan full of water?
Should I just rebuild the water pump regardless?

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

Since you dont know the last time the impeller was changed it needs to be changed. This is regular maintenance for a new used boat.
Don't run it in the trashcan just change the impeller and enjoy piece of mind knowing it is done right. Plus you will get to see if the old one is damaged which I would bet it is.

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

this link could interest you... http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/87/87_14.pdf

yep, since the boat is new to you. might as well change the impeller so ya know where your at.

try here for a s/m for your drive. http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/srvcovr.pdf ya want number 6 for an alpha1 or 14 for an alpha1 genII.

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

Thanks for the service bulletin and it looks like I'll be rebuilding the water pump.

I checked my Seloc manual and it didn't look that difficult.

I also clicked on the link above and it took me to a menu, but number 6 and 14 didn't take me anywhere. Do you have direct links to 6 and 14?

And thanks for the advice.

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

Once my hose came off the muffs for a minute ..no damage.
What year is your 120?

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

also never run the motor without it being in water or on muffs. when u take about your lower unit and if the impeller in fact is shot, try to remove as many of the small pieces of impeller as you can as these can clog your cooling system and cause more problems

good luck.

planning on replacing an impeller on my 3.0l mercruiser as well this weekend, my brother and i bought a 1988 wellcraft 170. however it has a newer motor in it and a rebuilt alpha drive so eveything is pretty new. the guy i bought it from had it winterized and hadnt had the impeller replaced in 3 years. and he doesnt have the last winterization receipt so he wasnt sure if it was replaced, for 40 bux and piece of mind im installing a new one.

I have a question though, is there a difference between the sierra part vs mallory? is one inferior or less quality than the other? because the mallory seems to be on sale more, or sold at a cheaper price

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

Others on this board much wiser than I would tell you to replace the impeller for the sake of regular maintenance, and because you don't know how old it is. They would also advise you to throw the Seloc manual in a fire somewhere and get a Merc manual. Do a search and you will find the link for it and info about it. Good luck

Re: Did I ruin my outdrive water pump?

Below are the links to the manuals... choose the correct one by your model year. You'll want to scroll down just a little and click on the blue "Download Now - No Virus Detected" button. Let it count down for a few seconds then it will let you click the download now button. It's free, no signing up.

Mercruiser Service Manual #6 R, MR, Alpha I outdrives 1983 to 1990

or

Mercruiser Service Manual #14 Alpha I Gen II Outdrives 1991 to present