how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

87' 3.0L Alpha one drive

Hello all, I am new here. seems like lots of great info and helpful people here so here goes!

I bought my tri toon in 08'. The PO had just had the drive gone through and had the boat serviced by a merc repair shop. They replaced the water pump / impeller in the drive at this time. I have maybe put 20 hours on the boat since i have owned it. It has never given me any problems at all, but i am curious how often i should replace the impeller.

Also, what else beside the usual oil changes and drive oil changes should i be looking for? I have read lots on here about the exhaust manifolds on the 3.0L cracking and now im worried! haha.

My boat is sometimes difficult to get into nuetral, sometimes it dies. I need to re read the thread on how the shift linkage works and check out my shift cable!

thanks in advance!

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

merc recommends every 100 hours

but the gen II impellers usually last longer than that

bellows every five years

pull the drive every fall before winterize and do the transom service

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

kowalski22 said:

Also, what else beside the usual oil changes and drive oil changes should i be looking for? I have read lots on here about the exhaust manifolds on the 3.0L cracking and now im worried! haha.

My boat is sometimes difficult to get into nuetral, sometimes it dies. I need to re read the thread on how the shift linkage works and check out my shift cable!

thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Also check out the sticky: HOW TO: How the Shift Interrupt system works
for the issue with it dying.
When the drive is off, also check the engine alignment.

Mark

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

dubs283 said:

merc recommends every 100 hours

but the gen II impellers usually last longer than that

bellows every five years

pull the drive every fall before winterize and do the transom service

Click to expand...

is there a sticky for the transom service?

MarkSee said:

Also check out the sticky: HOW TO: How the Shift Interrupt system works
for the issue with it dying.
When the drive is off, also check the engine alignment.

Mark

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

dubs283 said:

merc recommends every 100 hours

but the gen II impellers usually last longer than that

bellows every five years

pull the drive every fall before winterize and do the transom service

Click to expand...

Hey dubs, 1987, that's not Gen II...

Alpha One, every hundred hours or 2 years maximum. Here's the weird thing, the MORE you use it the better. Just letting it sit for months on end will necessitate it being replaced more often.

kowalski22, you gonna want the manuals... forget anything but genuine...
Engine -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfUVREOHFDUGZRR1NDelg5blYybmNRdw
Drive -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfOVRUNEk0anBUR3lQYTkwcUh5RElUQQ

Chris...

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

Ayuh,... I do my Alpha 1 every couple of years, or at the 1st sign of an overheat....

Re: how often should you replace the water pump impeller in the drive?

achris said:

Hey dubs, 1987, that's not Gen II...

Alpha One, every hundred hours or 2 years maximum. Here's the weird thing, the MORE you use it the better. Just letting it sit for months on end will necessitate it being replaced more often.

kowalski22, you gonna want the manuals... forget anything but genuine...
Engine -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfUVREOHFDUGZRR1NDelg5blYybmNRdw
Drive -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfOVRUNEk0anBUR3lQYTkwcUh5RElUQQ

Chris...

Click to expand...

thanks for the link chris! this will make some great reading im sure.