'82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping - UPDATE: Now Pumping!

Poncho Villa

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Aug 15, 2010
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I'm starting this post from my hijacking of Hole in Water Pump Housing. :redface: The pertinent information is thus:

I've got an '82 Chrysler 140 hp and can't get water to pump to the top out of the "tell-tale" screw hole on the top of the power unit. I bought the boat and it had sat about five years before I bought it so I don't really know how it ran before but "it ran well when it was parked". I backed the boat into the lake deep enough to reach the old water line on the transom and that put the water pump well below the water's surface.

The engine idles well and is responsive when I blip the throttle at the carbs but it just won't bring water to the top. I'm afraid to run it too long without seeing some water so I've only run it about 30 - 45 seconds by my best guess. I'll check the compression on the cylinders soon and see if that might give me a clue about the head gasket.

To which I received the reply from wickware and added my replies in red:

Poncho Villa, I should have asked you to post and answered separately to omit confusion w/o reading the entire post. This info got confusing when I realized we had switched motors/problems, most of all the info below might not apply to your problem if you h/n pulled the water pump and inspected it. [I'm posting it separately herewith. Sorry for the confusion!]

1. I followed the info on depth and that should be good IMO.

2. I c/n relate compression having anything to do with cooling water flow if it is running fine. [I asked a local boat mechanic about my water pump issue and after showing him my impeller and water pump housing, he said my head gasket or exhaust gasket must be blown keeping water from making all the way up the block. I agree with you that compression doesn't seem an issue since the engine runs fine. This evening I checked compression and it appears good: #1 @ 154 psi, #2 @ 157 psi, #3 @ 153 psi, #4 @ 154 psi. I'm not sure how this would affect water flow but I'm new at this. :confused:]

3. Have you checked the screens good at the water inlets for restrictions? [When I removed the lower unit, I ran water from the water inlets & noted that it came up to the water pump. Likewise, I ran water backwards from the water pump (plastic tube in which the brass tube fits) and noted that it came out through the water inlets. It wasn't a very scientific method but it seemed to indicate no restrictions.]

4. The impeller to shaft has a good pin or key that sitting or trash d/n hurt related to spinning? [I verified that the Woodruff key was good and would turn the impeller. I showed to the boat mechanic the water pump housing and impeller and he indicated that though they weren't in very good condition, they were good enough that they should have pumped. I may order a new water pump kit & try that anyway.]

5. Have you tried Bob?s pretest with the ?? drill or thought about it at this point? [I'm actually very curious about this and believe that it would be an excellent test. However, I don't (yet) have an 1/2" drill. Also, I'm embarrassed to ask, how do you attach any kind of drill to that drive shaft? It seems that the drill wouldn't quite be big enough to fit on it. :redface:]

6. Have you tested it w/o the thermostat being curious? The water tube is connects fine? jow [I'll give it a shot without the thermostat just to see what happens. Anything's worth a shot! Also, I tried to make sure that the brass water tube connected to the plastic tube of the water pump correctly. It's actually very hard to locate as the lower and middle units come together but I watched them as closely as I could upon reassembly. The brass tube is very nearly stationary so I'm fairly confident that it won't move outside the path of the plastic tube.]

Many thanks for your input and I'll let you know what I find.
 
Last edited:

jjzepplin

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Apr 26, 2010
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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

I had low pressure at the "pee" stream so I replaced my pump and therms. To my surprise it got worse. Hmm. Pulled the therms back out and put on the muffs started the motor.Water came out of the therm holes so I was curious. Put my finger in the hole to test pressure and felt all kinds of gunk coming past my finger that I could not see. flushed it till i could not feel junk and put the therms back in. voila! :)
 

Poncho Villa

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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

I tried running it without the thermostat for grins and found no change. I've ordered a new water pump kit (impeller, gaskets, & water pump housing) so I'll rebuild the water pump & see if that helps. Until then, if you have any suggestions please share them.

Also, was Bob's 1/2" drill pretest in one of the stickies? I was going to look into that to see if I can check the pump without the necessity of reassembling the lower unit first.

Thanks!
 

wickware

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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Did you take any pics of your pump?s condition to share? I feel you will get some water if the old impeller was marginal. That is no excuse for not pumping now if you were speaking to an experienced mechanic.

The ?? drill idea should be in the original post vs a sticky. I understand the drill to shaft concern if your shaft is over 1/2? in dia, otherwise borrow a ?? drill. Due to some machine shop work, I have a ?? chuck I can chuck into a ?? drill chuck. If you want to be creative, find a 4?-6?section of rubber hose that will fit tight on your shaft (hose clamps if needed to ea), using rubber steel etc to reduce it to your ?? drill. If you are not into adapting, ?Be Safe? and wait for the new supplies. BUT! The adapting could reveal something (as too low pressure) before hand. I have no idea what since I have not tried this before. It sounds it should pump! If it pumps good, you will probably be looking for some restrictions etc. Good Luck! jow
 

Poncho Villa

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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Thanks wickware. I really appreciate your insight and the patience you're showing with a newbie! :redface:

Here are a few pics of the water pump & impeller at different angles. The impeller appears to be flexible with no signs of cracks. It's been in there for probably 5 years or so without being run. The water pump housing has some corrosion here & there but it didn't seem like enough to completely impede water pumping. If I can acquire an 1/2" drill, I'll give the bench test a whirl.

Without further adieu, c'est les pics:

Top of Housing - Note that the seal is hard and cracked. The kit should fix this issue.
PumpHouse1.jpg


Views of Housing from Four Angles
PumpHouse6.jpg

PumpHouse4.jpg

PumpHouse3.jpg

PumpHouse2.jpg


More pics in the next post...
 

Poncho Villa

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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping

Here are the remaining related pics. I hope it's not too many!

View of the Water Pump Base Gasket
PumpBase.jpg


Views of the Impeller
Impeller3.jpg

Impeller2.jpg

Impeller1.jpg
 

Poncho Villa

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Aug 15, 2010
Messages
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Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping - UPDATE: Now Pumping!

Thank you all for your advice. After replacing the water pump housing & impeller, the engine now spits water out of the hole at the top of the engine. Now I'll add a tell-tale to that hole and finish up this stage of the project. Thanks again!
 

wickware

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Jun 20, 2009
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1,286
Re: '82 Chrysler 140hp Water Pump Not Pumping - UPDATE: Now Pumping!

Good! Good! Good! You?ll enjoy the Tell-Tale if you get a solid stream vs spit as on my 70, 35 HP Chrysler. jow
 

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