Intermittent water leak from raw water pump

[Charlie O.]

Advice, please: I have a Volvo Penta 5.0 GXi-E and I just notice a small amount of water leaking out of the 6 o’clock position on the raw water pump immediately after the motor was shut off. I’ve restarted and re-ran today with no additional water leak. There is no leak when running. I’m thinking this is early evidence of seal failure. I’m camping and am questioning whether it is possible to use the boat for another few days before servicing the pump. Can anyone give me a recommendation on whether or not to continue. I’m on fresh water.

 

[Scott Danforth]

check the o-ring or gasket between the two halves of the pump

if its a seal, it will leak if you are using it or not.

I would inspect and make the determination to use the boat at that time.

if you hear a squeal followed by the sound of carnage in the bilge, then that means the bearing went too and the pump seized up.

 

[Charlie O.]

Scott, thanks for the reply. I didn’t exactly follow your post, though. There is no leak with the motor off and the boat in the water. No unusual sounds (at least for now). I keep re-running the motor and haven’t been able to reproduce the leak that I had on the previous shutdown. I don’t want to not use a good boat if there is no problem (or this is the very earliest indicator of a problem).

 

[dypcdiver]

Firstly check that the water is not coming from the "O" ring or any other source as Scott Danforth said.

If the water is coming out of the hole at 6 o'clock on the pump base, then the seal has started leaking. that water is passing the bearing and proably washing the grease out. If you continue to run it, there is a chance that the bearing will seize and start rotating in the brass housing of the pump. If that happens you will need to buy a new pump at $400+. Rather than a new seal and bearing at Approx $40. new bits can be fitted in a coulpe of hours.

The other problem that might occur is the seal starts to allow air to be sucked in and you lose suction from the cooling water and your boat overheats. That happened to me!

Now it is your choice.

 

[Charlie O.]

Thanks for the responses, guys! This is quite helpful. I’m gonna wrap up use of the boat for now and address the issue as soon as I get home.

 

[Edge180]

Same thing happened to me... coupla seasons of replacing the seal and bearings... ended up replacing the pump. Replacement is not too challenging depending on access. If I recall, I got my pump from my VP Dealer for less than $400 about 5 years ago.

 

[muc]

You have found the seal leaking at the earliest possible time. Your in freshwater. Your camping. Sounds like you might be on vacation?

i would keep using the boat, because you’ve caught it so early. I’m pretty sure you can finish your vacation. Just keep one eye on the leak and the other eye on the temperature gauge.

I’ve had many customers that don’t know they have a leak ang get a 1/2 year of use without major problems.

never mind, I’m guessing you got it fixed by now.

 

[GeorgeDes]

If your pump is the crankshaft mounted version, you should be able to pick up a new raw water pump for just under $300.00 by shopping around. Not a big deal to remove and replace if you are anywhere mechanically handy. Rebuilt ones are also advertised on ebay for less money. I replaced one recently with a brand new one. My original had a slight leak that I had for several years and just ignored until I figured it was time to replace.