Leak in pulley - water pump?

ERBman

Recruit
Joined
Jul 8, 2019
Messages
5
I inadvertently posted in the wrong forum - re-posting here.

Hi all - I am very much a newb when it comes to working on boat engines and suspect my boat needs some serious maintenance.

I have a 2006 4Winns 190 with Volvo Penta 4.3 GL-E, 3869305 - 4012188143 - 182 hrs on it, all on a single fresh water lake.

Other than winterization and oil changes, really have not had any work done on it. The last 2 years, I winterized it myself. I did have to replace the starter 5 years ago. That was my first foray into working on boat engines.

Last fall, it just stopped starting totally. No clicking or anything. Recharged the battery, but did not help. End of season, so I just took it out of water and winterized it. Today, I finally did the simple thing and replaced the battery. Started up on 2nd try. All happy and ready to take it to the lake, and I realized that it was spitting on me. The belts were throwing off drops of water - about 1 drop a second. On investigation, it looks like the water is dripping out of the bottom pulley (2-3 drops a second). The pulley also has a very slight, but visible wobble.

After reading some forums here, I think this is the water pump. And that it is a $300-$400 part or I need to get a certain, possibly mysterious bearing, and a bearing press and I don't know what else.

So, my questions are: does this need to be addressed immediately? Or can I just keep an eye on it and see if it gets worse? And assuming I can get the right tools, can I possibly fix it myself? Or should I just get out the wallet and pay a pro?

PS - other forum did mention a raw water service and rebuild kit. Which is confusing because I have seen multiple complaints that you could only get the entire water pump at high cost.
 

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BRICH1260

Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Messages
1,343
You might get by leaving it for an outing or two, but it will need to be addressed. Rebuilding the pump is not that hard to do, there are several you tube videos on that if you want to try or you can take it to a mechanic, probably a couple hour job.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,537
if its leaking now, it may be minutes, hours or days of use prior to the bearing seizing up.
 

dypcdiver

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Messages
1,018
Looks like you have plenty of room to do his very simple job. I have just done mine for the second time in 20 seasons.
Parts I used are SKF bearing number 6006 - 2RS1 and an oil seal 16 x 28 x 7 TB VI.took me 40 minutes to remove, most of the time is slacking off the aternator and powersteering pump. Be aware that some boats the inlet from the outdrive is lower than the water level and needs to be tied up at a level above the waterline. 3 x 5/16 drive allen bolts to remove the pump and pulley and do the work on the bench. Or take it to a mechanic to do it. 1/2 an hour including cleaning.
Re-install another 40 minutes. Go boating with peace of mind. :)
 
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