98 alpha 1 Gen II ... Water pump short lived

[fishinrado]

Well, didn't get around to winterizing the boat his year. Long story but just went to fire it up for the first time
and got a little rusty flow for about 10 sec. ( guessing water held in upper motor all winter) and then nothing. Let it cool down and fired it up again ( lower unit fully submerged in tub) and still nothing. Blew air from the engine drain plug and got bubbles in the water tub. Checked therno and it was open and as soon as it cooled it closed so I know that's working. Poured water down both sides from thermo and got flow out of lower unit. So nothing is clogged. Just curious if this is just a coincidence it crapping out or more to do with not winterizing. I see here they last a while but just did it in 2013. Ran boat until late oct. last year in Colorado.
Dry climate and average use , maybe 30 times max since the last new impeller.
Any input always welcome!

 

[Bt Doctur]

You cant submerge the drive deep enough to have the pump in the water, your impeller is trashed

 

[achris]

I'll go along with BT. You need to use muffs to run it.

 

[fishinrado]

I did use the muffs prior to the tank like I always have but I got nothing after the original rusty flow. I know I've read lots of people have had success with a tank so I tried that as well and still nothing. Do the muffs just force the water up into the housing? Where is the water pumped in from according the drawing? ( when sitting fully submerged in the lake etc)

 

[fishinrado]

Also do you say Impeller is trashed because I had it in a tank and burnt it up ?

 

[Grub54891]

Well, didn't get around to winterizing the boat his year.

​Well I hope it was in heated storage. If not you have a frozen block.
And yes your impeller is trashed.

 

[fishinrado]

It was most of the winter. Well ordered the kit and will pull it apart and post. Hopefully just a stuck impeller and it's toast.

 

[fishinrado]

Finally had a chance to change out the Impeller. I actually had saved the impeller from P.O. (when I did this one 3 seasons ago) and compared the new it was still in pretty good shape. Just turned fins but still thick and pliable. Here is the pic of what I found, just blown apart and completely separated from the hub. The only thing I can think of is that by not winterizing it some rust build up locked the fins in place and upon start up it blew apart. I emery clothed the inside of the pump housing and had to shake the lower unit upside down to get out all the rubber. Back on the lake this weekend ( after running muffs in the drive) and she runs great!

 

[fishinrado]

oh and I mentioned I saved the old Impeller , but that was only for reference. I ordered the whole kit with seals etc. from Tungsten Marine .

 

[fishinrado]

kit ....... [h=1]Combination Seal Kit and Water Pump Repair Kit for Alpha Gen II compare to 26-816575A3 and 47-43026Q06[/h]

 

[harleyman1975]

Good man! Better than doing it twice!