My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

[Brentathon]

Well, it gets interesting.....I bought a Sierra impeller kit (18-3517) from my marina, and installed it in my Alpha One Gen I, and had over-heating issues, which was eventually traced-back to the impeller having a some kind of material issue (rubber was hard, and vanes took a set).
Sierra just called me and said that the impeller I sent them was not one of theirs, because it has the Merc # 47-89984-3 on the side, and it has a composite hub.
So, either someone at the marina threw this impeller into the kit's box, OR does Sierra impellers have Mercury's # on them (for means to cross reference)???
If it is a Merc impeller, then I guess there's nothing I can do.
This is very disappointing, this impeller cost me $700 and approx 12 hours of work, and almost killed my engine.
Darn!!!!

 

[John_S]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

While not impellers, the few Sierra items I have purchased have not had Merc part numbers on them. I assume that the Merc impeller is the wrong one or an old used one. Time to talk to the marina.

 

[ziggy]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

the impeller having a some kind of material issue (rubber was hard, and vanes took a set).

hard rubber and a curl are the norm for an impeller that has been run dry. either on the hose or in the water. a plastic bag over the water inlet would stop feed in the water cooking the impeller. forgetting to turn on the hose or even low water flow on the hose can cause impeller damage. imho these impellers (alpha1) be them oem or aftermarket are fragile at best. i find minor wear from just one season of use from my oem impellers, every year. year after year. from what i've seen of aftermarket parts i'd think the aftermarket to be less duty than the oem too.

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/87/87_14.pdf

how yours got mixed up, serria vs. oem, who knows what happened.
me personally, i always prefer oem vs aftermarket copies of the oems...
imho....

 

[Brentathon]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Yeah, this is quite annoying. If Mercury impellers have composite hubs, and Sierra's have brass, then that's another indication that the impeller in the kit was a Merc, that someone(?) threw in there.
The impeller's vanes were perfectly straight, before I installed it, so....?...maybe it was a very old impeller, and the rubber got hard?
Not happy.
This is another reason why I am planning to replace the upper swivel shaft seal in my gimbal housing, myself, rather than having the marina do it. You just can't trust people anymore.

 

[redjmp]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Hmmmm Sounds to me like someone might have bought that kit from the marina and returned the old one in its place for credit. Couldn't you tell you were installing a used impeller by the worn vanes? The vanes on new impellers are straight and besides they come in sealed plastic bags...

 

[Borchik]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

If an impeller is installed and removed in 2 weeks it will be curved. Some may straighten out and some may not. The larger issue would be what is actually wrong with it because as long as its pressing against the side of the impeller housing its going to pump something.

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Excuse me for asking a dumb question, but what impeller costs $700?

 

[Aviator5]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Excuse me for asking a dumb question, but what impeller costs $700?

I would ask the same question.
For that kind of money you can get a new lower unit.

 

[Brentathon]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, the impeller's vanes were perfectly straight before I installed it. I recall noticing the rubber being fairly hard, but I assumed it was a fine impeller.
Someone (don't know who) may very well have switched the impeller.
There was absolutely no signs that the impeller was ever used in any pump......the vane tips didn't have a single scuff mark.
So, I'm still puzzled as to why the rubber had the different properties.
I never ran the impeller dry, and the vane tips only had very light scuff marks after it was removed from drive, which should be expected from scraping the casing (i.e. normal wear). The pump housing was fine, which also indicates that I didn't over-heat the pump/impeller.
And for the non-functioning, my theory is that the vane tips were not firmly sealing against the casing for the complete revolution, thus decresing the efficiency and flow of the pump. So, I was over-heating at higher rpm's (temps would approach 200F).

 

[Brentathon]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Marina bill was $460, and I also replaced t-stats (twice) and the t-stat housing, as well as the engine circ pump; during the course of trouble-shooting this high-rpm over-heat issue.
I logically, did not replace the impeller in the beginning, because it showed flow, I personally replaced it over the winter, and I never ran-dry or even came close to hitting bottom, AND to replace an impeller during season requires the marina hauling the boat.

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Oh just wondering because your op said "This impeller cost me $700 and 12 hours of work......"

 

[Brentathon]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Yeah........I wasn't very clear on how it cost me money.........but, at least the t-stat housing and engine circ pumps weren't a total waste....those parts are nice and new on my engine now

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

impellar housing new ? if not probably the housings fault.

 

[chaparall villain 2]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

also check something else thats easy i dont know if you have a bigger hose that comes into the bottom of your water pump but some people i know including me have had problems at wot with the hose collapsing because the water pump out draws the impellor thus closing off the water supply to motor ... i found out that it was supposed to have a spring in it to prevent collapsing and when installed it cured my problem ... maybe not the case with you but worth a look when your running it wot ... good luck

 

[Bondo]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

impellar housing new ? if not probably the housings fault.

Ayuh,... Kinda what I'm thinkin',.... or the base....

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

For the cost you should always replace the whole pump ,for peace of mind anyways.

 

[tschmidty]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

I am curious how the problem was traced back to the impeller having rubber issues. As others have said, the vanes will take a set after a short period of time. It just doesn't seem like the impeller would cause an overheating condition in that case. If the old one was in pieces there may be a clog somewhere.

Just seems like a bit of a non-sequitor with the original diagnosis.

 

[Brentathon]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

I've had the boat since 1999, never had an issue with the hose going to the T-stat housing........it doesn't collapse.
When I personally replaced the impeller over the winter, I installed the entire kit, which included the housing (not the lower), and all the gaskets, the slinger o-ring, etc. etc. The old housing looked perfect, anyway, but I changed it nonetheless.
The ONLY thing that the marina did, was haul the boat, and replace the impeller. I compared the impeller that they gave back to me (the "bad" one) with the impeller that I took out of the drive over the winter (I'm nerdy and saved it), and you can easily see and feel the difference.
The "bad" impeller's vanes took a big set, and the rubber was MUCH harder, and the vanes were much stiffer. Therefore, they probably didn't make contact with the casing all the way around (360 degrees), and flow and/or pressure was reduced, most noticeably at higher rpm's.
I just bought a Sierra impeller kit tonight, and the impeller does have a brass hub, and has their part number.
Therefore, someone switched the impellers, and put a "crappy" Merc impeller in the Sierra box. I still can't explain the hard/stiff rubber, though.

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Yes Sierra impellers have their own part number molded into them, not a Merc number.

 

[cr2k]

Re: My Sierra Impeller Warranty Claim

Maybe they had the kit laying around for awhile after pulling the impeller out of it for another job, and finally stuck an old (dried up) impeller back in it?