sucked up sand-should I worry?

[Mac3]

Howdy all, I have a Johnson 150 ficht just returned from a fantastic weekend, 70 nm recorded, went over a barway and sucked in sand, when I got home and flushed some sand came out of the outlets do you think I should tear down the water pump assy? It is about 100 hours since I replaced it.
"God does not deduct from your life the time spent on boats".
cheers
David

 

[5150abf]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

As long as it is still moving water I wouldn't worry to much, I have sucked up a bunch of stuff with no problems.

Just watch it next time out for a bit to make sure it is pumping but I think you should be fine.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

Other than a water pressure gauge, there is no way to determine if the waterpump is working well. If yu don't have a gauge, I would test the temp alarm, or just rebuild the waterpump.

 

[dehydrated]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

i also sucked up alot of sand you would be surprized how far it travels through the passages flush as well as you can .its worth the time spent mine cost me a motor good luck

 

[dvrdwn]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

My dad is the king of finding sand bars and I don't remember him having any problem with his pump. Just flush real good and watch for good water out the back.

 

[Fisherball]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

The sand may actually clean the passages as it pumps through!!?! It will also polish your impeller blades.

 

[Mac3]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

Thanks guys, some conflicting opinions there, I might add it wasn't severe sand chewing but I take it all in. I flushed on the driveway for a lot longer than usual. Fisherball I like your thinking!
cheers
David

 

[Chris1956]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

Impeller blades are rubber. "Polishing" them is bad, as it will impair their ability to seal against the wearplate, top and sides of the pump. Thinking that running sand thru the cooling passages is a good thing, is stupid..... The sand will just find a way to clog up the passages.

If it were me, and I was too lazy to rebuild the waterpump, I would at least make sure the overheat alarm was functional.

 

[RadarRick]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

I'd vote for the cautious approach. I have a 15 Merc and ran into some sand about 2 years ago. Since then, it hasn't been running very well so I'm now doing some service on it. I removed the cylinder cover, exposing the cooling channels. There I found 2 or 3 tablespoons of sand and assorted crud (even a jelly-fish!!). I also found the thermostat was full of crud.

Ingesting a large amount of sand can't be good for an engine.

I'd check it further

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: sucked up sand-should I worry?

I'd check it further

Well, add me to the list of those who have hit sand/mud (though only at idle) and have had no further problems. My thoughts would be that if it's still pumping strong (I like having a water pressure gauge for a variety of reasons, but water pressure at idle is a great indicator of water pump condition) then the water pump is probably ok. Those impellers are pretty tough.

If you feel the need to check it out further, IMHO you're going to get more information by first pulling the thermostats, and then if you don't like what you see pull the heads, than by pulling the lower unit (and those are way easier than pulling a lower unit). Just my opinion, and worth every penny you paid for it.