I have changed the water impeller and the housing ( the whole kit) three times in the last 3 months and the keep melting, in my 898 mercruiser outdrive. I think it's a pre alpha, since my boat is a 1979 searay with an 898 mercruiser. The last time it overheated my engine so bad it melted everything from the lower shifter cable, to the rubber connectors below the risers, the boot that connects to the outdrive in the bellhousing and even in the outdrive, the little housing in the upper unit where the water tube goes into. Never mind the waterpump housing itself which was unrecognizable. Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong since I'm out of options. Also the gear oil in the outdrive turned white obviously mixing with water. I downloaded the whole manual and followed the steps, with the exception of when I installed the new water pump housing, in the upper portion of it, I inserted a rubber bushing, which came with the kit, between the metal part of the housing and the housing itself. It looked like it beloged there, and it made sense to keep pressure from escaping, but the instructions never mentioned it. Everytime I burned one of these pumps it looked like that bushing melted as well.
I got so exasparated I purchased another outdrive from ebay which claimed to be for my engine, but when I tried installing it, even though the bolt pattern matched, and it looked identical, I couldn't slip it in all the way. It seems like the spline on the shaft may be different. Also the shaft for the proppeler has a different thread for the retaining nut at the end.
One other question is can I use my upper unit and use the lower unit from the one I purchased , or will that screw up the gear ratio. Or will it even match?
The original outdrive has a part number 345586 and the one I bought which doesn't fit is 4797768.
Please help!!!
I know there are experts out there, to whom my problem may be child's play. I welcome any input.
Thanks a million
I got so exasparated I purchased another outdrive from ebay which claimed to be for my engine, but when I tried installing it, even though the bolt pattern matched, and it looked identical, I couldn't slip it in all the way. It seems like the spline on the shaft may be different. Also the shaft for the proppeler has a different thread for the retaining nut at the end.
One other question is can I use my upper unit and use the lower unit from the one I purchased , or will that screw up the gear ratio. Or will it even match?
The original outdrive has a part number 345586 and the one I bought which doesn't fit is 4797768.
Please help!!!
I know there are experts out there, to whom my problem may be child's play. I welcome any input.
Thanks a million
