Water Pump & Impeller Replacement.

I am having issues in replacing the water pump in my 30(EL) hp Mariner outboard for my Pontoon. I hav two issues 1) how do I disconnect the waterline running paralel to the shaft so I can remove and replace the water pump? I removed the 4 bolts that held the lower unit in place and can see the water pump but it could not be completely removed due to the water tube. 2) I am having difficulty in getting the shaft back in when my attemps to remove it failed. It is still hanging out about 5 inches from where it should be to fasten it in with the four bolts. I have rotated the prop ever so slightly to aligh the spines on the shaft but it is not going back in. What am I doing wrong? I had placed the speed control in forward before starting (and have not touched it since). I don’t seem to be able to to get it realigned, possibly the metal water tube (mentiod above)is part of the problem? Can anyone help this novist out.

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I’ll assume you left it in neutral and did not change the gear setting on the lower unit.

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Hello, I just followed your guide which also was my first time, installation went fine.

Problem is that we had Control Box in FORWARD
Well, when the lower unit was off, my helping hands accidently switched the lower unit into reverse. We try putting it back into Forward but only goes to neutral or reverse? Seems that way. We think when we get it into FORWARD and it like “pops” out as hooking the lower unit back on. HELP!

Thanks,

I’d try turning the drive shaft clockwise while turning the shift linkage to forward….all one motion. Rmember, when the motor is running, that shaft is always spinning. You need to pop that clutch dog in with a littl force!

-J.

Thought maybe this should come back to the top as I’ll be performing this task myself this weekend. Likely a GL session for anyone in the NW metro on Sat or Sunday afternoon.

Jon,

So I may not have followed the instructions to the T, I stumbled on to your thread a little after the game started. I did everything pretty much just as you explained it, but I spun the impeller into the housing before putting the two of them onto the shaft. It was harder lining up the little piece that holds the impeller into place, but I was able to do that. Will this cause me any long term heartburn?

Question 2, the gasket they sold me at the marina was slightly smaller than the one I was replacing. It looked that the impeller may rub on the top gasket. Is this a show stopper?

Rick,

As long as you got the retainer in place, you should be good to go there. On the gasket….I’d have to say you are best off with the right size.

-J.

Awesome instructions. I did have a problem reinstalling the lower unit and I wanted to see if anyone has ever had something similar happen. I thought I was having problems getting the splines aligned but further inspection revealed something blocking the drive shaft from going all the way in. It looked like a brass bushing and that had slid out of place and was blocking the top of the drive shaft at the motor. I took a long wire and centered the piece and was able to reinstall the lower unit.

Has anyone else seen this before or have any thoughts on what this might be? Everything appears to be working fine but I am concered because I would never have expected something to be free floating in that area.

Thanks – Mike

Itried removing the lower unit on my ’86 25hp. I can get it down about 4 inches, but it seems there is a rod at the forward part of the unit that is attached somewhere. I can’t get the lower unit all the way off. Is there a trick? It seems to be the shifter shaft and goes up through the botton of the cowl and attaches to a swivel point on the forward port side of the motor. pics would be helpful if you have them. I dont want to force anything and break it.

thanks!

My 25hp honda has a shift rod to. There is a threaded coupling on the rod that comes apart. Other wise I have see some motors where you need to find the top of the rod and disconnect it there.

on my OMC motors I had there was bolt under the carbs you had too remove to release the shift rod 5/16 socket too remove bolt if I remember correctly
Stan

All done. That was the right location for the shifter disconnect. What was weird though…No water through the pee hole, there was no debris of any kind in the impellor housing. The impeller was still intact. If I blew air through the water intake, I would get air at the exhaust on the back of the lower unit. but not out of the pee hole. If I put air in through the pee hole I would get air at the exhaust vent and at the water inlet. I restarted (with water running) and had water at the pee hole. strange. There was no debris that came out of anywhere. I’m wondering if the cooling system just needed to be burped or primed…I dunno. But I now have a steady stream of water, and a new impeller. and it was only $18 and 40 minutes time.

I’m happy.

Glad to hear that everything worked out

Ron

Could have been a stuck or sticky thermostat. If it got stuck closed, no water would come out the pee hole.

PS. This post is almost 5 years old!!! Wow time flies. I had all of the pics in the original post loaded up on webserver from my prior ISP. They finally switched that accout off. I may need to re-do this as an article or video or both.

-J.

I know I’ve used this post JJ and I appreciate the great instructions, I’m the type of guy who will try everything at least once!

Jon,
Sent this link to a friend last night, when I noticed the pics were gone, then found this response. Any chance of re-posting the pictures, or cut & pasting a new thread?
HRG

I think it’s about time this thread was updated to 2010 standards…Jon? When will you have a video up?

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I think it’s about time this thread was updated to 2010 standards…Jon? When will you have a video up?

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I did find this video last night. Maybe Jon is really Jose???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-uzQi7IgwU

HRG

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Could have been a stuck or sticky thermostat. If it got stuck closed, no water would come out the pee hole.

PS. This post is almost 5 years old!!! Wow time flies. I had all of the pics in the original post loaded up on webserver from my prior ISP. They finally switched that accout off. I may need to re-do this as an article or video or both.

-J.

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If you want to do a video, I have a 115 Johnson that could be the test subject.
DT

Jon,

This looks like a great article. I a first time poster here and was wondering why I can’t see the photo’s. Thanks
Daryl

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Jon,

This looks like a great article. I a first time poster here and was wondering why I can’t see the photo’s. Thanks

Daryl

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Welcome to IDO.

This post was added on 4/1/2005. At that time I had the photos linked to my personal web server. That account was closed and the photos and link were deleted.

I’m working on a fix for this.

-J.

I guess this was not as big of a PITA as I thought. Pics are fixed. Enjoy >

-J.

Thanks Jon!

Great job on the step by step. If there is one thing I have learned from doing this year after year it is ALWAYS USE FACTORY REBUILD KITS not the aftermarket ones.
I have to do this on my merc 150 this weekend

I keep going back and reading this post and thinking I should be able to tackle my 25 hp lower unit. Thanks for the links and the info. I have a 2000 Johnson 25hp on my duck boat and still has the original water pump and impeller – still works but I keep thinking I need to do some maintenance. I may even try to tackle the seals in the prop shaft

Here is a video for a 90 HP Etec:
Etec

I was asked to bump this to the top of the board. Rememeber this is an old post. Enjoy!

-J.

Jon what time was my appointment ?