water pump

[David]

Every couple of years I need to replace the water pump on my XR4.

1. Is this normal? My brother never replaces the pump on his Johnny

2. Is the job straight forward bolt/unbolt or is there a lot of fiddling.
Maybe I ought to learn to do this myself after all these years.

[stone1]

Never? How longs he had it? he will be replacing the powerhead.


Every couple of years I need to replace the water pump on my XR4.

1. Is this normal? My brother never replaces the pump on his Johnny

2. Is the job straight forward bolt/unbolt or is there a lot of fiddling.
Maybe I ought to learn to do this myself after all these years.

[Fl Boy in ILL]

David

We replace the impeller every season and change the lube at least 2 times a year, this is CHEAP insurance on a powerhead and the gearcase. It isn't hard to do at all (at least after you've done it 100 times, LOL) the hardest part is re-installing the gearcase a getting everything lined up. When you get ready we'll be here to help.

Oh by the way tell your brother to change his RIGHT AWAY!!!!!!!! He's living on borrowed time.

Rick

[sosmerc]

There is alot of difference in the design of the omc water pump and the Merc pump used in the 2.0, 2.4, and 2.5 litre engines. The Merc impeller is very stiff and it does not like to sit around all tight in the housing without running.
The pumping performance of the Merc impeller deteriorates quickly with time...especially if the engine doesn't get run much. It should be replaced once a year along with the gaskets on either side of the wear plate. I also recommend replacing it just prior to putting the boat back into service.
The OMC impeller is alot more flexible and does not wear out as quickly. Merc finally came up with a similar design starting with the 3.0 litres....those impellers should last quite a long time....probably 10 times as long as the 89984 impeller. But heh, annual service is a good thing anyway so knowing what a frail impeller design you have will encourage you to pay attention to these kinds of things and do preventative maintenance!

[chris_lacey]

Yep, after years of running Merc and changing the impeller yearly, or bi-yearly if I didn't get to use it much, I was surprised to see how well the OMC pumps stand up. I had 2 years on a new pump, and when I went to change it this year, it was like new. And I mean like new, you couldn't tell which impeller was the used one. I put the new one in, but feel I threw the money away.
They don't last forever, but those BIG vanes do last a long time compared to Merc.