How Often to Change Impeller

[Can'tFishEnuf]

About how many hours before a person should think about changing the impeller in a motor? I have a 50 Yamaha 4 stroke. I stay in fairly clean water. Many of the hours are at idle speed when drifting or trolling, if that matters. Thanks

[john.wells]

some guys have them replaced every year, others never change them until they fail and ruin a motor. A safe bet would be every three years, when you renew tabs.

BOAT: A hole in the water you throw money into

[IFallsRon]

I've been told that the impeller doesn't suddenly fail. You'll notice a slowdown in your pee stream first.

[marine_man]

I would say every 3 years is good preventitive maintenance. If you can tackle the job yourself it's some pretty cheap maintenance too.

marine_man

[boatfixer]

Normally impellers don't suddenly fail. I have replaced many failed impellers in the spring that the customer said pumped just fine the summer before. The blades can deteriorate over time and sometimes just sitting the winter is enough to make the blades brittle. I too would say 3 years is about a good time.

[MIKE IN lINO III]

Is there a "How to " HSOforum I can find information on changing my impeller?

1980 50hp Merc.

Mike

[marine_man]

Put the gear selector in forward.

Remove the 4 visible bolts that connect the lower unit to the mid section (look around the caviation plate, you should see them). Remove the trim tab (anodized looking part right above the prop). Remove the last bolt under the trim tab you just removed.

Slowly pull down, wiggle, whatever you need to to pull the lower unit down from the midsection.

Remove the bolts on the plastic housing on top the drive shaft. Be carefull not to bump the shift lever. Replace the impeller. Bend the fins so they're the same direction when installed as the old one.

Replace the cover.

Slowly and carefully slide the lower unit back into the midsection. If you didn't turn the prop during the impeller installation the driveshaft splines should line up. If they don't slowly turn the prop until they do.

Replace all the bolts in reverse order.

It's a pretty straight forward job, just take your time.

marine_man

[IFallsRon]

Check Youtube. There's do-it-yourself videos for lots of things, including bearing maint.

[primetime49]

public library or here on internet should have manuals on doing this job.

Napa or other parts stores should have supplier for parts

about 25.00 if they have imppellor,thats about a third of boat store price

after you have done it once you might as well do it every other year

good luck

[ChuckN]

Anyone have knowledge of an early 1980's Evinrude 50hp motor? A friend and I tried to remove the lower unit to change his impeller and we could not figure out how to get the shift rod to seperate from the lower unit. We looked everywhere and there has to be a link somewhere, but I couldn't find an access of any kind to seperate the rod.

I've worked on a bunch and this one has me stumped..

[VMS]

Marine Man is right on with the process...

One thing to add to it, though, is depending on the motor, there may be a a bolt/connecting pin that attatches the shift rod to a pivot below the engine. If you do not remove this, the lower unit will only drop down an inch or so.

Many times, this requires removing the lower part of the cowling to access the connector. Tedious, but not overly difficult.

Steve

[marine_man]

Good point Steve... but a note that it's not on all lower units.

Chuck - that pin connection might be what you're looking for...

marine_man

[boatfixer]

Chuck-Like the others said on the Johnsons and Evinrudes 40-50hp and up, its under the powerhead. Look inside the bottom cowl under and behind the bottom carburetor.

[Black_Bay]

When you change the impeller make sure you get the entire kit. It includes all the gaskets and the impeller. Some have the pump housing included.

[marine_man]

I think that's somewhat dependent on how long it's been and what kind of shape your housing and gaskets are in. It doesn't hurt, but a lot of the ones I've done have needed the impeller and that's it...

marine_man

[ChuckN]

I saw that connection and I was nervous it was incorrect, not to mention how I would get it back together. We ran into more problems....the hydraulic tilt gave out, a hydraulic line broke and it's a pontoon on old tires in the yard. It's going to a mechanic soon to fix all the issues. Thanks for educating me for future reference..

[marine_man]

Good luck Chuck! Sounds like quite a project...

marine_man

[backlash 1]

My Yamaha service manual calls for all bolts to be replaced using Locktite 572. Problem is no one carries it. Is it ok to use any blue sealer, Locktite or permatex>

Also Yamaha says to put shifter in neutral before disassembly, any comments on that, one way or the other?

[picksbigwagon]

third year for my used motor, late 80's evinrude, 40 hp, so I am glad I have found this, I might attempt this at some pt. this summer,hopefully not sooner

[Eric Wettschreck]

Chuck, if the mid 80's Evenruds are the same as the later 80's models, disconnect the shifter linkage on the drivers side of the motor. Then, there should be a cotter key that holds the shaft to the block. Remove the cotter key and push in on the main shaft. This will disengage the shifter rod from the linkage. Re-connecting this is interesting but can be done with a little patience.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Picks, start to finish this job should take about an hour. It's really much simplier than a lot of people think.

[marine_man]

 Originally Posted By: backlash 1

My Yamaha service manual calls for all bolts to be replaced using Locktite 572. Problem is no one carries it. Is it ok to use any blue sealer, Locktite or permatex>

Also Yamaha says to put shifter in neutral before disassembly, any comments on that, one way or the other?

I would think the blue sealant would be just fine - you can order the 572 online as well if you want to use what the manual specifies.

With respect to the shift location - neutral is fine as well, the main reason for putting it in gear is so you can turn the prop if need be to align the driveshaft splines.

marine_man

[Can'tFishEnuf]

I think I'm going to take it in and have it replaced. I want a few other things checked out too. If I had really good directions with some pictures and specifically for this motor, I would maybe try it. Thanks

[marine_man]

Good Luck!

marine_man