Water Pump, etc

[shakey55]

This may be simple to some, but unfortunately not me. Not really confident on the mechanical side of things.

I have a 2000 model Johnson 115 hp (Oceanpro) - two stroke.

I haven’t been able to use my boat much in the last couple of years due to weather, Covid, ill health and a couple of other family reasons.

I’ve been wanting to get back on the water for a while, but lockdowns will not allow, due to me being further than 5 kms from waterways.

From memory the water pump and impeller were replaced about two and a half years ago, and has not been used much since.

I’ve tried to maintain my boat over this time, starting every couple of months or so.

During this intermittent starting I’ve always had a strong tell-tale water flow. The last I saw this strong flow was about eight weeks ago.

Yesterday I went to start the old girl. I got it started okay, but no tell-tale water.

My question is - can the pump and impeller just break down in such a short time.

I’ve checked my earmuffs and they appear perished in places and not providing a very good seal, with water spraying everywhere.

1. Can a bad seal mean no tell-tale
2. Are all earmuffs as good as each other (quality)
3. Are the dual feed engine muffs better than single feed

124615

Is the water pump, impeller, etc, something that most people can replace

Should I just go straight to the replacement phase, or should I get new muffs with a better seal and try again.

Any other suggestions.






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[gazza2006au]

Hey shakey try putting your muffs on from the propeller side mine tend to seal much better that way just dont put engine in gear

[stevej]

Try a tub and submerge the housing

and yes they can fail within 30 seconds of being run dry
or not used for a year.

[Darren J]

Check tell tale is not simply blocked, wasps nest or similar.


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[disorderly]

Check tell tale is not simply blocked, wasps nest or similar.


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Yep this is your first port of call....use some thin wire or whipper snipper cord pushed down the peehole..

2nd is a tub of water rather then the muffs as they might not be sealing well enough to be pushing enough water pressure through..when i use the muffs i try and use as short a length of hose as possible to maximise water pressure.you can also have someone put their hands over the muffs and push together to stop so much water pissing out..

There is plenty of youtube video's for waterpump replacement...the only real tricky part sometimes can be lining everything back up when pushing the leg back on..a 2nd set of hands can help there...

[Noelm]

The water pump is a home handy man possibility, it's not a real breeze, but it's not hard either, the gearbox is heavy, so requires a bit of strength to remove and replace (not a huge amount) buy a complete kit, not just an impellor, and try to buy genuine, not after market. Sometimes water pumps just fail, the little key on the shaft breaks, the rubber just breaks up or something like that. On your model I think the gear shift is connected just below the carbs and can be a bugger to disconnect, but in the main, just some basic tools and a bit of care is all that's needed.

[Spaniard_King]

The water pump is a home handy man possibility, it's not a real breeze, but it's not hard either, the gearbox is heavy, so requires a bit of strength to remove and replace (not a huge amount) buy a complete kit, not just an impellor, and try to buy genuine, not after market. Sometimes water pumps just fail, the little key on the shaft breaks, the rubber just breaks up or something like that. On your model I think the gear shift is connected just below the carbs and can be a bugger to disconnect, but in the main, just some basic tools and a bit of care is all that's needed.

These are a difficult shift shaft to contend with.
The shift shaft is best disconnected in FWD gear
Remove front air box.
remove stbd side lower cover.
remove split pin from stbd side shift lever.
Remove "R" clip from the horizontal shift shaft.
move front horizontal shift shaft from stbd side to port, this will then disconnect the vertical shift shaft, you can now unbolt and remove the gearbox assy

Even experienced techs have problems with these boxes, getting them on an off

[Noelm]

Yep, it is a tricky spot to get to.

[stevej]

The Yamaha by comparison was the easiest I’ve ever done

[scottar]

With a genuine service manual it's pretty straight forward for anyone half used to spinning spanners. The shift Shaft can be tricky. Removing the lower pans if they come off easily makes it a heap easier. Main thing is to make sure the shift Shaft doesn't get rotated as this is how the shift Shaft length is set. If it gets rotated the linkage won't line up.

[ranmar850]

Getting back to one of the original queries, before we all charge off down the track of pulling everything apart----yes, a dual feed can make an engine pee that will not pee on a single feed type. A bit of perishing on old faithful muffs lovingly handed down from father to son, metaphorically speaking, will also make a difference. So it used to pee ok on those muffs and now it doesn't? Well it simply could have perished enough in the interim to push it over the edge. Water will certainly leak from a set of muffs when you turn the tap on, even good muffs will leak , up to you to get them seated as best you can. They are not expensive, the cheapo Blue Seas dual feeds from BCF will do the job.
I'd be buying new muffs before i started digging holes in the leg.

[gazza2006au]

I went down this road with that 80's era 50hp mariner i had i went around in circles because someone else had been at the pump i didnt know what was missing, what was wrong with my outboard the engine had been started without water and where the drive shaft goes through the bottom seal before it goes into the gearbox had heated up so much the seal was still sealing the gearbox but the hole through the water pump plastic base had oblonged so as the impeller was working it was loosing pressure where the hole oblonged so the water just kept reciculating around the impeller instead of pushing it up the tube

I spent 3 days swearing at that engine before i found the problem best way is as mentioned by someone else buy a whole water pump kit and bung it in

[shakey55]

Getting back to one of the original queries, before we all charge off down the track of pulling everything apart----yes, a dual feed can make an engine pee that will not pee on a single feed type. A bit of perishing on old faithful muffs lovingly handed down from father to son, metaphorically speaking, will also make a difference. So it used to pee ok on those muffs and now it doesn't? Well it simply could have perished enough in the interim to push it over the edge. Water will certainly leak from a set of muffs when you turn the tap on, even good muffs will leak , up to you to get them seated as best you can. They are not expensive, the cheapo Blue Seas dual feeds from BCF will do the job.
I'd be buying new muffs before i started digging holes in the leg.

Thanks Ranmar. That’s the way I’m heading.
1. Check tube blockage
2. New muffs (dual), or buy/makeup tank for flushing
3. Get original repair/service manual
4. Consider changing myself (haven’t made my mind up yet)
5. Consider local business replace (currently closed due to COVID)

No real rush, as I can’t go anywhere

Thanks everyone


Shakey - If only I lived near the coast

[scottar]

Also look at the point where the tell tale exits the block. A lot of the omc motors used a plastic right angle screw in fitting that is pretty good at catching bits of corrosion or similar and stopping the flow.

[catshark]

i recently just done my waterpump and a comparison as the old man had his water pump done too at the same time with a dealer, he ran the impeller dry as he went up river into the shallows which while trimming up out of the sand ran dry caused the rubber to melt, my water pump kit from the states was $67 delivered and labour myself , so and the bill for the old boys replacement was over $400 , they charge the impellor seperate to the housing and so on , they got there overheads and its never gonna be as cheap as we hope for .

[shakey55]

Just to finish this post off.

This was the reason I had no water flow.

The half round little key (pic below) let go and impeller just spinning on shaft.

124731


Shakey - If only I lived near the coast

[Noelm]

Pretty common, I just "helped" (I supervised) a mate do one the other day, and that's what was wrong, he replaced the entire kit and it pumps like a new one now.

[disorderly]

Did you have a go at it yourself Shakey..?

[shakey55]

Did you have a go at it yourself Shakey..?
Unfortunately not, didn’t have the confidence.


Shakey - If only I lived near the coast, but the mechanic let me watch and explained a lot on the way. Will definitely have a go next time.

Thames for all the comments fellas