Impeller Break up

[Swindells]

Hi guys,

While preparing my boat for an upcoming trip i noticed my telltale jet wasn't pushing any water so i pulled the leg of my outboard and sure enough my impeller was shot, infact 4 out of the 6 prongs had degraded completely and were missing, so i went to my yamaha dealer and picked up a new impeller and replaced it with out drama, the telltale is strong and all seems well. my question is what happens to those broken pieces of the old impeller, should i be worried about it getting stuck up in my powerhead?

Cheers.

Swindells.

[FNQCairns]

Possibly a little worried, it's a hard case because of it's individual nature, melted impellers are more dangerous as they are solid pieces un-degraded and do clog.

You will notice the exit for the pumped water is rather small after this constriction the water tube is larger in diameter, once inside the engine only the popets/thermostat (may clog stuck or constrict full closing) or the powerhead drain holes may be of a size to get blocked. Of coarse all is relative to the size of the engine in question.

IMO worth keeping any eye on but short of a full pull down and inspect what is a person to do.

BTW how old was the impeller? the modern ones do seem to last longer than the older fully ruberised ones.

cheers fnq

[Swindells]

BTW how old was the impeller? the modern ones do seem to last longer than the older fully ruberised ones.

cheers fnq

Thanks mate, yeah it was pretty old, it's on my 2002 yamaha 15 that we use when we want to hit shallow waters, we usually take out the 5.3 cruisecraft with 90 merc so it only see's the water a few times a year.

I think it's last change was '05, so well due. the water jet seems to be very strong now that the new impellers in place, but can't be too careful.

In fact last year i took for a 2 week trip to bundy, and every now and then i had to clean clogs from the pump outlet, stupid me, i should have realized that the impeller was breaking up.

Thanks again.

[Rodman]

Mate you should change your impeller one a year to ensure sure and safe motoring
Ken

[Swindells]

Yeah i should, unfortunetly because this is the second boat it isn't important until i need it.

Hmmm not a great attitude.