Bad impeller?

[Yukon Don]

Hi Guys,

I have a 40 Hp Mariner around a 1995-1996. A week ago it ran fine. This weekend I went to start it and noticed there was no water coming out of the hole. I think it might be a bad impeller. I have only used that moter about 12 times since I bout it brand new so it doesn't get used much. Could the impeller go bad from non-use. If it is the impeller how do you replace it or is it better to just bring it in? Any help would be appreciated.

[BoxMN]

Yes, it can go bad from sitting. I would suggest you get a new one in before using at all.

you can do it yourself, it is easier if you have another set of hands. There is a good link to directions for doing it, but it is on another fishing site, so I can't post it here. It walks through the steps, but maybe someone here has a link as well.

Will probably cost you about $100 for a dealer to do it, or $20 for the impellor and gaskets to do it your self. The first one is kinda hard, but after that kinda easy.

[upnorth]

Take a minute and clean out the little hole the water stream squirts out of. Mine plugged up and I had just replaced the impeller and thought what the (you fill in the rest) is going on now.

[beer batter]

Good suggestion to check for a plugged hole first. Pull off the motor housing and pull off the tube that goes to the water outlet. Try blowing through it. If you can't blow through it, it's probably plugged. If you can blow through it without a problem and still no water shooting out, it's probably the impeller.

[Deitz Dittrich]

as other have stated, check the tube/hole first.. if not used for a while...spiders and other small things like to play home in there...

[Yukon Don]

Thanks guys for your reply's. I will check the hole and tubing this weekend for the possibility that it is plugged. What concerns me is that I just used it a week before and it worked fine. How long can you let a motor (40 HP) run without the water going through to harm the engine? I started it and shut it off several times thinking it would work.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I would not let it run without water flow. If you do not see water coming out the pee hole, try to clean out the tubing. Also, look at where the regular water outlet is. If there is no water coming out then you know it's a mechanical issue not plugged tubing.

Also, try cleaning out the pick-up screens. They may have dirt and sand and weeds and junk in them.

[Valv]

You should not run the motor at all. If damage isn't done already, I would suggest replacing pump impeller and housing immediately.

They are notorious to dry up and crumble after some years of not use, you could shoot pieces of rubber through motor cooling passages, and you'll have more problems than now.

Don't gamble your motor for few dollars of parts.