CAUTION!!!
OK, so I decided to do some preventative maintenance this year including replacing my impeller. I searched the site and followed a great outline (with pictures) that I found and in no time at all I had the job done. Took the boat out on the water the following weekend, launched and took off down the river. Stopped real quick to grab a beer and turn on the ipod when I heard the sound of water rushing into my engine compartment-a lot of water!
I had no idea what was happening so I quickly beached the boat and began to investigate. I couldn't figure it out but the water was definitely coming from the impeller housing
, so I had to pull the boat back out of the water before it was too late. Got the boat back to the house we were staying at and began to take it apart. I was shocked when I found that the plastic impeller housing assembly was cracked in several places from one bolt path to another
. I knew it wasn't cracked when I put it back together, but it was now. Luckily the local boat shop had a new assembly and I was able to put it back together. What did I find inside the new assembly that wasn't included in the outline? DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE BOLTS!!! THEY ONLY NEED 8 LBS OF TORQUE!! Apparently I overtightened everything and although it didn't crack when I put it together, or when I tested it on the fake-a-lake, it did just as soon as it was under real power/pressure on the water. Lesson learned. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE BOLTS-JUST SNUG THEM!! Could have been really ugly, but instead it only cost me about $95 and three (3) hours of lost time-I'll take the hit for the amount of stress it caused and number of swear words that were flying--afterall it was my fault!
I had no idea what was happening so I quickly beached the boat and began to investigate. I couldn't figure it out but the water was definitely coming from the impeller housing , so I had to pull the boat back out of the water before it was too late. Got the boat back to the house we were staying at and began to take it apart. I was shocked when I found that the plastic impeller housing assembly was cracked in several places from one bolt path to another . I knew it wasn't cracked when I put it back together, but it was now. Luckily the local boat shop had a new assembly and I was able to put it back together. What did I find inside the new assembly that wasn't included in the outline? DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE BOLTS!!! THEY ONLY NEED 8 LBS OF TORQUE!! Apparently I overtightened everything and although it didn't crack when I put it together, or when I tested it on the fake-a-lake, it did just as soon as it was under real power/pressure on the water. Lesson learned. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE BOLTS-JUST SNUG THEM!! Could have been really ugly, but instead it only cost me about $95 and three (3) hours of lost time-I'll take the hit for the amount of stress it caused and number of swear words that were flying--afterall it was my fault!
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