What's your opinion & why on water pump replacement parts?

[BearLakeFishGuy]

So, its been about 5 years since I changed the impeller on my 150hp Yamaha.  I started looking around and now I have a few questions and wanted your opinIons.  No one will be right or wrong on this post.  
1)  Do you just change out the impeller or do you replace the whole enchilada (O-rings, housing, impeller, case, bolts) with an entire kit since you're already in there?
2)  Do you spend the extra money and buy factory (Yamaha, Merc, OMC, etc.) parts or do you buy OEM replacements (Sierra, Mallory, etc.)?  The factory parts are between 2-3 times the cost of the aftermarket OEM replacements.  THANKS!!

[Bubman1]

I get the kit and change everything your there and they are pretty easy to do . Done it with both factory and after market it's one of those you get what you pay for I put some quicksilver's on our house boat at Powell and had to replace shortly after.did my dad's Yamaha with factory and no issues.

[AFDan52]

Hi Scott , I have done both and used both . I take the whole assembly apart and always inspect the peices indivdually , as long as everything was working fine before I mostly just replace the Impellor. Once again depends on what I find. Most times I will use the aftermarket impellor and parts. JMHO.

[dubob]

Scott,

I had a part-time job in Alaska for one whole summer maintaining rental 25 & 40 hp outboards.  The most repairs were on water pumps and forward/reverse gears.  We never replaced anything in the pumps except the impellers.  In fact, the impeller blades had raised bumps on both sides of the blades, and we ALWAYS turned the impellers over to use up the bumps on both sides before replacing them.  We never lost an engine from lack of water flow and overheating.  I did the same thing on my own 40 hp jet drive water pump for about 6 years.  I asked a marine repair shop to do the same thing one year and they refused saying it would burn up the engine from lack of water flow.  My own experience with doing it several dozens of times said otherwise.  But you can decide for yourself if you're comfortable with flipping the impeller over.

Unless there is significant wear on the inside of the cast aluminum water pump housing, there isn't any need to do anything other than turn over the impeller to wear down the second side of the blades or replace the impeller if you already turned it over once or aren't comfortable with turning the impeller over.

[FishfulThinkin]

I do not change anything except the impeller unless there is damage or excessive wear. That usually only happens when the impeller blows up either from age or running dry. If I am going to spend the time to drop the foot and open the pump, I am going replace the impeller with a new one. Not worth my time to inspect it or rotate it since a new impeller is usually <$20.

[Bduck]

I just went thru checking both of my motors. Main was good after 3yrs but have a replacement kit stowed. Kicker impeller on the other hand was looking a little beat down with bent out of shape between 1/2 formed curved paddles and other 1/2 straight 8yrs. Started to get some intermittent sputtering this past season from P-stream, finding a combination of scale buildup. I do agree with what has been mentioned.

 
                                

This is from my Yamaha F150 from about 3yrs ago. The plastic impeller housing had a meltdown blocking port for water flow. I have NMEA 2000 that I have set up on my fishfinder allowing me to see some engine parameters catching overheat condition. It would only overheat at higher rpms. The root cause was a bad thermostat which was stuck partially opened. The impeller took some heat treatment also. Modern fishfinders will come equipped with a setup for monitoring engines, its a worthwhile investment to purchase a NMEA 2000 starter kit which can be added on. Other than that, a overheat condition will sound off an audible alarm which is why I caught the visual condition.

[Therapist]

I just change the impeller and lube in the lower unit every 3 years! chealer than a new engine!!

[Bduck]

I just change the impeller and lube in the lower unit every 3 years! chealer than a new engine!!

If its a marine its all expensive. Preventative maintenance will save in the long run, sometimes sacrificing the pocket will have effect on that planned weekend

[WalleyeAl]

I tend to find myself fishing in remote areas/no cell service and a long ways from the ramp. I dont risk it with after market parts. I change the oil in my lower unit every fall, service engine with new oil filter fuel filter and oil change etc. Breaking down out on the water truly sucks, especially when if your running solo. Its worth paying for the piece of mind.

[Panchodog]

Mercury says my impeller should be changed every 3 yrs or 300 hours. I always hit the 3 yrs first.
Last thing I do before tucking her in for her long winters nap every year is an oil and filter change all around. Cheap peace of mind.

[Therapist]

I am new to the 4 stroke world, so oil changes, oil filters, etc are new to me. Will have to remember to do those!!

[Bduck]

Since my kicker gets the constant workout I do oil changes 2 times in the season with a possible 3rd time depending hours of operation. The main gets it at 50hrs which doesn’t stack up the hours like the kicker. I mounted small hour meters that track engine run time on both motors. These meters can be found on Amazon at a low price as $10.