www.iFourWinns.com

i am the 2nd owner of this boat and is going to replace the impeller in the outdrive. is it hard to do? and before you ask, im very mechanically inclined....lol!

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1988 freedom 160 3.0

If it's an OMC Cobra its very easy, I have done it many times, just make sure that the gasket fits into the impeller housing right. If it's a Merc Alpha, the lower unit has to come off.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Just did mine today. A metal bracket with two bolts (forget the size, but your standard ratchet will handle). Two hose clamps for the water, four brass screws and it slides off. Pull the old one out, make sure any pieces of the old one if it broke off in there. Lube up the other with the little tube of grease that comes with the kit, put on the new "O" ring and re-assemble.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

yeh mine is a omc so it should be straight forward. thanks for the info!

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1988 freedom 160 3.0

easiest thing to do in the whole world on an VP drive. Don't even have to take the boat out of the water

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

+1 I couldn't believe how easy it was to change! It's a 10 minute change at the most on my VP I love it! I have a spare in the boat just in case of trouble.

So if I'm not pulling water in thru my leg it would be an impeller issue correct???

Yesterday I fired the motor with the leg down in a 100 gallon horse trough, she started no problem but didn't seem to be sucking water.

I'm glad to hear it's an easy process, I'll have to look up the procedure.... I have an OMC 5.8L with the VP outdive.

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I treat my children well because I want the good diapers when I'm old....

4 kids, 2 dogs, 2 horses, 4 acres, an amazing wife, a boat and no time....

It's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

If you are getting no waterflow it is possible it is the impeller. It is also possible that there is a leak in the system somewhere prior to the impeller causing it to suck air instead of water.

It is also possible that the water pump is damaged and not circulating.

I would start with the impeller including checking the intake lines for leaks and move forward from there.

The horse trough isn't exactly a real-world scenario for your cooling system. When your boat is in the water, the impeller often sits (depending on model of boat, etc) at or below the water level. I imagine the horse trough gets the water level, at best, up to the outdrive collar - quite a bit lower than the impeller.

Now, on a new boat, with everything nicely sealed, etc, it will usually suck up enough air to get the water flowing in your scenario - but that's really not the way it was designed to work.

Just .02 you may freely discard.

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2008 H220 Frenzy Edition VP 5.7Gi DP
2013 RAM 1500 Crew Cab 5.7 HEMI Tow Vehicle

Previously -
1993 Baja 180 Islander

My thoughts exactly, I'm not going to assume I have a problem until I confirm it on the lake. The water level in the trough was just at the collar, the intake ports were submerged but not much past. I was more concerned about it turning over than anything at the time, wanted to check the new starter install. She fired up nice ran for about 10 seconds then stalled (not run in a while so not concerned) fired it back up and after about 20 seconds noticed that she was not taking water nor exhausting water so I shut her down and will lake test on friday evening. It's a closed cooling system so even if I'm not taking in cooling water it would take some time to overheat the coolant.

My buddy said worst case I may need a new impeller so I was just happy to learn that if I do it is an easy fix...

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I treat my children well because I want the good diapers when I'm old....

4 kids, 2 dogs, 2 horses, 4 acres, an amazing wife, a boat and no time....

It's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

Next time either try it with the water muffs or in the lake, sometimes they won't prime if the water is not high enough. You need the water to get into the lower drive, all the way up the water tube and into the impeller housing for it to prime. It will not suck water, with a column of air on top of it, which is what you would have if you had water just over the intakes. That might work with a Merc Alpha or an outboard because the impeller is lower, right on the top of the lower gear housing. The Cobra's is higher up, and a Volvo is even higher, they can be hard to prime sometimes even with the water muffs.

When I do a Cobra impeller replacement, I check water flow like this: I take off the impeller housing, and then hook up the muffs. Turn on the water and squeeze the muffs tight to the water intakes. Water should come out the right side opening in the impeller mount. Then I put a water hose in the raw water intake hose up at the thermostat, turn on the water, the water should come out the left hand side hole. This can flush out any debris in the line or power steering cooler. You need water in and water out. Then install the impeller and you should be good to go...

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I've been troubleshooting why I am not getting any water coming out of my relief ports while running on muffs on trailer. 10 yoSundowner 215 with VP 5.0Gi (200 hours) was trailered for 8 years salt water by previous owner, I have slip on ocean for past 2 seasons. I disconnected hoses to water pump impeller and tried running garden hose from intake back to drive - not much water. I then hooked muffs up , turned on water and squeezed muffs - No water at the impeller inlet. Then I disconnected the inlet to the oil cooler and ran water from there back to drive, all of the pickup holes sprayed water. Then I put water at the impeller inlet to see if it was getting past oil cooler and nothing. It sure seems as though oil cooler is blocked(?) I will pull it out tonight. I've never looked inside one, if the blockage is not readilly apparent can it be cleaned instead of replaced?
Thanks

Don't take this as an insult, but are you doing all this with the engine running or not? The engine has to be running, to turn the belt, to turn the raw waterpump, to turn the impeller. This creates suction to draw water from your intake back on the drive (where you hook up the muffs). Do not run engine with no water going to the raw waterpump. This will shred your impeller very quickly.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

I inderstand how the pump works, for Spring commisioning I started the engine with water running through muffs (as I normally do) - at which time there was zero water coming out of my exhaust relief ports. The steps I detailed are with engine not running. The impeller has been pulled. I am "pushing" water via garden hose from point A to B to determine if water was even making it to the impeller. Which does not appear that it was. It looks to me like the oil cooler may be fouled. I'm wondering if anyone has experienced that before.
Thanks

Ric.
Regarding your post about changing the impeller with the boat in the water. I have wondered about that, I carry a spare in the boat and have never needed it, but didn't know for sure if you could remove the cover without water coming in with the drive down. Good to know!

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1999 180 Horizon LS 4.3 L GL Volvo SX
1994 Powerstroke
2002 Jeep Wrangler
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