tAM63P Starboard impeller ,help!!!

[ianainge]

Could someone give me a clue, I want to change the starboard engine raw water impeller, this of course is on the outside of the engine . the gap between the engine and the bulkhead is about 4 inches this is taken up by heating ducting which i can remove. you can barely see down the remaining gap and can only just glimpse the oil filters which are above the water pump, however this is in a recess so even when oil filters are removed ( which will be a messy job are you cant see what your doing so oil from the filter is going to pour into the bilge) you cant see the pump. to add to the pump is mounted sideways so the cover plate faces aft and the gap between that and the next piece of the engine is about 5 inches, how the hell do you change it, anybody done this and if so HOW?

any sensible advice greatly appreciated.

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[Moose]

I have the same problem but I do have a No1 Moose who can fit in the 4 inch gap!!
You will need to take the bypass filter off, maybe even the main oil filter if it is really tight. If you have a digi video camera with Nightvision it is really useful to use that to see what you are doing on the LCD screen. You will also need the Medium size Jabsco remover (according to the diameter of the impellor you would need the large one, but trust me the large one won't fit!!)
You really have to do it by feel although you may be able to get in gap if you take the air fliter off. You will need to cut about an inch off the handle on the impellor remover. Oh and allow at least a day to put the cover plate back on because they are machined screws that you will be trying to put in with oily hands and you cant see what you are doing(unless you use the camera trick)

Sorry for the "You will's" but I am off to the boat and wrote this as I was walking out the door.

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[stefan]

Sometimes it is easier to remove the whole pump and change the impeller then.

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[Henry]

I am a happy owner of a Princess 420 here in Finland. This spring both impellers needed replacing due to dry running. Fortunately the port engine was the first one to suffer from impeller problems, so I changed the impeller and got some practice in impellerchanging. Very soon after that the starboard impeller was also destroyed and I discovered very soon that changing was really challenging. My fist impression was that the task was impossible. But that was not the case. Without removing any other parts I managed to remove the cover screws and the cover and with a medium size screwdriver the old impeller was removed. As the new impeller is about 15 mm bigger than the housing the wings of the impeller need to be bent to fit the space in the pump. For this purpose I used a plastic stripe of the type electricians use to attach cables. By tightening the stripe you can make the impeller fit the housing and by using water resistant grease the impeller fits the splines easily and goes into place. With the new impeller about half way into the pump cut off the stripe with a cutting plier.The next challenge was to find the holes for the screws to fit the cover. But also this operation was successfull. All these steps were done using only my left ( I am right handed ) hand and seeing nothing of what I was doing. It took me four hours to do and the engines need of course to be cold. My advise is to at least open the cover of the water pump of the port engine or perhaps to change the impeller to get some practice and then approach the starboard engine with the right attitude and a lot of patience. It can be done and needs no removing of oil filters.

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