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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | How many hrs can you go before you should change the impeller .my motor? It is 5 years old every thing is fine just dont want it to go out on a fishing trip. |
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Posts: 410
Location: With my son on the water | I always have that question too? The manuals say 300 hours or 3 years, which ever comes first.
The longest I ever owned a motor was 17 years (Johnson 70 hp). I never changed the impeller the entire time I owned it and the guy who bought it still hasn't, so we are talking almost 30 years.
I am not saying 30 years is good but is 3 years really needed? I don't know?
If I knew it wasn't a tough job to change one I would change it, but it is an unknown for me so I don't know how hard it is? Thoughts? |
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Posts: 92
| I do mine every other year or so. It really varies. I don't run my motor(a 2004 250 hpdi yammie) in sand or anything really without being trimmed up so generally when i pull the impeller it is in really good shape and may have a few stress marks in the rubber and thats about it.
This is using the big motor an average of about 70 hours of run time a year. I ran three seasons once without changing but in the middle of this season found my water pressure slowly going down and upon pulling the lower unit off found one leg of impeller gone...In light of that new data i went back to every other year whether it needs it or not.
Really i think it depends on your usage and the water quality you are running it in. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | I have a F150 and change the impeller every three years. I do all the work myself and can say the impeller ( old one ) comes out looking reasonably in good shape. But it will have taken a "set" in the vanes of the impeller. Its cheap insurance, I also change filters on a regular basis. I look at it like this... I use the boat in Canada 3 weeks a year and want it to be trouble free. So just like you do maintenance on your car/truck to keep it running good, why would you not use the same approach when it comes to your boat. |
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Posts: 1209
| I have operated boats though mud and sand and never swapped impellers cause thy were still pumping water, and older/ cheaper motors, now I have a very expensive motor that probably runs hotter to meet emissions and I will replace it at least every other year because it is 30$ and that is cheep insurance for a nearly 20k$ motor. So I'm saying weigh the cost versus the what if... |
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Posts: 483
| the job is not bad if you are mechanicely inclined ! helps to have a shop manual ! i did it to an 40 hp jonhson after 10 years of off and on use to be safe and found a almost new impellor that flexed like the new one ! so i do not kow when to change it but a pressure gauge is a good idea to monitor changes in pressure . |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya!!
The main rule that many follow is about every 3 years, depending on use. I have seen impellers that failed within 5 years of use, and others (like a previous post had stated) go years without replacement. On my father's 1973 Johnson 20hp, it never had an impeller change until I converted it to a long shaft motor for him back in 2008 or so. It was still in great shape, and still had original paint residue on it from when the lower unit was painted in 1973.
The big issue with the impeller is that after years of use, it will dry out and lose flexibility. When this happens, the fins will have a "memory" so to speak...it will be very evident when the impeller is pulled out. When this has happened, there is always a chance that the impeller will not maintain a tight seal against the walls of the impeller, and this reduces the pressure within your cooling system...not a good thing to have, especially if the impeller fails entirely. That can lead to more issues, like a clogged system. If it clogs and that clog happens before the heads on your motor, your motor will be fried in short order.
At a minimum, I would suggest a 3 year plan...
Steve |
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Posts: 791
Location: North Central IL USA | After reading these posts one would think that water pressure would be the indicator of when a new impeller is needed, not time, yes? When that pressure starts going down, time for a new impeller. |
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Posts: 228
Location: Tinley Park, IL | For what it's worth, I plan on following the maintenance schedule and replacing the impeller on my F175 after 3 seasons. You have to follow their schedule for warranty purposes and I have a 6-year warranty so that is a no-brainer. Plus, it's an inexpensive part that could have major effects if it fails. At the minimum it would spoil a fishing trip. |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | gregk9 - 10/18/2016 10:13 PM
After reading these posts one would think that water pressure would be the indicator of when a new impeller is needed, not time, yes? When that pressure starts going down, time for a new impeller.
In most cases a pressure gauge is not required if you follow a maintenance schedule. Boats that should have them are ones that have had a jack plate installed where if the motor gets too high off the transom, the lower unit might lose good pressure from the lake, thus the impeller does not get enough water into it...
Steve |
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Posts: 4
| I have an F-150 and just changed the impeller out a few weeks ago. The motor is 3 years old. You could see small cracks starting to form on all the wings. Probably would have gotten this year out of it but it would have gone at some point next year. I plan to change the impeller every 2 years along with the fuel filter and spark plugs. Every year I do an oil change, lower lube, and oil filter. Sometimes I will do them twice a year. My boat only sits a few months and I put a lot of hours on the motor. I rely on my motor and like said before it is cheap insurance. It also gives me peace of mind every time I turn the key. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | If you want to do the maintenance yourself and have questions on how or what to do, check out youtube "Yamaha F150" videos. They show enough to get you through if your a little handy with such things. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | Well i had motor winterize and the impeller replaced. Went fishing to day, after droped it off . When i picked it up had them print off the read out on my motor, i came to the conclusion i need to fish more. I bought my boat in 2012 so i have 5 years of fishing i have a total of 205 hrs on it. Thats just over 41 hrs a year i need to fish more work less. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | That is a fact. |
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Yamaha F150