honda water pump impeller change interval

J

jack keifer

New member
I sure there are some opinions out there but I have not been able to find the thread. So here is the question. At what intervals either hours or time do most people change water pump impellers on Hondas? We have a 2009 50 EFI on our 16. The impeller was last changed 4 years and 250 hours ago. It has never overheated and when I winterized last week, the stream from the pee hole was still strong. The boat is stored inside on the trailer when not in the water. The major concern is that we just run a single engine and don't want to get caught out with a failure. Thoughts please.
Jack
 
You will get all kinds of answers to that of course. Some of the conditions the motors are running in vary too. Muddy rivers or clear lakes make some difference. I had twin Honda 40's and ran on the muddy Mississippi for 11 years and about a thousand hour. I changed 3 times based on the tell-tale (pee stream) and my worrisome nature. The old ones never seemed too bad but sometimes they develop a "set" that makes them less efficient. I wouldn't change after 250 hours but I think I would after 4 years.
 
We have time on three honda 75/90 carburated engines and have had one impeller failure plus one changed out while it was breaking apart.

We lost the first one after about 300 hours of saltwater use and the other was falling apart after about 200 hours of use plus lots of sitting around being unused. That one still pushed a good stream of water but was all cracked up and on the edge of failure.

We now change the impeller every other year roughly at the same time as the 200 hour service interval.

It is worth the peace of mind and general confidence that we should not have a salt water failure if that part within a two year timeframe.

Our boat gets more maintenance than it may need because some failures can really spoil the limited non-working time we have to enjoy.

If I had much more free time, and a good backup, I might stretch some things a bit further than I do now so long as safety was not seriously jeopardized. I think that waiting for impeller failure, is not necessarily a safety risk, (but it could be) but is a trip success risk for sure.

Greg
 
I have mine changed out every 2-3 years. When you do, ask to feel the rubber on the old one and compare it to a new one. I've found they harden a lot with time. Like Greg, it's just another thing I don't want to worry about when I'm fishing on the coast. It costs me a few $100 in gas and ferry charges to get my boat to where I fish so a few extra $'s in maintenance is a minor thing if it saves me time and travel $'s.
 
Not a Honda, but my Yammi's get changed every other year. The book says 300 hours, At 2 years I'm not there yet, but at 3 years I would be over for sure, and I'm in the group that would rather have it done (early) than get stuck someplace for time I was not planning on spending.

Yup, it's a few extra bucks, but the piece of mind is well worth it. AND yes, they do develop a "set" and harden somewhere before 200 hours. Most of my use is in salt water.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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My personal feeling is every 200 hours or 4 years. But in someone like Pat Anderson doing the Loop--he will have over 800 hours, and I am not sure if it was changed once or not. If I was "doing the loop" or in some remote area, a spare impeller and housing would be in my spare parts kit. On our relatively slow turning inboard diesels I changed them at about 1000 hours--but always had a rebuilt pump available, and a rebuild kit to re-buld the "bad" one. But it is much easier to change an inboard water pump, than an outboard.
 
We have run some 800 hours on the BF-150 since starting the Great Loop in April, and have not changed the impeller. We are carrying a complete water pump rebuild kit and I have had a spare impeller aboard for quite a few years. We are within a week of finishing our Loop and do not anticipate needing to do anything in the next week!
 
The large variations here mainly reflect differences in storage conditions and temperature. The impeller, unless you run it dry, lives a happy, wet, low temperature life when the engine is running. It might have a couple hundred hours or so of that "life."

Between seasons of use, it has about 5000 hours of dry, warm "life" exposed at least in part to air. Air kills rubber, even neoprene, more rapidly if it is ozone-contaminated air. Live in LA? Bad on the impeller.

Rough handling on installation is another variable. Steal a tube of K-Y Jelly (yes, that K-Y jelly) and lube the impeller up liberally so it just slips in there, to ensure no rips or tears. Water soluble, and gone within the first half hour of running.

Caveat: all bets are off if you run the lower end through mud, sand, or anything with coarse abrasive. Under those conditions, with abuse, you might waste an impeller in a dozen hours.
 
".... Caveat: all bets are off if you run the lower end through mud, sand, or anything with coarse abrasive. Under those conditions, with abuse, you might waste an impeller in a dozen hours."
Click to expand...

Dave, like across the mouth of the Fraser, or outside the bars on our coastal rivers., (Columbia, Tillamook, Newhalem, or any of the "S" rivers here in Washington.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I recall when I bought my first C-Dory from Sportcraft, Larry told me to change the impeller every three years. Not so much because the impeller would need it, but because the splines on both the drive and shift shafts needed to be cleaned and greased lest they may not come apart when the impeller failed on its own. Made sense to me.

My Suzuki manual says to inspect the pump every year and replace the impeller every 3 yrs/300 hrs. I think if I were to open it up to actually inspect the thing, it would be replaced. I will follow the recommendation of the shop so long as the warranty is in effect.

My Honda got the impeller every three years in line with the advice I was given, and the complete pump every other time. It never failed in the 13 years I ran it.
 
Wow! What a lot of responses. Looks like the consensus is 200-300 hours and/or 2-3 years. I hadn't thought about the impeller hardening and maybe losing some of its effectiveness. Based on the advice, I will change it out before the 1st launch next spring. Thanks, what a good site this is!
 
Also a very good idea to change out if doing a lot of saltwater boating .Getting the lower unit to come off easier if done every 2 years or so .All Good advice here .
 
My 2003 Honda 200 hp has a cooling water pressure gauge on the dash. It runs about 23-25 psi. When the pressure starts to drop I will change the impeller. It has been changed twice.
Right now I have only 490 hrs on it and 15 yrs old.

Jack
 
I need some warranty work done on my Yami 200. So I talked to a dealer in the area (not my normal mechanic). As long as the boat will be there for the warranty work, I asked about having them do a normal 100 hour maintenance. Their response floored me a bit.

They (an authorized Yami dealer) said they recommend changing the impeller every year or 100 hours. Not only that, but they routinely replace the entire water pump instead of just the impeller. When I asked: isn't that overkill, they said: well, it's cheap insurance.

Frankly, I didn't buy their philosophy, but maybe it makes sense to someone. Anyone think this dealer's philosophy makes any sense??
 
it makes sense to me. The shop time involved in replacing the water pump housing assembly, vs just the impeller is the same. All the time is spent taking everything apart. The plastic housing is sometimes warped from heat generated from the spinning impeller. The whole assembly is not very expensive compared to the shop time, and really not that much more than just an impeller
 
Replacing the "whole pump" is just as easy as the impeller--If there is any wear I put in new wear plates, seals, and housing anyway....
 
Thanks guys. Glad to get some learned opinions.

I also get a great side benefit.....it increases my confidence that this new mechanic is to be trusted. Trust and confidence are always issues when going to a new mechanic (at least it is for me).
 
I have a 2008 Yamaha F250TXR on a 2008 Grady White Tournament 225. I use the boat in the Ohio River and Lake Cumberland. All fresh water use. I replace the impeller after every three seasons as part of summerization. That way the impeller blades don’t take a “set” over the winter. The engine has 326 hrs. on it and I have never had a problem. I bought the boat new and obviously don’t put a lot of hours on it but age is as important as usage when it comes to water pump impellers. You don’t want the blades coming apart and fragments going where they shouldn’t.
 
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