Sea water pump impeller

Hello again everybody. I have a 77 Mainship with a Perkins 6.354T. I am about to undertake an impeller change and I thought I would go online and find one and have it ready. Can anybody advise what kind of sea water pump I have? Also, is there a difference in the quality of the impellers ie cheap vs expensive, brand preference? Mine is near the lower starboard under the heat exchanger and appears to be a pain in the butt to get to. Can this be replaced without taking off the heat exchanger and maybe just reaching way down and removing the pump cover sliding the old one out and the new one in? Looking for shortcuts and advice. Thanks everybody.

Following... I have to do this too.

I'd do a search for the impeller. Perkins, T6.354. marine... Should only be 1 pump fitted. At least I've never heard any different...

The only thing I can tell you about impellers is this:
1) To get them out use two screwdrivers and pry from opposite sides at the same time. You don't want to use pliers because you will tear out pieces which could end up in your system.
2) Note the direction of the bend in the blades, on some it is possible to put them in backwards.
3) Lube the casing with dish soap or antifreeze or KY jelly before you slide the new impeller in.
4) If the brass front plate is showing wear or groves you should replace it. They are often reversible.

Even if they are hard to get to it really isn't a very tough job.

pete

If there isn't enough room for 2 screwdrivers, screw 2 drywall screws into the impeller and then use pliers. I bought a bottle of glycerin at CVS to lube impellers.
I put a tie wrap around one end to bend the vanes the right way and make the dia small enough to insert it easily.
Buy some spare front plate screws. They are soft brass and damage easily, and will disappear into the dark recesses of the bilge if dropped.

My starboard engine is very difficult to replace the impeller. I have a Jabsco impeller puller that I use an all thread rod instead of the T handle that came with it. It works great to get the old impeller out. To get the new one in I have a tool from impellertool.com. It is a machined tube with a funnel on one end. You lube up the impeller and twist it into the end with the funnel. Then the whole tube slides into the pump without the impeller dragging on the sides of the pump. Then hold the impeller in place and pull the tube out. Easy peasy. Simple to install the new impeller. No affiliation with the company, just a very satisfied customer. It makes it possible for me to swap the impeller.

I use the pliers that turn 90* from the handle, grab hold of both sides of the middle part and start wobbling the impeller while pulling out. Use the lube that comes with the new one. Don’t worry about which way the vanes go back in because they’ll correct themselves when you crank the engine.

I've done this a few times on two different engines, you should not have to remove the heat exchanger; if you do, wow i would hate to have that kind of setup.
The first time is a little disconcerting but it gets easier every time after that. If you do use two screwdrivers as someone suggested, just take care not to gouge the inner sides inside the pump walls. For one of our pumps, i use a removal tool like ComoDave mentioned, i think the one I use was made by SeaDog; they are a relatively cheap investment that makes life a lot easier, but it needs to be sized properly for your specific impeller. It looks like this:

My impeller removal tool looks very similar to that. I can’t use the T handle because the T hits a pipe on my engine. I got a piece of all thread, metric thread of course, and put on double nuts and use them to turn the all thread. Works great. My heat exchanger make the pump not visible. So without the tools I could not even change the impeller. The PO’s mechanics used to pull the pump to change the impeller, what a PITA. Now I can do it in less than 30 minutes.

You probably have a Sherwood RPBC pump.
Here's a drawing

1 more tip I've heard.
Spread something under the pump 1st.
Towel, piece of plastic.
Won't lose the screws or the key into the bilge.

Last time I was on the boat I looked at where mine is on the engine..
Said "Not today"........

An by the way, pay attention to the phenolic "coupler" that drives the pump. Mine (many years ago) was pretty well shot. I could not find one anywhere.
Luckily I had access to a machine shop and had one made.

jleonard said:

An by the way, pay attention to the phenolic "coupler" that drives the pump. Mine (many years ago) was pretty well shot. I could not find one anywhere.
Luckily I had access to a machine shop and had one made.

Click to expand...

Was it Brian at Watrous Brothers? What a great guy.

Rob

Datenight said:

Was it Brian at Watrous Brothers? What a great guy.

Rob

Click to expand...

No. It was the machine shop where I worked.
A "government job".

Just as good I'm sure! If you ever need work in Mystic Brian is the man.

Rob

Sometimes the screws holding the cover plate are hard to access.

Replace the screws with SS hex head Allen wrench style , from the local hardware store.

Buy extras so should you drop a couple , its no biggie.