Impeller leaking

[TrawlerJoe]

Looking for a little advice on fixing a leak from my impeller housing. I'm almost 5000 miles from my boat in Annapolis at the moment, but trying to get all my spring maintenance planned for when I get there.

This is on a Cummins 6cta, Sherwood pump. At the bottom/base, the flange for what I think is the intake side shows obvious signs of leaks. I suppose the impeller cover plate could be leaking and dripping down on it, but it doesn't really look like it.

I ordered a new impeller kit, plus two of these sherwood gaskets. I'm hoping I'm on the right track here, thinking that I should remove the housing and put a new gasket between the housing and flange, as well as replace the impeller itself and the gasket/ring on the cover plate. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[kapnd]

Raw water pump leaks most commonly occur in the shaft seal.
I see some rust in the upper left of the photo, near the seal.
The intake fitting gasket may be leaking as well, pretty hard to tell from here!
Due diligence is required ASAP

 

[O C Diver]

As already mentioned, it could be leaking from the shaft seal, out the weep hole and down to where you see it.

The other area is where those flanges bolt on top and bottom. On both the 6CT and the 6CTA that I owned, those flanges sealed to the water pump with orings.

How old is the water pump and how many hours on it? Pumps don't last forever. Bearings and seals eventually go bad. While pumps are generally readily available in a few days, with the current supply chain problems, it could take quite a while to get one. Might be worth buying a spare before you need it. The pumps on these engines vary somewhat, so engine model, serial number and date of manufacture are important to get a plug and play that will bolt right up.

Ted

 

[sunchaser]

The SBar Marine website will provide lots of help. Tony even has a replacement pump design if your Sherwood falls into the "doomed to fail" category.

 

[TrawlerJoe]

Yeah, maybe I'll just replace the whole pump. It's old (original 2004). I'll at least order a spare and see how things look when I pull it apart.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Mac2]

Buy a new pump. I bought a rebuild kit and took the time to rebuild the pump , only to have it leak a little less. I believe the shaft itself had worn down enough so that the oem shaft seal would not fix the problem. I looked at purchasing a new shaft and it was cost prohibitive. I wish I had just bought a new pump to begin with.

 

[Comodave]

Sbmar had a sale going on, and may still be going on, for 10% off their pumps. It is supposed to be a lot better than the original pump. I will probably replace both of the pumps on my 6CTAs next year with them.