Impeller on a Yanmar 6lym-ste

[Iggy]

I am trying to change the impeller. The old one came out with a little effort. Not bad for the first time. Yes, my first time changing it.

I can not get the new one in. I greased the shift and the housing. I must have tried about 10 times. Putting it in and out. Just to be clear, I did have the correct end going in. The other side has the threads for the puller.

I tried tapping it in a rubber hammer. Nope! At times I could hear metal to metal. At times just the sound of the rubber.

What am I doing wrong??

Thanks!

 

[Bacchus]

Here is a related thread with pics & links for my solution and Dave's.
I have done it with flexible plastic cut from a bottle and zip ties to hold it compressed before insertion in a pinch before I got the tools shown.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67696
Plenty of lube is impirtant.

 

[DavidM]

I would just take the whole pump off and do it on your workbench. Admittedly, it is tough to get the nuts back on to replace the pump. Skinny fingers help.

David

 

[E-Sea Going]

I second Davids recommendation, on my 6ly3-EPTs I pull the pumps, do it on the bench and then clean it well and apply a fresh coat of Yanmar paint, looks brand new.

 

[Iggy]

When I first got the boat. A mechanic came down and had it changed out in 6 or 7 minutes.

There must be an easier way.

 

[MacPhid]

What I do is place the impeller into a glass of warm/hot water for a few minutes to soften the blades of the impeller. This allows more deflection to make it easier to align it to the shaft. I rotate the impeller as I insert it into the housing until it comes up to the shaft and then slowly rotate while tapping in with a rubber mallet to align the splines.

James

 

[Bacchus]

When I first got the boat. A mechanic came down and had it changed out in 6 or 7 minutes.



There must be an easier way.

Have you looked at the tool Dave mentioned in the linked thread?
That looks like it took seconds literally.
The ring compressor shown is a second best... not as slick but it's a $10 tool vs $100 (guess?) For Dave's.

 

[Comodave]

Check out impellertool.com. It makes inserting the new impeller a snap. I think I paid about $40 for our last boat. It was a horrible one to put in on the starboard engine.

 

[North Baltic sea]

Hi,

I use 2 or 3 x wide cable ties, tighten them and at the same time place the wings in the right direction, lubricate the silicone with grease a little.

I push the impeller into the pump, cut off the side with a cutter and continue pushing, cut again and push the rest in.

This is how the work goes easily and quickly with my 5.9l cummins impeller.

NBs

 

[Comodave]

Try the impeller tool I recommended above, no messing around. Just lube the impeller and slide it into the funnel tool. Then the tool slides into the water pump with NO effort at all. Hold the impeller in and pull the tool out. The cost of the tool will be saved in your time and effort. No affiliation just a great tool.

 

[Iggy]

Try the impeller tool I recommended above, no messing around. Just lube the impeller and slide it into the funnel tool. Then the tool slides into the water pump with NO effort at all. Hold the impeller in and pull the tool out. The cost of the tool will be saved in your time and effort. No affiliation just a great tool.

Thanks

 

[Iggy]

I called the guy at Impellertoll.com He said to email him. I did and its been 3 days with no response. I will wait to this afternoon and call him again.

I was a little surprised that you can't order from his web site.

 

[ofer]

What I do is place the impeller into a glass of warm/hot water for a few minutes to soften the blades of the impeller. This allows more deflection to make it easier to align it to the shaft. I rotate the impeller as I insert it into the housing until it comes up to the shaft and then slowly rotate while tapping in with a rubber mallet to align the splines.

James

this together with a couple of tie straps should do it in seconds

 

[Iggy]

I just thought I would throw this out there, on impellertool.com. I called the guy and sent him an e-mail as he requested. I waited 3 days and called him again and left a v-mail. After 3 more days no response from him.

His tools sounds like it would do the job. Oh well... I am going to try the warm water trick and the piston compression tool tomorrow.

As mentioned, I can get the impeller in about a 1/4". I think ether the blades are hitting the water inlet or outlet within the housing and/or I can not center the impeller on the shaft due to the resistance in the blades. The housing is so low and under the heat exchanger that you can not see directly into it. You only have a side view. I am hoping that the compression tool will let me off center the impeller in the housing and slide it on the shaft.

What I find really funny is!! When I bought the boat the mechanic replaced it in 5 or 6 minutes. He just had basic hand tools. Do to the lack of room, I was on the other side of the engine. He made it look simple!

 

[Comodave]

The mechanic does this full time and therefore is good at it. Too bad the impeller tool guy didn’t respond. It is a great tool but if you can’t buy one it won’t help.

 

[North Baltic sea]

I just thought I would throw this out there, on impellertool.com. I called the guy and sent him an e-mail as he requested. I waited 3 days and called him again and left a v-mail. After 3 more days no response from him.

His tools sounds like it would do the job. Oh well... I am going to try the warm water trick and the piston compression tool tomorrow.

As mentioned, I can get the impeller in about a 1/4". I think ether the blades are hitting the water inlet or outlet within the housing and/or I can not center the impeller on the shaft due to the resistance in the blades. The housing is so low and under the heat exchanger that you can not see directly into it. You only have a side view. I am hoping that the compression tool will let me off center the impeller in the housing and slide it on the shaft.

What I find really funny is!! When I bought the boat the mechanic replaced it in 5 or 6 minutes. He just had basic hand tools. Do to the lack of room, I was on the other side of the engine. He made it look simple!

Hi,

I started the piston ring with a tool, but the edge of it is very sharp, I think a 1cm wide electrical cable tie is a safer solution, you put 2-3 of them in the impeller, push them in, cut them out, push them in, cut them out and it's inside without risk of damaging the impeller.

However, be careful with the piston regas tool that it does not break the wheel, if the impeller is not completely inside.

NBs

 

[Iggy]

Hi,

I started the piston ring with a tool, but the edge of it is very sharp, I think a 1cm wide electrical cable tie is a safer solution, you put 2-3 of them in the impeller, push them in, cut them out, push them in, cut them out and it's inside without risk of damaging the impeller.

However, be careful with the piston regas tool that it does not break the wheel, if the impeller is not completely inside.

NBs

I tried the wire ties. It did not work for me.

 

[sunchaser]

Iggy
Does the old impeller have a number on it to insure it is identical to the new one?

Is that mechanic still working in your area? Hopefully yes and he's available.

 

[Iggy]

Iggy
Does the old impeller have a number on it to insure it is identical to the new one?

Is that mechanic still working in your area? Hopefully yes and he's available.

Its a yarmar part and I will recheck the part#. But it does look like the same part. At first I thought I had it in backwards. Due to the threads for the puller.

I just think and keep in mind the the shaft is offset to the housing. The impeller is 3.5" long and 2.75" high or close to it. The blades are centering the impeller to the housing. Since the impeller is that big AND its hard to get at the housing. It makes hard to push the impeller onto the shaft. Thats way I think, some boaters are taking the whole pump off.

 

[Comodave]

Call the guy again from impellertool. He may be a pain to work with but the impeller will slide in easily with that tool. On our last boat the starboard engine water pump was out of sight. You had to work by feel. The mechanics that had worked on the boat for 15 years said they drew straws to see who got screwed when it needed an impeller change. I bought the tool and got the impeller changed in 20 minutes start to finish.

 

[Iggy]

I did it!! I tried the compression tool, no go but. I had fair amount soap on it to slip out of the tube. I took more wire ties again and tried again. On the 3rd try and an hour, it went in. Now to get the O ring to stay.

The O ring kept falling off 2 seconds after getting it into place. I had to slip the cover over it as I worked it into place. Now to hold the cover tight and get the bolts in. The cover has 2 holes are closer together. What a PAIN from start to finish.

A very hard learning curve. You must use a lot of lube and be a small person! Did I mention the the pump is level with the engine room floor?

 

[TomF]

Try using tie-wraps. Make sure the curve of the impeller is correct and then place a tie wrap tightly around the impeller. Soap up the impeller and hope for the best. Obviously, cut and remove the tie-wrap after instalation.

 

[Duetto]

i use a piece of pvc pipe that is smaller, but close to, the size of the pump cavity. i have 2 different yanmars and made up pvc for both. works pretty well.

 

[North Baltic sea]

I did it!! I tried the compression tool, no go but. I had fair amount soap on it to slip out of the tube. I took more wire ties again and tried again. On the 3rd try and an hour, it went in. Now to get the O ring to stay.

The O ring kept falling off 2 seconds after getting it into place. I had to slip the cover over it as I worked it into place. Now to hold the cover tight and get the bolts in. The cover has 2 holes are closer together. What a PAIN from start to finish.

A very hard learning curve. You must use a lot of lube and be a small person! Did I mention the the pump is level with the engine room floor?

Hi, great you did that!

O-ring tip, use silicone vaseline or similar, spread it inside the groove, and the O-ring will "stick" in place.

Another bunch of ties, tighten them little by little alternately, sometimes you twist the impeller blades in the right direction and continue tightening and correcting the direction of the blades.

When the Wings are in the bag and the ties are tight, use silicone grease inside the bunny and the impeller, in any case, I'm sure that next time you'll get through faster and better, it's great that you didn't give up on this job.

NBs