leahman 120hp no blades on impeller

[werpy]

changed out the johnson raw water pumps impeller.
the rubber fingers were gone. will the oil cooler let the pieces pass through?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. w. Oil cooler will probably trap most pieces but I would check downstream from the cooler as well. IF you clean out the cooler you may be able to sorta piece back the impeller and see what, if anything, is missing.

 

[werpy]

Greetings,
Mr. w. Oil cooler will probably trap most pieces but I would check downstream from the cooler as well. IF you clean out the cooler you may be able to sorta piece back the impeller and see what, if anything, is missing.

dang was hoping just flow through. got some pieces out but most still missing. im going to try and flush out with wet vac. thank you very much.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. w. The oil cooler on a Lehman isn't hard to take off. One bolt and a couple of hoses. also give you a good chance to check the cooler itself. Coolers ARE a maintenance item and should be changed on a regular basis (of course I forget the suggested hours) and the coolers are not terribly expensive. Less than $200, I think.

 

[Comodave]

Put the impeller on a preventative maintenance schedule so this doesn’t happen in the future. I go 2 years on them.

 

[werpy]

Put the impeller on a preventative maintenance schedule so this doesn’t happen in the future. I go 2 years on them.

Put the impeller on a preventative maintenance schedule so this doesn’t happen in the future. I go 2 years on them.

thanks . yep live and learn.

 

[Bacchus]

I've had good luck using a wet/dry shop vac to collect impeller pcs. Alternate sucking at pump and blowing from far end of cooler, several times, until no more pcs collected.

 

[werpy]

I've had good luck using a wet/dry shop vac to collect impeller pcs. Alternate sucking at pump and blowing from far end of cooler, several times, until no more pcs collected.

great information. i was thinking it may work. i cant wait to work it over with the vac. thanks again you guys

 

[SoWhat]

Large chunks can get stuck anywhere from pump to cooler. Small pieces will end up in cooler. Disassemble all hoses and run a piece of wire through them.

 

[rgano]

You should open up the ends of the heat exchanger and take a peek for the pieces as well as to check for general conditions like calcareous buildup (white looking crud). Then think about a flush of the system with a descaling solution. It's not hard at all once you have the setup. Here's my kit

 

[GB36_OuttaHere]

In my 135 I was able to pick out about 30 years of impeller bits with a pair of needle nose pilers and harbor freight forceps. I found the first screen about 2" in collected everything. I didn't have to remove the cooler, just the hose between the raw water pump and the heat exchanger.. My impeller was still intact, but I pulled out 16-18 blade bits. Backwashed with a garden hose also.. Good luck..

 

[Max1]

I read on here when I first got on the Forum that if you're impeller comes apart, you should always check in the first cooler for bits and pieces. Sure enough when mine did come apart, I checked in my oil cooler Downstream of the impeller pump, and found lots of pieces. Don't even know if all of them were from my impeller or from previous owners as well.. Regardless, I got it all cleaned up, with a big Improvement in consistent engine temperature now.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Wetvacs are a great help but you should put cleaning your heat exchanger on your maintainence schedule. if you've got calcium buildup then buy some 14% strength white vinegar and let the affected parts soak and that will clean them. A good idea once a month is to put a quart of white vinegar down your toilet, pump until just about gone, leave overnight and that will disolve the calcium in your outlet pipe.

 

[slowgoesit]

Another option which I plumbed in to a friends boat was to put a strainer just down stream of the impeller. I told him to change the impeller out every two years, but he didn't, and wouldn't do anything until he started shedding blades and started noticed the engine temps creeping up . . . . so I installed the strainers, and told him to put visually checking his strainers for part numbers during preflight checks. That he remembered to do. At least it made it easier to find the pieces, but he would have been better off to do the preventive maintenance of changing the impellers every two years . . . .