posted 09-19-2003 02:06 PM ET (US)        

Thanks,

posted 09-20-2003 09:47 AM ET (US)            

The purpose of the forum is to collect and organize articles of high information content on our area of interest, classic Boston Whaler boats and their more recently made descendants.

You received good advice when encouraged to post questions that relate specifically to how to make repairs or modification (to classic Boston Whaler boats) in the forum section CLASSIC WHALER: REPAIRS/MODS. You will find thousands of articles there that offer detailed advice on making repairs and modifications. But as long as we got started here, let us carry on for a minute more.

In general terms, your question is probably not of great interest to people who are seeking "general" information about classic Boston Whaler boats and their more recently made descendants, but in as much as your are a rather new arrival here, we do try to be kind and friendly, and to help other owners of classic Boston Whaler boats and their more recently made descendants in solving their problems with their boats and, of course, with related equipment like their motors, their trailers, etc.

We do draw the line...somewhere. We don't give advice on how to repair your lawn mower, or how to get along with your wife who hates boating, etc., but in general we do go that extra mile to help people.

Now back to your question, which is actually this:

Can "anyone give their opinion?" YES, people here have no reticence about giving their opinions. That should be clear.

In the future you should just assume that people will be willing to give their opinions because they've taken the time to post a reply. I don't encourage folks to preface their real questions with an inquiry about "Can anyone tell me.." or "Does anyone know..." These implicit questions will be answered when replies either appear or don't appear. No need to explicitly ask them.

So your question appear to relate to the process of changing a water pump impellor. But actually it relates more to you and your own personal skills as a mechanic. Specifically, you ask if we think you can do the job. OK, here goes:

Without knowing you and your mechanical skills, it is hard to assess whether or not you will be able to perform the task which you are really asking about, to replace the water pump impeller on your 100-HP OMC outboard. But here are some general comments:

--The job does not require any special tools that I know of. If you have some proper wrenches, etc., you should be able to do this. It helps to have a big bench vise with some padded jaws to hold the lower unit while working on it, but it is not mandatory;

--Since you have an OMC engine, you should not have a problem getting parts, particularly for an 1987 model. There are many after-market sources for these parts, as well as OEM parts in stock at dealers with old inventory on the shelf.

--Since you have the factory service manual, you should have good, clear instructions on how to do this. Assuming you can read and follow them, you ought to be able to perform the task successfully. It should tell you all the secrets about which gear to leave the lower unit in before disassembly, about the secret to getting the linkage rod loose from the power head, and the secret to getting all the linkages re-connected.

--It will probably take you three or four times longer to do this than it will a trained and experienced marine mechanics. This is your first time, and you will have to learn the tricks, maybe do it twice to get it right, etc. So if you are willing to spend most of the weekend working on this, you'll be fine. If you only have 90-minutes to do this, you will be in trouble, unless you are amazingly lucky and highly talented as a mechanic.

--The limiting factor in my opinion is your ability to lift the weight of the lower unit, which on a 100-HP engine might be considerable. You will have to be able to handle this, and particularly on re-installation, be able to lift it into place. At the same time you'll need an extra set of hands to guide all the connecting linkages to their proper mates and in the proper orientation. Take a look at that lower unit and judge its weight. It is filled with steel gears, almost solid metal down there in the bullet portion. How is your back? You'll be in an awkward position, leaning over, trying to heave up on it to get it back into place. Will this be something you can do? It is hard for me to give you an opinion on that; I will have to rely on your own self-assessment.

As for charging $100/labor for marine outboard repairs in the "Chicagland" --which I take to mean Chicago although I once knew a Cuban torch singer named Chica Gland, but that is another story-- I have to observe that is a rather steep price to pay. I think you can get an experienced mechanic to come aboard and work on a marine diesel engine for $100/hour rates.

Is your marine mechanic at an on-the-water repair shop? They usually charge more. Try someone off-water, unless you cannot trailer your boat easily to his location.

At most service shops, the job of changing water pump impellers is left to the junior mechanic, the new guy, the kid, the guy learning the ropes. At my shop they start at about $75 including parts. As the horsepower goes up, so does the rate. For a 100-HP engine it might be more like $100-$125.

There are millions of guys who have paid someone else to do this job, and probably a million guys who have done it themselves with good results and no problems. There are an unknown number of guys who did it themselves and found they could not get the boat to shift into gear, or it would not go into reverse, or it was stuck in neutral or forward. There are really a lot of different outcomes possible. There are guys who put the impeller in backwards and tore it up in a week. There are guys who did not get a good seal and the pump output was low. Maybe their engine overheated next time they went out, and they ultimately bought a new HONDA for $9,000 as a direct result of this.

(By the way, the reason I mention buying a new HONDA is that you can never get parts for them and this rules out doing anything yourself on the engine. Even the service shop probably has to wait 3-months to get parts.)

There are guys who spent the weekend working on this, ending up taking the boat to their mechanic on Monday to get it done right.

Again, hard to predict your outcome.

I remember as a kid seeing a sign at a local repair shop of some sort. It went like this:

PRICE FOR REPAIR: $10

PRICE IF YOU WATCH: $20

PRICE IF YOU TRIED TO FIX IT YOURSELF FIRST: $50

Now I will tell you this story, which is completely anecdotal and does not bear directly on you or influence your outcome:

Several years ago, about ten, when I first got into outboard boating, I had a 50-HP Mercury. I decided, after reading about it in a cursory fashion, to replace my water pump impeller. I was younger then, my back was stronger, I had great self-confidence in my mechanical abilities (I have made a living for years in part by my ability to take apart complex electro-mechanical devices that I have never seen before, diagnose the problem, fix it on the spot, reassemble them, and restore them to on-line service in a 24/7 business). I began on Saturday to disassemble the lower unit.

The first problem I had was I could not get the thing apart!

I turned to the internet for help. This was back in the days before the appearance of the WORLD WIDE WEB, the HTML protocol, and GOOGLE.

I posted a message to my favorite USENET NEWS group, rec.boats using my favorite USENET newsreader client, "newswatcher". "What is the secret to taking off the lower unit?" I asked.

In an hour or so there was reply that clued me in about the hidden bolt under the zinc trim tab.

I was back in the garage and removing the lower unit.

Over the weekend I got the pump apart, put in the new impeller with the proper orientation, sealed everything back together, and had the lower unit ready to re-install.

I dragged my wife out to the garage to help. She was younger then, her back was better then, she was enthusiastic about boating (still is), and she was glad to help me out for a few minutes, but reticent to spend her Sunday in the garage with me if it took longer than a minute or two.

I got the lower unit reinstalled. I bribed my wife with going out to dinner. It took a few tries to get everything reconnected. Heave it in place. Test. Something not right. Take it off. Try again. Finally, the shift linkage, the tilt lock out cam, the pump outlet water connection, the exhaust inlet shroud--they all lined up and I could heave that lower unit in place and get a bolt started to hold it while I caught my breath and stretched my back.

Now we move ahead a week or two. We trailer the boat up north, about 275 miles. We rent a great little cottage on a nice lake--about $450 for a long weekend in September. We put the boat in the water. Engine starts up. Water comes out. Engine warms up. Wife drives trailer back to cottage. I am alone at ramp. I go to put engine in REVERSE to back away from the dock...

Engine will not shift into Reverse! Something is wrong. Mild anxiety sets in. I tie boat to dock. I check shift to FORWARD. Yes, it works. Propeller turns; boat will go forward.

I shove the boat away from the ramp, drifting out until I can go into forward, turn the boat, and head for the cottage.

I find the cottage and slowly approach the dock, going very slowly since no reverse for braking.

Wife is at dock, with dog, ready for boat ride. I explain problem. Mild anxiety sets in.

We go for a 40-minute ride around the lake. Beautiful lake, beautiful homes, wonderful weather. Still anxious about no reverse.

The next day, the Saturday of the weekend after Labor Day, I call the local marine shop. Any chance, I ask them, if they can look at my problem. The guy laughs. He has a yard of boats waiting for winterizing, etc. Can't get to it for a month.

OK, I think, I'll look at it myself. But I don't have my tools with me. About 11 a.m. we get in the car and drive about 25 miles to the nearest town with a SEARS store. It is a mini-Sears, but they do have a nice set of wrenches and ratchets on sale for $99. Out comes the credit card. I have tools.

Back to the cottage a hour later. We have lunch. Oh, I forgot to mention we took the boat back to the launch and hauled it out last night. It is sitting on the trailer alongside the cottage. Beautiful day. I take the lower unit off after lunch. Everything looks good. No problems. All linkages are mated. I am getting good at this by now, I've done it about four times.

Later we haul the boat back to the launch. Back her in. Start the engine. Still cannot engage reverse. Anger replaces anxiety.

We make a decision. To Hell with the boat. We are here, it is a vacation, we like the setting, the cottage is very comfortable. We'll relax.

Of course, the fact that we are on a lakefront, with a nice dock, with our boat sitting there on the trailer, eventually adds up to some frustration. We go to town to find a liquor store. Mood improves.

I don't recall the precise details of the rest of the weekend. We rode in the car and visited a few places, I read a good book I found on the cottage bookshelf--all 600 pages of it as there was not much else to do.

We hauled the boat home, and a few days later I took it to my mechanic to see what was wrong.

I picked it up a few days later. I think the charge was minimal, say about $40 or so.

"What was wrong?", I asked.

"Couldn't find anything," says the experienced mechanic, "looked good to me and shifts fine."

OK, you do the math:

COST TO SELF REPAIR WATER PUMP:

--PARTS: $35
--LABOR: one weekend
--TOOLS; $99
--COTTAGE RENTAL ON LAKE: $400
--RE-REPAIR: $40
--MILES ON CAR/TRAILER TOWING: 600 miles
--BOTTLE OF SCOTCH: $25
--DINNERS OUT (4): $200
--FOUR VACATION DAYS FROM WORK: (mucho $)

Looks like I got a real bargain.

Now skip ahead ten years. I am older. My back is weaker. My outboards are larger. My wallet is a bit thicker.

Now, when I think I need the impeller replaced, I have the mechanic do it. He charges me about $100. The boat is out of service for a day or two. I have low anxiety, I spend the weekend working on something else, I don't have to take my wife out to dinner, unless she asks, or course.

By the way, the dog had a great time at that cottage running down to the dock and jumping in the lake for four days.

I still have that nice extra set of SEARS CRAFTSMEN tools, but every time I use them I recall the circumstances of how I happened to buy them.

I usually have the impeller replaced over the winter, when the boat is in lay up. If I don't use the boat extensively during a season, I let the impeller go for another year.

OK, mrdrago, there's an answer to your question--sorta.

Also, I have to confess. It looks like you are a MACINTOSH user, so I went the extra mile for you. Love that machine and operating system. Had a Mac 128 in 1985. Never looked back. Wouldn't have a website without the Macintosh.

Good luck,

--jimh

P.S. Check those forum TOPIC choices before posting new articles!

posted 09-23-2003 04:55 AM ET (US)            

My goodness. What a story. I was thinking the same thing prior to posting my note, your story helps convince me that I don't want to take this project on myself. Sorry for the incorrect post. On occassion, I get distracted, and post in the wrong place.

By the way, I do have a nice Mac powerbook and it works great. I love it, as well as my wireless airport network.

I'll keep the posting advice in mind for future questions.

All the best,