Impeller bolt coming off.

[Pcity1019]

So I was on the water this weekend and m boat was running louder than usual. I brushed it off thinking it was the acoustic foam coming apart. After a bit excessive vibration and an overhead caused me to shut down and get a tow. I took apart the rear portion of my pump housing to find my impeller bold came completely off and every bearing had decentigrated. Also on my tow home I noticed I had water coming in from where the impeller went through the hull. Has anyone experienced this? I am two years out of warranty so Yamaha has not been much help. My local shop has given me a quote of 2000$. Am I wrong to think Yamaha should pay for this since it is not something you would check on a scheduled maintenance. Also my boat only has 80 hours on it. For something so pricey you would think a bit more care would go into the assembly of it.

 

[Beachbummer]

$2000 for a pump??? That's crazy pricing! You can fix yourself for less than 400 and that includes $150 for a new shop press. That cavity is supposed to be filled with grease, Even while under warranty Yamaha can be difficult to deal with..Out of Warranty definitely no chance they will help. I'll be happy to admit I'm wrong if they help you, but I wouldn't count on it.

Are you handy? Do you want to do it yourself? I think you are looking at $100 or less in parts. Some bearings and a spacer, some o-rings and a seal. You can probably find a Jet Ski shop that will charge you $400 or less to do it all. The pump comes off with 6 bolts. You can probably take it off so you don't have to drag the whole boat over.

 

[Pcity1019]

$2000 for a pump??? That's crazy pricing! You can fix yourself for less than 400 and that includes $150 for a new shop press. That cavity is supposed to be filled with grease, Even while under warranty Yamaha can be difficult to deal with..Out of Warranty definitely no chance they will help. I'll be happy to admit I'm wrong if they help you, but I wouldn't count on it.

Are you handy? Do you want to do it yourself? I think you are looking at $100 or less in parts. Some bearings and a spacer, some o-rings and a seal. You can probably find a Jet Ski shop that will charge you $400 or less to do it all. The pump comes off with 6 bolts. You can probably take it off so you don't have to drag the whole boat over.

I have gone over many options and yes I am capeable if fixing it. The only problem is I have to take it to the shop for Yamaha to even consider it. Honestly I already have all the parts but I have never done it before and I feel that having them do it would just be less stressful. I’m on the edge whether or not I want to do it myself. Everyone who owns this boat should take caution. That sealed cavity behind the impeller was filled with water. There were chunks of metal from the bearing and the grease was black and smelt like rotten eggs. The 2 k is worst case with a impeller change in mind. I just read the quote and it said no warranty even on the work to be performed so I am now rethinking it to just do it myself.

 

[Beachbummer]

If you disassemble just a little more you can tell if the wear ring and impeller are OK or will need changing. Dealer and yourself are not the only options. Jet Ski shops are a good alternative as well if you are too concerned about doing it yourself.

 

[Pcity1019]

I have called damn near every shop within 100 miles. No one wants to touch a jet boat.

 

[Beachbummer]

Humble suggestion... Find the one closest to you, and take just the pump and go talk to them. On my old Sea Doo the job is a like easier, and over 14 years I must have replaced the bearings 6 times.

It's not a terribly hard job, and it won't take them 2 hours with the pump in hand if they have done it before. This is like a when a wheel bearing goes out early. It's a pain, but can be fixed without too much fuzz.

If you are still open to doing yourself, this is even more reason to do so.

 

[AboveTheBest]

This sounds very similar to what happened to my 190, but if sounds like you shut it down fast enough to not destroy the engine.

As said above, take the pump off and bring it to the shop. It’s very difficult finding someone to work on these that isn’t the dealer, and you should under NO circumstances take them a boat to fix. They are like any dealer, and are used to billing insurance companies and living off warranty work paid for by the mother ship.

There are threads on Greenhulk about using the freeze/hot method to shribk/expand the shaft and bearings to do it without a press, but for me it was worth the $95 tonhave a shop rebuild all the bearings.

Does anyone in your area sell Yamaha jet skis? They’ll likely be able to do this if you bring them the pump.

Otherwise start calling those marinas back and ask if they know anyone that does work on Jet skis. After all, our boats are just big jet skis.

 

[AboveTheBest]

Another thing to do is check Greenhulk and see if anyone in your area works on skis.

I found two very good mechanics in my area doing this. One of them is only 10 minutes from my house.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

contact S B T in Clearwater fl 877-717-7375 they have rebuilt pumps etc SBT Jetski Engines, Parts & Accessories I get my pump parts and intermediate bearings there and you will need to replace that also by the way if water is coming in by the driveshaft.

 

[seadude]

Reviving this thread to comment that an "impeller duct check" which includes pump disassembly, cap removal, bearing check and a new o-ring is supposed to be performed ANNUALLY per the "Maintenance..." thread on this page.
I haven't heard this mentioned before and I doubt my dealer does this during a normal service so I guess people run'um till they fail?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Hitting 700 hours on original pumps however I do add some gear lube to the pump grease to make sure the bearings are lubed correctly. But I do that to my intermediate bearings also and I just replaced those at 650 hours.
I learned NEVER grease them with a grease gun as we have discussed numerous times in the past also if you remove the pump cone be sure to seal the o ring with some silicon sealer or at least replace the o ring.

 

[Evil Sports]

One of the "good" things about our boats is the simplicity of the drive system. As said above Any shop that services jet skis will be able to do that pump for you in short order. Or I bet if you asked there are people here that would walk you though it if you chose to take it on your self. What was the result here??

 

[Beachbummer]

It's probably considered heretic, but I add The Quicksilver High Performance SAE 90 Gear Lube in the pump in addition to Marine grease. This oil can tolerate water so even if there is a slight water intrusion the oil can handle it. I've tried for a single year so far, but I was impressed by the condition of the pump and how well coated it was with oil and grease on removal.

 

[Evil Sports]

This has me thinking....Andy lol. I havnt inspected my pumps at all since 2013. Yikes