Pump Bearings Service Intervals / Replacemant

[chesbay007]

I have a 2005 AR230 with about 300 hours of brackish water usage. I pulled the pumps for the first time last year and replaced the grease with the slurry mixture. The bearings looked fine with no indication of water intrusion. How long do the original bearings last and what is the recommended replacement schedule? Would you replace them just to be safe or just check them once a year?

Steven

 

[Scottintexas]

how many hours are on the engines?
does it get wet slipped or always dry?

I would think a yearly check would be sufficient,

 

[chesbay007]

ScottinTexas- The engines have about 300 hours on them and YES, I wet slip the boat for about a week at a time during the summer.

 

[Bruce]

Once upon a time I also thought the grease on the bearing was right there for replacement. When I replaced the bearings I discovered there are two on each shaft with about 3" of spacing between them.

There is no way to access the forward bearing. I believe the seal at the front of that housing leaked allowing water in. No harm had occurred when I found a drop of water in the cone but had I gone strictly by the appearance of the grease visible when the cone is removed I would never have known that water was getting to the grease on the front bearing.

You are probably fine but I want you to know that there is a lot more that you can not see than what you can.

 

[ISLANDRACING]

I believe the seal at the front of that housing leaked allowing water in. No harm had occurred when I found a drop of water in the cone but had I gone strictly by the appearance of the grease visible when the cone is removed I would never have known that water was getting to the grease on the front bearing.

One of the MAIN reasons that it is important to use a grease that FLOWS back to the bearings. OEM YAMAHA PUMP GREASE ( that hard to find Epnoc 0 ) doesnt cut it! NOWHERE near "liquidy" enough.
When doing an impeller job or something that requires pump removal, other than a pump rebuild, we will remove the pump cone, DISPOSE of the OEM grease, and refill the cone with our LIQUID PUMP GREASE. in order to "thin out" the OEM stuff a bit.

Do a test for yourself. Lay the cone with the OEM stuff on the bench. Come back in an hour. guaranteed it will still be in the cone. If it is still in the cone it isnt flowing to your bearings.
some people may like a nicely lubricated cone.

 

[Bruce]

@ISLANDRACING, how do you feel about switching to an oil bath instead of grease?

 

[ISLANDRACING]

@ISLANDRACING, how do you feel about switching to an oil bath instead of grease?

Its been done, but maintenance is increased greatly. The lube should be changed /inspected every year mininum if not more often, and the pump has to come out to put the lube back in unless you drill and tap the cone for a fill plug. Fore some reason there is always less lube that comes out compared to what you put in like it gets sucked out or something. Ive seen this where there was no lube left and only water in the bearings/cone.
We usually reserve this for performance craft where frequent "pump in and out" is more common.
We've tried many things over the years, gear oil, snowmobile chaincase lube, even transmission fluid.

 

[Bruce]

@ISLANDRACING, my less than one year old bearings are filled with 70 cc of Amsoil marine gear oil. It will be interesting to see what comes out of them next month.

I started checking the grease several years ago and find pulling the pumps to be easy so I decided it would be nice to be able to change the lubricant on those bearings.

My bearing change and switch to an oil
bath is documented at https://jetboaters.net/threads/changing-yamaha-jet-boat-pump-duct-housing-bearings-and-switching-to-oil-bath-lubrication.10155/

 

[Bill D]

@ISLANDRACING when customers switch over to your "liquid pump grease" product, do you recommend removing the bearing assemblies and removing all OEM grease?

 

[fairpilot]

should you replace the gasket when you pull the cone off. I have not looked inside the cones on my boat since i have owned it (2006) for fear that It will start leaking if I mess with it and I will not find something to put in it. Why is is so hard to get what yamaha puts in it at factory. My boat does not stay in water. Hopefully that helps.

 

[buckbuck]

I have removed the cones a number of times. I have never replaced the O-ring gasket as it appears to be holding up well. Your being in Florida's heat may make a difference, however.

 

[fairpilot]

How did your bearings look and what year is your boat

 

[KXCam22]

I use the oil bath and check very 2 years, say every 1oo hours or so roughly. Not a hard job. I agree with island racing in that the OEM grease is not liquid enough to properly flow unless it gets really hot, which we don't want. I drilled and tapped the cone to make it easy to change the oil. Kind of like changing the leg oil on an outboard. I don't think there is any reason to change the oring unless it is cracked or damaged. I am pleased with the mod and the bearings will outlast me. Cam.

 

[fairpilot]

Guess Yamaha designed these to last. Still curious why whatever factory puts in it we can't get. Whoever is close to Yamaha should ask.

 

[Bruce]

Guess Yamaha designed these to last. Still curious why whatever factory puts in it we can't get. Whoever is close to Yamaha should ask.

The factory lubricant is available. @swatski bought some. The issue is that most distributors only make it available in very large quantities.

I joined @KXCam22 in switching to an oil bath.

 

[swatski]

What @Bruce said!
The actual OEM pump grease is indeed semi-liquid for high "low temp pump-ability". Lithium based, nothing special but kind of hard to find in retail (not a 50gal drum).
If you must stay with the OEM grease, this is pretty much the only US vendor I could find:
https://redidriver.com/my-redi-driver-store/8-oz-ep-0-grease-for-redi-driver-free-shipping-in-usa/

The US equivalent, "Mobilux™ EP 0"

--

 

[buckbuck]

@fairpilot My boat is a 2008 with 500 hours. I also did what @KXCam22 did. Like him, I check them every year or two.

 

[GMAN2015]

One bottle enough for both pumps? Going to tackle this soon.

 

[Bruce]

One bottle enough for both pumps? Going to tackle this soon.

Unless you are replacing the bearings there is no need to add grease.

 

[GMAN2015]

Unless you are replacing the bearings there is no need to add grease.

Swapping out the bearings too.