Sucked up rocks

[swatski]

It only took beaching my boat one time to mess up the impeller enough that it needed to be replaced, and what should have been a 20 to 40 minute job last 4 1/2 hours. I broke my vice and had to anchor a heavy duty vice to the concrete and still couldn’t get that sucker off. I finally had my buddy press it out of the housing and split it in half with a grinder. I was able to salvage the drive shaft, and get it all pressed back together, tonight I will be putting it back together. From this point on though I will always have an impeller and drive shaft on hand just in case.

Lots of anti-seize can help, too.

Not sure about penetrating lubricants, never heard of this until now, actually... it could not hurt, of course!
BUT - when you "break" a stuck up impeller there is always that characteristic "ping" noise - which would indicate there is no penetration.

With anti-seize it does get better next time, I found.

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[kinglenario]

Thanks guys for all your input. My favorite penetrating lubricant is mixing ATF (automatic tranny fluid) and Acetone 50/50. Aren't the impellers reverse threaded onto the shaft?

 

[Gym]

Thanks guys for all your input. My favorite penetrating lubricant is mixing ATF (automatic tranny fluid) and Acetone 50/50. Aren't the impellers reverse threaded onto the shaft?

Yes.

 

[kinglenario]

The marina is so bad. They just 'looked' again and said "we don't see anything". The boat literally felt like it was going to blow up when I dropped it off. I'll pick it up on Friday and check it out. They never pulled the pumps or anything.

I also noticed it made really bad noises when turning. Is that normal when theres something stuck in there?

 

[Wisefam22]

Cool, thanks for your input. Yes I have a trailer but the hitch for my SUV is backordered. I wanted to do it myself but I just didn't have time or the vehicle.

If you suck up rocks, what is a serious problem? It's really never much more serious than replacing impellers is it?

Where you at on hartwell I can possibly make a day trip and bring up truck to get it in trailer for you I'm about hour away

 

[Wisefam22]

Kinglenario, I have used Park Marine for a job I couldn't do alone. They were very helpful and they sell Yamahas. They are in Kennesaw. That's not to far from you.
Papa

Park marine also has a location on lake Lanier even closer then kennesaw for him.

 

[kinglenario]

Where you at on hartwell I can possibly make a day trip and bring up truck to get it in trailer for you I'm about hour away

That's super nice of you but I'll probably just rent a truck. I'm right by Hartwell Marina ahem.

 

[kinglenario]

Park marine also has a location on lake Lanier even closer then kennesaw for him.

Yeah, that's who I bought the boat from. There's another place called Water Crafters in Anderson that's only about 30 minutes away. Very experienced Jet Ski and Jet Boat people. I'd probably take it over there just because it's closer.

 

[Bruce]

Stick your phone in through the intake grates and take pictures of the front of the impellers. Those will let us see if the impellers are damaged.

 

[Wisefam22]

That's super nice of you but I'll probably just rent a truck. I'm right by Hartwell Marina ahem.

That's the marina off exit 177? Its 40miles I can make a run up tomorrow afternoon just let me know

 

[kinglenario]

That's the marina off exit 177? Its 40miles I can make a run up tomorrow afternoon just let me know

Well it's at the marina right now and I'm in Atlanta until Thursday. Address is 149 Hartwell Marina Rd. Hartwell, GA

 

[kinglenario]

Update: I finally took my boat to an awesome shop in Anderson SC called Watercrafters. These guys are excellent. I needed new impellers and liners. Boat is actually smoother, quieter and faster than new (it was a demo so there was probably a little damage to begin).

I can definitely say to never bring a jet boat to hartwell marina. Or any boat for that matter. They even killed my batteries.

Thanks for everyone’s input here!