We think that the impeller was this way because the engine was not run in the off season as it was supposed to be. When we came back from our trip North......
...we noticed the engine hours had not changed much - maybe by 20 min at the most. Unfortunately, we did not think about the impeller. We just went sailing South. That is the worst thing for the impeller is to just sit in salt water.
What we usually do is pickle the engine with fresh water. We run the engine for 20 min with fresh water running through it 10 min to warm up in neutral, 10 min in forward and 10 min in reverse. Then when the engine cools or soon after we change all fluids and the impeller, filters, clean out stack tube and new O-rings etc. Then the engine sits (in fresh water) till we go cruising again.
That is what we will do this year also. No depending on someone to do something they might not do.
Forgive my ignorance but, what exactly does the impeller do?
ReplyDeleteThe impeller is part of the engine's cooling system. The raw water pump (aka sea water pump) draws water from the ocean. Most of these pumps use a small rubber veined “impeller” to suck water from the ocean to the engine and the recirculating pump then circulates water through the engine block and is expelled through the exhaust and therefore cools the “hot” exhaust system. These small impellers must be flexible in order to have the power to suck water from the ocean and push it up to the engine.
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