Replace the Water Pump Impeller?

[johnmurray]

My Albin30FC has the Yanmar 315 engine which is just coming up to 400 hours. The engine and its cooling system is running fine, but it has been suggested to me that I should replace the water pump impeller as form of preventative maintenance. Others say that if runs fine leave it alone.
Any advice on this matter?

[Fortunate]

I would replace the impellor if it was me. You do not want the impellor disintegrating and get pieces in your cooling system chambers. They can be difficult, if not impossible to find and will cause cooling system flow problems and you will overheat.

[jleonard]

I would change the impeller on any color marine engine at a minumum of every other season. For me that might only be 200 to 400 hours, but I change regardless.
I have never had a problem following this plan, never had to chase rubber pieces, etc. Plus it gives me a chance to visually inspect the housing, rear cover, cam, and everything else related.

[rt11002003]

I agree with those saying one should change the impeller on a regular schedule. When we purchased Bella Donna we had an overheating warning during the seatrial. It took the yard more than a week to find all the old impeller pieces scattered throughout the cooling system. Who knows how long they had been there. There was a complete impeller already installed, so initially the yard was looking for other reasons for the warning.

[jcollins]

If I recall the kit is around 50.00? Another 100 in labor since I don't DIY, but well worth it every two years.

[Capt Paul]

I do not have a 315, I have the 6lp-STE which is the 300HP. I change the impeller as well as the oil every 100hrs. These days, that's about every 9 months.

Paul

[Pitou]

Preventative maintainance is the name of the game here and every other season is the way to go.

Bought my '02 in '04 / 89 hours on the engine. Did the 1st change in '05 (3 seasons of running and 214 total hours) the temp. gauge was rising from 180 to 190. Pulled & replaced the impellar. 1/3 of the vanes were folded over & not moving the water the way they should have and a few had slight cracks in the them. Temp. dropped back to 180 . For curiosity, over 3 months before hitting the trash, I left the impellar in the garage to see if the vanes would spring back up / nada / a number of the vanes stayed folded over without showing any flexibility . It was time or should I say "past due" even though the impellar was performing. I replaced again in '07 as the temp. gauge had begun to rise again to mid 180's and though better that time some of the vanes were losing there strength and had begun to fold and lose flexibility. Low and behold I'm now in the 2nd season of that impellar and the temp is begining to creep once again. A little PM next spring before launch is in order. It's just like changing your oil .... PM is the way to go.

[Mariner]

It's advisable that you change the impeller at least once a year. For most of us, we can probably get away with less frequent changes, but still, every other year at the very least.