Raw water pump not working.

[FLokiDk]

My raw water pump on universal 5432, ericson 38. stopped working suddently.. weirdly enough a day after i threw a comment that it seemed like it was spitting out even more water than last season.... so i was puzzled it stopped. ill list what i did so far.
first jumped in and cleaned the intake and hull around the throughhole. checked, not the cause.
second i checked if the impeller was damaged, seems fine, maybe getting close to change, but fine. checked again.
third; went through the heatexchanger looking for clogging. nothing there.

Just before it all happend i was cleaning the front end of the engine with wire brushes and i only later realised that there is an "air" intake where the pumpe goes into the engine??? maybe some of what i brushed off fell into it??

Anybody has any clue as to why the pump should suddently stop working?

 

[FLokiDk]

took a picture of the impellar and tried to turn the engine by hand. the rod in the pump spins and but not the impeller. it looks like a metal thing is stuck somehow

 

[Captain Pete]

Thats good the mechanical parts are working if the pump shaft is spinning. Seems like the c clip is loose. I would just change the impeller to make sure it is mounted properly on the pump shaft.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

I think the "air intake" of the pump body is for water dripping out. The interface between engine and pump is an oil seal. If there's enough space for brush wire to get in, oil would be coming out. I don't think that's the problem.

What stuck "metal thing" are you speaking of?

We had the elastomer part of the impeller break free from the hub. The shaft spun fine, but like you described, the vanes were stationary. In our case it was because I forgot to open the seacock after cleaning the strainer. Yours looks pretty tired so I'd say it's due for a replacement anyway.

Cleaning the hoses while the boat's in the water can be problematic. I saw an IG video recently where the guy used his air horn from inside the boat to blow out the hose from the strainer to the seacock. I haven't had to do it yet, but I'm kinda holding that one in my back pocket for a future need.

 

[JSM]

took a picture of the impellar and tried to turn the engine by hand. the rod in the pump spins and but not the impeller.

If the rod you are referring to is the shaft that the impellor is attached to spins but not the impellor then the impellor is shot. Install a new impellor and you should be good to go.

 

[FLokiDk]

thanks for feedback. ill get a new impeller installed. one thing though.. about the hole i mentioned(and suggested was 'airintake')... i think the impeller house is mounted upside down. so the 'drip hole' is pointing up. is that a problem. its been running like a charm for 5 years this way.