TOPIC: Help! LU shim on my '63 1000

I figured how hard could it be to change an impeller? Well, really not hard at all, as long as you STOP when you get the water pump off. But, oh no, Frank did not stop there, he wanted to explore a bit, lifting the thin stainless plate off that rests between two gaskets under the water pump. When I did, this small shim popped out onto the floor. It's 1 1/16" long and is raised in the middle sort of like a little roof. I hesitate to put things back together without knowing where it goes. The manual is useless!

I think it came from towards the front, could it go between the base for the pump and whatever that loose thingie is in front of it?

Could anybody help me with this, or give me a web site that has a blow up of this LU with clear locations of the parts? I have the manual, but I'll be darned if I can find a blow-up that shows this part.

This could put a big damper on my plan to float the boat tomorrow!

Thank you very much for any help.

Frank

Is that the KEY that keeps the impeller from sliping on the shaft? Locks the impeller from sliping?

Frank, does your driveshaft have a groove (keyway) or a flat spot? (I'm thinking DelRay is onto something here, the flat back of the key going against the driveshaft, the raised portion acting as the key to fit in the slot inside the impeller?)

Yep. Thank you very much. LU is back in place, all is hunky dory!

Frank

I tightened everything up and figured I better start it make sure it's okay. Well, not much coming out my pee tube, but it sounds good. I got thinking, maybe somebody is running water in the house. Sure enough, dishwasher is on. We have crummy pressure here anyways. I need to get this boat to a river or lake!

Thanks again guys!

Frank

Frank I hate to be a pain but before you head to the ramp run it on the hose with the water pressure you are used to running it with. You need to be sure the inlet tube is in place at the water pump as well as at the bottom of the cowl. Take the extra 5 minutes first.
J

I had a great stream of water coming out the bottom on the port side Jim, it was my pee tube sputtering from the top sputtering, just like it has done before when my water pressure is low.

What is the inlet tube? The tube right behind the water pump that slides into the tube coming down? If so, I had my hand inside making sure it slid in while working to get the LU back up and on. I'll run it this a.m. before anybody starts running water!

You're not a pain! Thank you for bringing this up, I want to get it right. Another couple hours, we'll see. Today is the day to finish this baby up.

On the bright side, I just got an email that my throttle control handle trim switch has shipped! But with a delivery date of June 8?!? Sheeesh!

Frank

Frank, I think Jim is talking about the rubber grommets that connect the water tube to the water pump body, and then up where the tube goes into the bottom of the powerhead. Not sure where your motor has it's water pickup, but there may be a grommet on the intake tube coming into the water pump as well. It's a problem if you knock one of the grommets out of place while re-installing the lower unit, (or the water pump lower body in the case of the pickup tube), that's why they used those guide sleeves around the connection. I don't think he was suggesting pulling it back apart, just run it on the muffs again with normal water pressure to make sure your getting sufficient flow out the tell tale.

I had my hand inside making sure it slid in while working to get the LU back up and on.

I think you'll be fine, doesn't hurt to double check by running it again, right!?

PS - hopefully the over-estimated your shipping time on the switch, guess you can set the old box beside your seat for now?

Well Mark, don't know about any grommets. The approx. 3" tube behind the water pump (which I took off, then re-installed exactly as it came off) slid tightly into the tube that was coming down. I wish I had better instructions to do this. The manual was about useless, and I emailed a couple of merc gurus, but nobody replied, so I went at it myself with no experience and no help. I didn't have much of a choice.

I'll run it again with the best water pressure the house can come up with when the little woman gets up and see how it acts. It really didn't act any different last night than normal, when there's heavy water use going on in the house. Now that I've pulled a LU, it would be easy to do again, plus now I'm a lot smarter. So if I need to pull it to check something, no problem.

Yes, the trim switch can just stay loose, though as I finish up the boat today I may temporarily attach it somehow. We'll see.

Thank you,

Frank