Merc 255 Raw Water Pump Problem

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:41 pm

On a recent long trip, my starboard engine overheated. After putting into a marina and renting a car to get home, the mechanic just reported that the front bearing of the raw water pump failed and the shaft "walked" forward causing the pulley to be misaligned and the belt to come off. He said that is his 35+ years working on boats he has never seen this happen.

Anyone else ever have this problem?

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:01 pm

wet wonder · Post by **wet wonder** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:03 pm

Pretty lucky there - an easy fix.

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:12 am

No easy fix - a new pump at $500 plus labor to put it in. Shafts don't normally walk anywhere unless something else has failed - in this case the front bearing.

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:06 am

It happens, I have been a tech my whole life, and Ive seen, Incredible failures , good thing you noticed the engine temp, that could have been worse

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:10 am

Well at least its a easy fix . I am surprised that your tech has not seen this before . must have been working on outboards for the last 35 years LOL

wet wonder · Post by **wet wonder** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:30 am

Do that type of work yourself. You can get a pump for $200.

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:50 am

I would love to have done it myself. Unfortunately, it happened late on Friday afternoon. Fortunately we were near a marina because we were in high winds with 4-6 foot waves on the bow. The town is quite small but has a full service marina and our vacation ended Sunday. The boat is still 315 miles from its new home and we had to rent a car to get back and arrived at 3:30am Saturday morning.

As soon as it is fixed, I plan to continue the trip to its new home. We had taken vacation surrounding the Memorial Day holiday to give us 10 days to move the boat about 625 miles to its new home. Bad weather and/or high winds caused us to only get about half way in 8 days until the overheating problem. But hey, its a new boat, we had a great time learning all about her, we love the boat, and had a great vacation.

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:39 pm

"we love the boat, and had a great vacation"
And that, my friends, is what it is all about.....