Cummins 150 Impeller

[Levitation]

Well, attempting to change the impeller... It seems like it is welded on the shaft... I have torn a couple of chunks out of a vane attempting to extract it... I have 'tunked' on it hoping to shock the sleeve/key on the shaft enough to crack it loose - no joy... Got out and came here to sit down, stop sweating, and breath again... I cannot breath when belly down over the cabin door with my feet inside and my shoulders out over the engine trying to work with both hands... I have to work in one minute episodes and then squirm back inside and get the weight off my belly to breath... When attempting to do it from the other direction with my feet against the stern cockpit wall I have to support my trunk with one hand and work with one hand...
Anyway, I have resorted to speaking in tongues with Ranger and Messmer being mentioned... Once I am done venting here I will go back and hit the keyway with PB Blaster and then go sulk and try to dream up a tool I can build that will grab the impeller body like a pair of ice tongs and have a handle with a sliding weight to pull the impeller out...
Ahhh jeez :evil:

 

[GulfSailor]

I totally sympathize. I seem to have got shorter and rounder as the years have passed. 🙂
Nowadays I don't even attempt to lay on my stomach to work if I've just had a meal.

There are special impeller pullers available for around $30 if you don't want to make your own, just Google 'impeller puller'.
I'm dreading the day I have to replace mine. Just being able to reach it is going to be a major exercise!

 

[Captmike]

just for fun I got my saws-all and widened the entry into the front of the engine. I can my whole upper body into the area and work with both hands (in theory). I haven't tried to get to the impeller yet. Can't wait.

 

[Andrew Custis]

I have replaced a few of these impeller and you need to "tug" harder. I replaced the impeller by accessing it from the back of the engine compartment rather than laying over the door jam.

 

[GulfSailor]

I have replaced a few of these impeller and you need to "tug" harder. I replaced the impeller by accessing it from the back of the engine compartment rather than laying over the door jam.

Andrew, what's the approved method of access to it on the C28?

Thanks.

 

[Levitation]

Andrew, my Tim is long and lanky like you and strong like a bull... He gets to it the same way you do... Even with a good pair of pump pliers gripping the impeller body it does not offer to move - he was shaking the boat trying to wiggle and jerk on it... We have stopped after it stymied both of us... It is clear to me the impeller has not been changed since new and has in some measure 'corroded' to the shaft... It is approaching 8AM Monday here and I am headed for the 40 mile trip to the city to track down a puller...

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Denny-O:

In addition to an impeller puller or if you have a problem locating one I've used a pair of needle nose pliers. However I've used ones with the ends that are curved. I found that the curved ends gave me more leverage in hard to reach and or tight impeller locations. Let us know how it all works out.

Jim

 

[JerryE]

I also, on Andrew's advice, cut an inch of fiberglass sole away to gain better access to the front of the engine on my R25 for impeller replacement. Another cut at the top made it possible to get a hand in to take of the radiator cap. Both cuts are covered nicely when the step is put back in place.

On another note, this company promises to make it easier to get access to the impeller more easily without dropping bolts into the bilge. Moreover, they have a kit that has a plastic disk that reduces the impeller's friction against the brass cover plate making it last longer and retain its shape better for easier removal.

Check it out: http://www.speedseal.com/SpeedsealLife/SpeedsealLife.html

The bad news is I have not yet heard back from my email to them around Christmas time. I'll chase them some more.

 

[sparky]

Spend the money, buy an impeller puller. Worth every penny.

Our next purchase is a much more pricey toy, a propeller puller.....after spending $125 to rebalance and polish a prop the yard bashed the heck out of trying to remove it....sigh.

 

[Ken Boyd]

I am not sure an impeller puller is going to do much for you with the raw water impeller installed in the Cummins 150. The end of the impeller's hub sleve is not threaded. There is nothing for the common type of impeller puller to grab into. You might have some success with a small gear puller with long arms that can reach around the impeller and grab onto the front of the hub sleve. You would have to cut away the rubber parts of the impeller to give the arms some clearance with this approach though. A slide hammer is probably the better approach.

I went through this last year and after fighting with it for a couple of weeks trying to remove the front of the raw water pump, I imported a Cummins technicial to do the job. He accessed the impeller from the stern by getting down into the engine compartment on his knees and reaching forward. He removed the four screws holding the cover plate on the back of the raw water pump, removed the cover plate, and the O ring that was under the cover plate. Fortunately my impeller was not siezed on the shaft so it came right out.

Installation was the reverse of removal though he cautioned me not to use petroleum based lubricants on the impeller. He used liquid dish washing detergent. The only problem he encountered with installation was compressing the vanes on the new impeller to get it to slip into the housing while aligning it with the key on the shaft. He used plastic ties to compress the impeller vanes but I suspect using a small piston ring compresser, or a piece of plastic pipe turned to the right size would also work.

Removal of the front of the raw water pump with the impeller attached is an option since you could then get it out on a work bench but I suspect it would be next to impossible to compress the impeller vanes for reinstallation. There is simply not any room to work at the front of the engine. The suggestion to cut way some of the step lip makes sense but I suspect you would end up removing the entire pump anyway. Getting the plastic cover off of the front of the engine is a bit of a drill but I know how to do it withoug destroying anything but that is a different question.

Good luck and give us an update when you get this project finished.

Ken

 

[Levitation]

The final outcome was driving 40 miles and finding that no one had an impeller puller on hand - "You wanta whut?" followed by a frown... Finally found that Pier 7 Marina in Bay City Michigan could get one for me next day for $125... Next day we drove 70 miles and got the puller - only to discover that they did me a 'favor' by upgrading me to the next size up of puller for no extra charge - that is marginally too big to go into the body of the pump (arrrgggghhh)
Anyway, by judicious use of guile, skill, Celtic Oaths (and a big hammer) it was inserted halfway and the jaws tightened into the rubber and it surrendered (though impressively mangled)... So the new impeller was lubricated with SylGlide and inserted - rather an attempted insertion into orbit much like the recent Russian misadventure... That is when it became clear that it is not corrosion on the pump shaft or an undersize bushing on the original impeller - just an oversize pump shaft...
So, once again by judicious use of guile, skill, Celtic Oaths (and a big hammer) it was inserted...

The Charlotte Ann departed the frozen North on schedule and here we are in the marina on Estero Island with a working raw water impeller and a (so far) happy engine... What the future holds for the next time is murky, very murky -- but you can rest assured that it involves complicated incantations and Celtic Oaths...
As a guy who has always thought highly of Cummins engines, but given that I got hosed by Cummins to the tune of two grand for the no-start ECM replacement and now a defective pump shaft, my happy smile is beginning to sag when the word Cummins is mentioned...

 

[GulfSailor]

Probably too late now, but for future reference this is probably the most common type of universal impeller puller (two sizes), and it doesn't require the impeller to be threaded.

Available here at about half the West Marine price: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/S-...d_660020_d_1&gclid=CP2HzrbSjK4CFQ5U7AodGVMwfw