video of impeller change

[Cutwater28GG]

Hi Cutwater team!

Any chance you could record a video of an impeller change on a D4 260 in a cutwater 28?

i'd love to learn from the pro's on how best to tackle this job.

like - do you go in through the cabin or do it blind from the engine cockpit?

 

[TexasEye]

Thank GOD no one has a video of me changing the impeller on my boat!!!

 

[rpmerrill]

Probably rated "R". At least on the first time.

 

[BB marine]

Gavin, The location of the pump is different on a D4 in comparison to a D3 or Yanmar. The D4 raw water pump is located on the port side of the engine directly under the fuel filter (secondary). I have seen the install of D4 in the C28 and it is in a tight location but much easier to access then the pumps in the R25 and R27. Any forward section engine repair work on those boats(R25,R27) is a marine technicians nightmare! Fortunately with a little intuision and determination most of the repairs can be done without issue just a lot of "descriptive words being said" :shock:

Here is a good explanation of the impeller replacement for D4 and D6
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... AdAAAAABAD

I think impeller replacement is one of those jobs that a boat owner should know how to do. Especially if the boat is used for traveling to different and remote destinations. Harbor and day cruising probably not. The impeller can serve trouble free for 100's of hours. It can also fail in 30 to 60 seconds without water. A plastic bag, a glob of eel grass, any obstruction from water the impeller can fail in less than a minute and the boat is dead in the water. If you replace the impeller regularly every 100 to 200 hrs you will get a procedure and each time you replace the impeller it gets easier. keep the tools needed on board and a spare impeller and belt just incase.

In 50 years of boating I have never had a impeller fail leaving me disabled in the water. I did have an impeller with 2 chunks missing from the vanes at 200hrs and pumped fine. I have to believe it was going to fail shortly. I got lucky. In 20 plus years of repairing boats as a service technician I repaired 100's of engines and replaced 100's of impellers that failed do to lack of water. Many boater's had ruin days from failed impellers. Usually lack of maintenance but some just bad luck!

 

[Favunclerich]

Brian,

To be clear, not all Yanmar R-25's have the raw water pump mounted on the front of the engine. The 110 HP 4JH4-HTE has the pump mounted on the port side. It's gear driven as opposed to belt-driven. The pump access is limited to one hand, but the impeller can be changed in 15 - 20 minutes without a great deal of difficulty.

Rich

 

[NautiTug]

I am with Gavin, there are a lot of good videos out there onf the D4 related to oil and filters but I have yet to find a good one for the impeller. I watched the tech change it last year but would love to have a video.

 

[NorthernFocus]

... In 50 years of boating I have never had a impeller fail leaving me disabled in the water. I did have an impeller with 2 chunks missing from the vanes at 200hrs and pumped fine. I have to believe it was going to fail shortly. I got lucky. In 20 plus years of repairing boats as a service technician I repaired 100's of engines and replaced 100's of impellers that failed do to lack of water. Many boater's had ruin days from failed impellers. Usually lack of maintenance but some just bad luck!

Back when I was charter and commercial fishing we never changed impellers as a preventive measure. Just ran them to failure. Of course when you're working in a stand-up engine space changing an impeller is a 10 minute job so just a minor inconvenience. Also when they fail due to age it is typically not a sudden failure and you get at least a limited bit of warning if you're diligent about watching coolant temperature. But on these boats it's a different story. Sucking up a plastic bag or something and having an impeller fail while crossing a bit of bad water could get ugly. I doubt very seriously that I could change mine with the boat tossing around in even a moderate sea. That's one of the reasons that I invested in auxiliary power. Sad but true... 🙁

 

[koedding@comcast.net]

Brian,
As always, thank you for your post. Since our C-26 engine is under an extended warranty, I've been leaving the annual maintenance to a Volvo Certified shop. However, I carry the engine spare parts, as well as other spare parts, recommended by Cutwater. I noticed that your link references and illustrates an impeller extractor. Do you have a recommended part number and source of supply?

 

[BB marine]

The reference was for the D4 and D6 Volvo. The D3 220hp engine powering the C26 doesn't require the puller. The pulley and bearing housing assembly can be used to assist removal of the impeller. Once the belt and 3 pump bearing housing screws are removed.Turn the pulley and apply a slight side pressure and walk the impeller out of the pump housing. The C26 with the step removed gives easy access to the pump. gallery2.php?g2_itemId=47266

 

[S@LTD]

Trying to pull my impeller out with vice scripts or whatever was a non starter for me. I bought a brand new puller only to return it for the compact one due to space limitations. The compact one is hard to find (part number 50070-0080). If I would have done it at the same time as changing my fuel filter There would have been more room.

Before the new compact tool arrived my mechanic for our other boat suggested at trick which works great. Spray a little WD 40 between the vanes. Tap the starter a couple of times obviously without starting the engine and the impeller walks right out. I still have the compact tool in its original package and doubt I will ever use it.

 

[koedding@comcast.net]

Brian,
Thanks! I modified the step two years ago, per your instructions, so the technician had "easy" access to the water pump. I'm trying to decide which other ones of you C-26 modifications I'd like to tackle.

Scott, thanks for tip as well!
Bruce Koedding

 

[Tardis]

For your enjoyment:
After bloody knuckles trying to get the impeller out of the D4 on my C28, I spotted our local diesel mechanic on the dock and called him over for a bit of help. He tried working under the filter supports (filter removed of course) for a while with a bit of cursing, but finally said it would be easier to pull the pump and do it on deck. So he removed the two bolts holding the pump, and the impeller change was then reasonably easy. Reinstalling the pump, we now had to put the belt back on and tension it to spec - an incredibly high torque. (My C28 is old enough not to have an auto-tension pulley.) This turned out to be a bigger job than the impeller change. He was laying across the engine on the starboard trying to reach around and put enough tension on the arm, while I was lying along the port side blindly trying to tighten the bolt. After an hour it was on, but still a bit loose. Getting dark and not a condition I would take out on the water.
The next day I spent an hour removing the two panels inside the cabin that exposed the engine front. When he stopped by to check on the boat we could then get proper tension on the belt with me working from inside. I guess the moral of the story is to buy the tool needed for the job.

 

[bluestreak]

My 2016 R-27 has the D3-220 so can I assume (I know) the difficulty replacing the impeller?
Bulkheads, partitions not withstanding?
Bill