1997 Speedster Winter Maintenance/wear ring replacement

[Banditgrrr]

Now that my boat is down for the winter, I'm looking to change the wear rings/impellers in both engines. Since the boat is relatively new to me, I'm not to familiar with what parts I need. I'm assuming there's a special tool needed to remove the impeller and I need more than just the wear ring (PN 271000290). Any advice on what special tools I'll need and what parts I should be ordering if I'm going to go through the process of replacing the wear rings? I also see the impeller (PN 271000497) on the Seadoo website is $310 each. Any suggestions for a better lower cost replacement? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cncsignman]

You will need an impeller removal tool. Is the impeller in bad shape? It may not need replacing. You can have the edges filed down if it's not too beat up. While the pump is out I would remove the cone and check the bearings for any rust or signs of wear. If you see any I would suggest new bearings and seals. Don't forget to pressure test the pump if any seals or oil is replaced. Would also replace the neoprene seal where the pump meets the hull. Better to check all while it's out. YouTube has videos on wear ring and impeller removal. Hope that helps.

 

[snikwad003]

If you are itching to spend some cheddar on props you should get the skat trak swirl impellers for less than $310 each. Other options like impros for remanufacturing. There are many write ups and youtubes on the jet pump removal/rebuild. Hopefully nobody siliconed your pump to the boat, the neoprene ring he is talking about may not be there, if its not definitely put one there, I think youre supposed to replace it but if it is soft I would let it ride. To get the impeller out you have to take the cone off and drain the oil so at minimum you need the o ring for the cone and some oil. If the oil is milky you probably need new bearings and shaft and shaft seal. Youre already on the right track with the oem wear ring if you need a new impeller shaft oem is recommended also. Some people have good luck with $7 china wear rings from ebay but the one I have is wearing like a semi circle. When you reassemble you need to pressure test the pump to make sure it dosent leak. Would be a good time to replace carbon seal if its time for it too, and you want to disconect that BEFORE you remove the jet pump or you will :cuss: :banghead: Have fun:cheers:

 

[Chester]

Just curious, why are you replacing the impellers and wear rings? If you just want better performance, definitely get a pair of Skat-Trak 14.5/22.5 swirl impellers. You will not regret it. If the wear ring are not damaged, no need to replace them.

Chester

 

[XP 787]

Replace the rubber bumpers on both ends of the drive shafts also while everything is apart.

 

[Banditgrrr]

I had problems trying to wakeboard behind the boat. I'm 170 pounds but the boat would not plane. I think this is what people call "cavitating" but I'm not sure. I took a picture of the impellers and seals the best I could. Someone told me about SBT website and I seen a prop exchange there for $69 each. I thought that since I was going to try and replace the seals, I might as well try to repair/replace the impellers at the same time. I've never worked on a boat before so this is new to me but I am a little bit mechanically inclined. I also noticed in the pictures that one has like a white plastic piece over the drive shaft and the other one does not. I've looked at the parts diagram and I don't see that white plastic cover. Is that the actual drive shaft itself that needs to be replaced?

 

[snikwad003]

Keep that flash light stuffed in there and look from the nozzle side and see how much light is shining around the edge and that will tell you your wear ring condition

 

[racerxxx]

Remove the other white piece when you have it torn down. It "clips" in if you remove the rubber accordion boot on the inside of the bilge area. You will see 4 "tangs" that latch it in place but they use silicone to help hold it. It is a plastic crush tube so when you suck a ski rope up it won't damage anything. They don't work, I ripped them off my Speedster when someone driving the boat crossed the rope. The rope still cranked so tight around the driveshaft. Same thing that happened to the one missing on your boat. You could send you impellers to impros or someplace like that. The $69 SBT deal is gonna cost you more than that once you ship your's back------not worth it. As far as the cavitation, osdparts.com sells an HD carbon seal set up that adds more material to make the seal have more tension. But.....if you have not pumped grease into the zerk fitting on the PTO yet, the grease will push the driveshaft back towards the pump putting tension on the carbon seal. Just pump it until the shaft JUST stops moving. You should be able to stab it wide open and it shouldn't cavitate with a little maintenance and good parts.

 

[Chester]

Install the Swirl impellers if you can afford it. You will be amazed with how quick they pull wakeboarders and get up on plane. It looks like you should install new wear rings too.

Chester

 

[Banditgrrr]

So I took the plunge and took off the port side pump. Now that it was so much easier to see, the wear ring is destroyed and pieces of it are missing. The prop is also in pretty bad shape. So far I'm going to replace the wear ring and I'll take people's advice and order the Skat-Trak 14.5/22.5 swirl impellers. Just a couple questions before I order the parts:

1. I see everyone saying to use the OEM wear ring. I've gone to the OSD Parts website and I see the rebuilt kits. There's an option to upgrade to a Delrin wear ring. Is that a good idea or stay with the OEM wear ring?

2. On the same website, I see there's full pump rebuilt kits. Is it a good idea to order a kit for each pump and replace the bearings that are included with this kit too? I'm assuming my 1997 Speedster is 140mm and not 155mm?
http://osdparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=595_602_3&products_id=4098

3. The only other item I should need is synthetic grease?





Thanks to everyone for their help so far.

 

[Coastiejoe]

OEM or Delrin product is all I would use for wear rings. Some boats have two different impellers, take a look at yours so you don't order two of the same if your are running different impellers.

I have edited my post. You do not have synthetic grease in the two-stroke application. You have gear oil.

 

[XP 787]

You might have gear oil instead of grease. Pull the nosecone off and check for water intrusion.

 

[snikwad003]

Yes you are 140mm, oem or delrin is good. Should be oil not grease, grease goes on the spines in the impeller. Pull the cone off and see if the oil in there is mixed with water if it is you probably need new bearings and shaft. There will be play front to back but not side to side, you can disassemble and look at the shaft and if there arnt major grooves in it I would let it ride here is a foto of the shafts I replaced in mine
If you need shafts go oem on those as well, the one in the osd kit isnt but the bearings in that kit are good. And you need to be able to pressure test the pump

 

[Banditgrrr]

So I removed the nosecone and the fluid that came out is jet black and thick. I just ordered some of the pump oil so I'm not sure if this is normal. If the oil is not supposed to be black and thick, does that indicate a problem?

I'm also having extreme difficulty loosening the impleller. I put it in my vice, insert the splined impeller removal tool and try to turn it counter clockwise. It would not budge. Is there some trick to loosening it? (WD40, etc)

 

[cncsignman]

I would think that black oil would mean that it has not been changed in a while. As for the impeller removal... I had the same trouble with mine. Had to use a cheater bar in mine before it broke loose. If it's that hard to loosen be sure you have the shaft clamped in a strong vise so it won't slip out. You will need someone to hold the pump steady while you souse down on it.

 

[Banditgrrr]

I had my neighbor give me a hand and I was able to get the impeller removed. I'm trying to remove the wear ring and I followed videos. Everything I see says to cut the wear ring on both sides and it pry's out with a little bit of effort. I cut my wear ring on both sides and tried to pry it out. It's basically flaking off. I took a screwdriver to try and pry it out and it's just breaking off in hard plastic pieces. I'm assuming I'm going to have to do this all the way around the ring. The boat is a 1997 and for all I know, the wear rings have never been replaced. Hoping I'm not screwing anything up by doing it this way. Not quite sure how I'm going to get 100% of the wear ring out without damaging the white plastic part under the wear ring.

 

[Chester]

The white part is part of the wear ring. You have to cut through that too. You only have to cut through one side and then it will pry out easily.

Chester

 

[Banditgrrr]

Well, I feel like a complete idiot. I just spent two hours trying to break out just the black portion and it's been a disaster. I didn't realize the white portion is part of the wear ring. Back at it with a chisel. Thanks Chester. Just saved me 2 more hours.

 

[cncsignman]

They are a pain to get out. Don't pry too hard especially if the pump is plastic.

 

[snikwad003]

The jet black oil is a good sign you have no water in there. How does the shaft look? Any grooves your finger nail get stuck in?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Black oil is great.. Just means it is old. But NOT water infused.

As the other said,, you just didn't cut enough yet. Carefully cut through the white layer as well. You don't have to go all the way through. Get close and pry a but and the uncut part will normally crack. Once you get an edge going, it will fold into itself a bit and be pretty easy to remove.

 

[cncsignman]

I would suggest freezing the new wear rings before you install. Will make them go in much easier. You can tap them in by laying a 2x4 across them just tap evenly

 

[Banditgrrr]

So now I have the new delrin wear ring installed. I'm waiting on my new Skat-Track impellers which should be here Wednesday. After reading through the shop manual, there's about 6 or 7 different types of LocTite they mention. Based on what you guys have done, are all of these required or is synthetic grease and synthetic lube all that's needed? Only reason I ask is to buy all the different LocTite versions mentioned in the manual would be about $100.

 

[snikwad003]

I only used blue loctite on the impeller/shaft. I used klotz jet pump oil in the pump, and green grease from advance auto for the pto and front of impeller. The green grease was the only one they had that said anything about marine use or being waterproof so you may have something better avaliable

 

[Banditgrrr]

So on to the next step of the process. The delrin wear ring is installed. I lightly sanded the inside before installing the wear ring. I just received my new Skat-Trak impellers from Impros. I tried to install one and it doesn't seem to fit. With a little bit of pressure, I can get it to slide in about 1/2" just until the impeller touches the shaft. Then it seems to bite into the delrin. I even sprayed the wear ring with a bit of soapy water and it didn't help. Since the wear ring is delrin, is my best option to try and sand it down a bit and see if I can get it to fit?