97 Sportster Near Disaster

[northstar1951]

Took my "new to me" 97 Sportster out for a run on the lake. Started it up in the water, gently pulled away from the ramp and went for a 25 second leisurely ride until the motor suddenly quit. Pressed the starter button and nothing. Paddled back to the dock and took it home.

Opened the engine compartment, pressed the starter and "clunk". Not good. Tried turning the PTO shaft and it was jammed. Did all of the usual things (too many to list) without any luck. At this point I was figuring I had a seized engine or water pump. :cuss:The next day I took off the rear bucket and attachments and peered into the area, using a flash light, to get a better look at the impeller. Low and behold there was something metallic wedged in there preventing the impeller from turning. Took me a good hour and a lot of patience to dislodge it and it turned out to be some ancient piece of iron that must have been sucked through the water pump. Needless to say I was more than a little relieved when the engine started right up and all was good.:thumbsup:

A happy ending for a change. Just thought I would share.

 

[Dr Honda]

Glad it was an easy fix.

FYI... make sure your intake grate isn't want get sucked in. Some of the "Weedless" grates can lose a tine.

 

[northstar1951]

Thanks for the heads up. I checked the tines and thankfully they are still in place. The hunk of metal was extremely rusted so I suspect that somehow it found its way into the pump after I started the boat. The depth of the water was in the 8 ft. range when I started the engine, so I will just chalk this one up to a head scratcher.

 

[Coastiejoe]

At 8 feet deep I would be amazed if you could have drawn it in.. But it really doesn't matter how,,, It did get there,,,

Glad you found it and it was not a serious issue..