impellar shaft question...M2

[wdd5885]

I have my stator off for repair. I noticed the pump was resting on the side of the wear ring. I am able to move the pump back and forth against the wear ring housing (the entire shaft moves). I'm talking about the small distance between the pump and the housing, but it concerns me. I called Mercury, and the rep said to put the stator back on and try it then (he didn't seem too concerned, but had very little exp. with jets). However, I called the local Sea Doo Boat dealer and he wouldn't commit. He said it may be normal, or it may not, he would not give an opinion without seeing the boat:cuss:.

Any of you have an opinion? I don't mind taking the drive off the boat, but would like to avoid it if possible. Thanks.

 

[rookie101]

That's normal. The Stator is the rear support for the drive-shaft, so without it the impeller will rest against the wear housing.

Aaron:cheers:

 

[wdd5885]

Thanks, Aaron.

 

[WAJetboating]

He's correct. With the stator removed, the shaft has no support on one end so the impeller rests against the wear ring.

Normally, I check impeller shaft play before I remove the stator by removing the intake grate and grabbing onto the impeller shaft in front of the impeller. You should check for both radial (side to side) and axial (along the length of the shaft) play. There should be a little bit in both directions.

While you have the stator off, you can check axial play by moving the shaft forward and backward. Again, you should feel a very small amount of clearance.

Report back!

 

[wdd5885]

I'm happy to report the impellar shaft behaves as advertised. I took the intake grate off and the play in the shaft in both directions is minimal, but expected. However, there is minor corrosion on the jet drive housing and the wear ring where the paint chipped off. I may have mentioned it before, but the previous owner sucked up debris, replaced the wear ring and pump,a but left a heavily damaged stator, which is being repaired as we speak. There are still small areas on the housing, and now wear ring, where the paint is off and corrosion has set in. WAJetboating, I followed your thread about your mini overhaul and noticed you painted some of your jet drive components. Did this work? I want to remove the corrosion and repaint to prevent further damage. Thanks. :cheers:

 

[WAJetboating]

I'm happy to report the impellar shaft behaves as advertised. I took the intake grate off and the play in the shaft in both directions is minimal, but expected.

Excellent. With your seal replaced, you should be ready to go!

However, there is minor corrosion on the jet drive housing and the wear ring where the paint chipped off. There are still small areas on the housing, and now wear ring, where the paint is off and corrosion has set in.

You shouldn't have too much corrosion, since the housing and wear ring are aluminum.

In any case, I did repaint my jetdrive components with Mercury's own enamel spraypaint (after smoothing my wear ring with JBWeld). It worked well. Now, after putting 50 hours on the boat this summer, there are places where the paint has been worn away again on the wear ring. The total worn area is less than before, and it is all in line with the impeller's blades, so I presume these are slightly "high" spots on the wear ring.

The leading edges of the stator vanes are also paint-free in a few places. This exposure is not symmetrical, so I presume it represents uneven flow through the jetdrive. The underlying stator vanes are smooth and properly shaped. Our lake is deep and the water very clean (no sand content) so I know for certain no foreign materials passed through the jetdrive; this is the result of water abrasion.

I recommend resurfacing the wear ring if necessary using JBWeld, then painting it with many light coats of Mercury's enamel paint. Do the same to the stator if it comes back from refurb without having been repainted. You may lose some of the paint like I did, but it will be a net gain because more of your jetdrive components will be protected. Then keep an eye on things when you service each year.

Report back!

 

[cbrf150]

Does anyone have any pictures of this JB weld fix ? Is the wear ring going to be the same through out the whole thing. Meaning ID is the same the whole way ? Mine has nasty taper at edge where water first enters.

 

[WAJetboating]

Does anyone have any pictures of this JB weld fix ? Is the wear ring going to be the same through out the whole thing. Meaning ID is the same the whole way ? Mine has nasty taper at edge where water first enters.

There should be no taper. There's a shoulder where it inserts into the main jetdrive housing (and an important o-ring at that junction, BTW) but otherwise it's straight through.

I don't have pictures, but it can be described in words. Mix up some standard JBWeld (NOT fast cure "JB Kwik") and smooth it into the damaged parts of the wear ring's ID using something like a popsicle stick. Be sure to press down into the wear ring, not just scrape across its surface. Let the JBWeld cure for at least 24 hours.

Then, I used ~1200 grit emery paper to smooth things a bit. Finally, I sprayed well over a dozen very light coats of Mercury's enamel paint. The result was a perfectly smooth wear ring that looked brand new.

There were obviously some high spots, but the impeller will "machine" those down the first time you start the engine.