Impeller Replacement

[K McCarthy]

Hi, I damaged mt GTI impeller with debris on the river. Ordered new one and removed pump today. The driveshaft stayed with the motor, is this normal? Tried to pull out by hand, didn't pull out, also is this ok? Haven't removed impeller from the assembly but I think the runout is too much. What parts needed along with impeller to fix? Thanks!

 

[mikidymac]

The driveshaft will stay with the engine. It's normal.

Where did you get your impeller?

I would replace the wear ring and the pump oil.

 

[K McCarthy]

Thanks for answering. I got the impeller from Amazon, stock unit, the box that it came in said"the impeller store". I have also ordered new oil,should be here tomorrow. I think that the fore and aft travel of the current impeller is way too much. Probably from the damage incident. There is probably a shim or something to correct this. Once I get the impeller loose from the pump unit I imagine I will know more.

 

[mikidymac]

No, these all have play on the impeller shaft from front to back, it is just part of the design.
What you don't want is any lateral play or milky oil when you take the rear cone off.

I would be very, very suspicious of that impeller. Looking at their listing they show the same impeller being used for everything from a 1995 SPX to a 1998 GTX Limited and these skis do not use the same impeller.

 

[Cliff787]

What year is this GTi?

According to seadoosource.com. The GTi's from 1996 to 2000 all use an 11*/22* impeller(stock applications). The 2001 uses a 17/22 impeller.

But the 2002 GTi LE uses a 9/20 or a 15/22(source is unsure which impeller it actually uses).

 

[Cliff787]

http://www.seadoosource.com/impellerref.html

 

[K McCarthy]

Thanks guys. my ski is a 1996. The oil looked good, the wear ring seems scratched. Should probably get a new one. The impeller I bought is 14-23. The factory service manual that I downloaded says it should be 11-24. Not sure how this would change the performance of the ski. Maybe a little slower out of the hole?

 

[Cliff787]

Since you already have the pump off. Take a feeler gauge and measure the gap between the leading edge of the impeller and the wear ring from both sides of the impeller.

Spec for this measurement is 1 mm (one) or less. Otherwise you risk the loss of forward propulsion due to the pump not able to pressurize and propel the ski forward as the water 'escapes' past the spec of the wear ring to impeller.

If the wear ring is scratched. Post a picture, if you can. Also change the pump oil while the pump is out.

The 14/23 impeller is pitched too steep for this ski and will cause your ski(I have the exact same one) to be very slow out of the hole, use more fuel and load the engine too much and will provide very slow acceleration and it might not reach max rpm which equals less than max speed.

11/22 will give the nice acceleration, max rpms & pulling power needed when more than 2 people are riding it or when pulling a tube or riding 3 up. It won't load the motor like a steeper pitched impeller will do. The taller or steeper the pitch of the impeller. The more engine mods (compression etc.) will be needed for the engine to be able to use it efficiently.

The 1996 GTi weighs in at 600 lbs. and has 85 hp.

The weight to hp ratio shows that a lower pitched impeller is a better choice for the lower hp motor. Unless you were going to add engine mods to run the steeper impeller.

 

[mikidymac]

As cliff says you need to run the correct impeller on that ski.
Amazon is very good about returns on mis represented items so I would get a refund.

If it was mine I would send the original impeller to Skat-Trak for refurbishment.

 

[K McCarthy]

Thanks, guys! Sounds like good advice.

 

[Cliff787]

Skat Trak in Calimesa, Ca. or Impros.

https://www.skat-trak.com

http://impros.com/store/

 

[mikidymac]

Skat-trak.
Impros took 3 times to get mine correct. I'll never recommend them.

 

[Cliff787]

Skat Trak is always my first choice.

I've never tried Impros before only because I always use Skat Trak(they also sponsored me when I raced in offshore racing).

I just wanted to give the OP options.