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My 2013 Nautique G23 is fitted with a 550 HP supercharged PCM XS550. I want to replace the raw water impeller that cools the engine. Does anyone have photos of where it is located or links with information that could help me. I am located in South Africa and I do not have many registered dealers. Any help would be appreciated.
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Last edited by GrantGrabe; 12-27-2018, 11:33 AM. -
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Impeller is pretty easy to DIY....to start, you gotta release the tension off the serpentine belt and remove it (don't forget how its routed so you can put it back the same)....this is a good time to look at your belt closely and make sure its in good shape, if it has not been changed before on a 2013...now is the time so it does not shred on you when you don't want it too (I kept the existing one as a spare in my boat). On my boat. the belt tensioner takes a 15mm socket and is located on the opposite side of the engine as the water pump with impeller in it. (both are at the transom end of the engine.....if facing the engine from boat cabin, the tensioner for belt is on the right and the impeller housing is on the left.
Once you locate the water pump, look PAST the exposed 3 bolts you will see on the belt pulley (don't remove those bolts)....behind the pulley, there are 3 small bolts (probably 10mm socket), you remove those to remove the water pump. There are small o-rings that hold those bolts in place so you don't drop them once they are loose. Removing those 3 bolts allows you to remove the water pump assembly since its way easier to replace impeller when you are not lying inside the engine.
Impeller can be pulled out of the housing using pliers, by grabbing a rubber vane and gently twisting as you pull....also many other ways to remove it but pliers are easy if you have no intention of saving it, some people use an "impeller puller" or paint can opener, etc....but before you remove it, look closely to see if any impeller pieces are missing, since if they are, its possible you will need to back-flush your raw water system (mentioning that just in case since it has happened to others), it can cause you to overheat down the road if pieces of impeller are blocking water travel.
Make sure you clean out the impeller housing really well before installing new one....remove any black marks from the old impeller on inside of the housing, etc.
A nice trick that works good for me when re-installing the new impeller, is I liberally coat the new impeller with a little water and lot of dawn dish soap, it helps the impeller slid back into place fairly easy if you push it in by hand while gently turning it (oh yea.....MAKE SURE that you check the "core" of the impeller, a few people have gotten new impellers that have a "spun core", which means once you re-install....the core will spin, but it will not turn the impeller cause the core has separated from the rubber impeller. Would suck to do all that work and then overheat cause of that.
Make sure you replace the o-ring....I find that rubbing a light coat of grease on the o-ring not only helps it seal well, but also keeps the o-ring in place while I am re-installing the cover since it likes to fall out.
Last thing is just putting the water pump back on (make sure you get a good seal)...and then re-install the belt.
Of course....you want to check and double check to be sure there are no leaks once you have it back together. I always fire my engine up in the driveway and let it get up to temp and then start cooling, to be sure all is good before I take it for a test drive on the lake and I don't get too far from the dock till I am sure. I have not personally had an impeller failure, but have towed in a couple people that went roaring away after a new install and realized 10mins later that something wasn't done right and boat overheated a couple miles from the dock (a very small air leak from not having a good seal can cause overheat)
I don't think I forgot anything....good luck!
I suggest while you are learning DIY, if you have not already done it.....would be smart to change your FCC paper fuel filter (inside the canister). With the crap gas these days, they can get pretty nasty looking after each season....and of course also changing the fuel/water separating "spin on" fuel filter. FCC filter replacement can be a slight PITA, if you need a tutorial with pics, I have one I can email to you that someone I know put together.Comment
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