Update- I removed all doubt, "I am stupid" 🙂
I’ve had the lower unit off the Hiawatha three times in the
last two days. It just wasn’t pumping enough water and the
longer it ran, the less water it pumped, or quite pumping
all together. Yesterday when I had the lower unit off I put
it in a bucket of water with a discharge tube in the pump to simulate
the height of the powerhead. Spun it with a drill, and water did
pump out the tube, but not with a lot of enthusiasm. I assumed
that’s all she’s good for, but took the pump apart and looked at
the new impeller……. looked good. When I ran it
today it pumped water like a 100 year old man at the urinal,
then dribbled down to nothing.
I took it apart again thinking perhaps the hub of the impeller spun,
but it did not appear so. I re-assembled the pump, but didn’t mount
it in the lower unit. This time I made a jig with some wood scraps
to hold just the pump with driveshaft and the test discharge tube, in a bucket.
This time when I spun the pump with the drill, water shot seven feet
in the air. I thought "Old Faithful" let loose.
Then it dawned on me to look at the intake screen closer 🙁
I had wire brushed the exposed part of the screen and blew air
thru it during overhaul. This was obviously not good enough!
I could not blow and brush the blockage out today. I’m thinking
a lot of it is dandylion fuzz. The other day so much was blowing
around I thought it was snowing! I had to drill out the aluminum plug
that was holding the screen it. Think I’ll look for some courser screen
to make a new one. Suppose I need to drain my test barrel and
start over with clean water!
I’m looking forward to the next time I run it to see if I can redeem
myself!
Hope your outboard adventures went better than mine today, lol.
Attachments:
Prepare to be boarded!