Changing the Intermediate Bearing Assesmbly (Water Leak Fix)

[4x15mph]

I had water that would come into the engine compartment through the intermediate bearing assembly. I think this is a common problem given the boats age and/or over greasing the bearing.

I found that when the engines were not running, water would trickle in to the compartment through the bearing (back on the engine compartment wall). If the engine was running, it does not leak.....

I tried to document what I could around the replacement of the assembly. Following is my cryptic summary for a 2001 LS2000. I purchased my replacement bearing assembly from Island Racing. This is a good time to replace the impellers if you are thinking about it as well as the impeller housing. I like the plastic liner option from Island Racing but neither my impellers or liners were in bad shape.

Directions/Steps

• Remove the couplet housing using a 10mm socket

• Remove spark plug wires from the spark plugs and move them out of the way (no picture)

• Remove the exhaust outlet from the engine by loosening the clamp. This took some pulling and it helped to squeeze the rubber exhaust outlet below where it meets the engine. This helped to loosen it and with some prying of a screwdriver, this was removed.

• Remove the grease line that is connected to the intermediate housing assembly. This pulls off with some wiggling.
• Remove bolts from intermediate housing assembly which hold the assembly to the engine compartment wall. (no Picture)
  
• Mark the engine shim locations (4) by using a marker and marking the outline of the "V" opening in the shim. It is very important that the shims go back in the same place so that is the reason for marking them before you remove the engine bolts and shims. (no picture)
• Remove the 4 engine bolts using a 12 mm socket. You may want to buy new motor mounts but you may have to spend more time making sure that the bearing assembly meets the engine flywheel to the exact specifications detailed in the service manual. My engine mounts were in good shape (fresh water)
• Once the engine bolts are removed, slide the engine towards the front of the boat. Be careful as you work in this small space since you have oil lines, wires, etc.

• I think it is necessary to remove the impeller from the back in order to get enough room to pull the bearing assembly forward and remove it. It is connected to the impeller and unless the impeller is separated, I did not have enough room with the engine in place to pull it away from the impeller shaft and pull it out. NOTE: This is a great time to check the impeller wear ring, the impeller (I had a ski rope wrapped around mine), etc. If these need to be replaced, this is the time to do it.
• Start the impeller removal by removing the jet pump housing and reversal gate from the back of the boat.
  • Remove the 4 (long) bolts
  • Remove the Steering link/cable Remove the Gate linkage (forward/reverse cable)
  • Remove the Water hose that is connected to the jet pump by removing the clamp. Note: This is a good time to think about removing the jet pump seal cone on the end of impeller shaft. This can be cleaned and regreased. You should also change out the rubber seal on the cone.

• Pull out the impeller (see my write up in the member tips section). Use a lot of PB blaster if it is hard to get out and I used a long bolt/nut to pull on the impeller assembly... also lots of wiggling and patience. More patience.
• Once the impeller is pulled out and separated from the assembly (or out entirely), you should be able to pull out the Interm Housing assembly from the engine compartment.

• Here is the impeller and the housing assembly once it is out of the boat. Housing assembly is on the left and the impeller is on the right.

• You then need to separate the black/coupler from the housing and then this coupler needs to be pressed into the new housing assembly. I had my local yamaha dealer do this for $60 (one engine/side) since this needs to be attached and removed precisely. You don't want this to be offset or bent in any way. See the yellow circle in the attached picture. This is the new assembly that you would buy and the other piece is what needs to be detached and then pressed onto your new assembly. Some people rebuilt the entire assembly by buying new seals, etc. It needs to be done exact since you would get vibration, leaks, broken drive shaft, ?? if it is not perfect.

• I stopped documenting the process but when reassembling it is important to use the different Loctite products for the various bolts, etc. You can see the specifics in the service manual. Very important and you want to tighten all fittings using the torque specs in the manual
  • Before reattaching the grease fitting to the new bearing assembly, you should either use a new tube that is clean or you should run new grease through the fitting. You will likely find older, hard grease in the tube that will prevent future greasing to be effective. I will still caution about greasing this assembly and you will know what i mean once you see how the grease can force out the rubber seal, resulting in the leak....
  • Double check all connections when you are done, especially anything to do with the oil injection system. Pay attention to the cooling system (pee holes) and the expected smoke when you first test drive and subsequent drives after. You just had the engine out.... I didn't have any problems but you certainly could if you aren't careful.

 

[GHynes]

Hello 4x15mph!
Finally, we are ready to change our intermediate bearing housing. Picture below. We are planning to pull the engine out so we have more room, instead of removing the impeller as you did. Just wondering if you can have a look at the picture. As you can see we have the Intermediate housing attached to the bearing housing. When you took off the three bolts to the intermediate housing, are they the same three bolts holding the pump unit on the other side of the transom? Does the pump need to be supported or removed? Just trying to get an idea of what to expect. Any recommendations you can give will be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks, Gerri

 

[4x15mph]

Have to get back to you Sunday night. You will have to.pull the impeller and slide the engine back.

 

[GHynes]

Thanks! We've pulled the engine out. Tomorrow we are going to change the part. Hoping everything goes smoothly. Thanks again for the info above. Has been very helpful so far...

 

[4x15mph]

Just updating this to reiterate the cause of failures can often be traced back to greasing. I am personally not going to grease these any more and now after reinstalling yet another assembly, I didn't grease it before putting it in. I also didn't reattach the grease hose and zerk fitting.... No More Grease

 

[Cambo]

When using a grease gun it is very easy to blow out the seals that will allow water into the bearing and cause it to fail. Using 2 stroke oil I mix it with grease making a thinner consistency if 2 stroke oil can endure the harsh combustion chamber and still lube the bearing on a dirt bike motor it can easily handle this bearing. I picked up a small syringe kit from amazon then inject the grease slurry into the bearing until I feel some resistance. Depending on the year and model you will have a rubber tube or zerk fitting to remove from the bearing housing that will allow you to inject the slurry into the bearing area. I’m on my fourth jet boat with close to 20 years on salt water with no bearing failures.

 

[FLJetBoater]

When using a grease gun it is very easy to blow out the seals that will allow water into the bearing and cause it to fail. Using 2 stroke oil I mix it with grease making a thinner consistency if 2 stroke oil can endure the harsh combustion chamber and still lube the bearing on a dirt bike motor it can easily handle this bearing. I picked up a small syringe kit from amazon then inject the grease slurry into the bearing until I feel some resistance. Depending on the year and model you will have a rubber tube or zerk fitting to remove from the bearing housing that will allow you to inject the slurry into the bearing area. I’m on my fourth jet boat with close to 20 years on salt water with no bearing failures.

I didn’t think the grease you put through the zerk on the intermediate bearing housing actually went into the bearing? Isn’t the bearing a sealed unit?

I just found this thread because I discovered a small drip leak on my port side intermediate housing and gauging the work to replace this myself. I do have a press so doesn’t seem too bad aside from sliding the engine forward.

 

[Kevin C]

I had water that would come into the engine compartment through the intermediate bearing assembly. I think this is a common problem given the boats age and/or over greasing the bearing.

I found that when the engines were not running, water would trickle in to the compartment through the bearing (back on the engine compartment wall). If the engine was running, it does not leak.....

I tried to document what I could around the replacement of the assembly. Following is my cryptic summary for a 2001 LS2000. I purchased my replacement bearing assembly from Island Racing. This is a good time to replace the impellers if you are thinking about it as well as the impeller housing. I like the plastic liner option from Island Racing but neither my impellers or liners were in bad shape.

Directions/Steps

• Remove the couplet housing using a 10mm socket

View attachment 1354

• Remove spark plug wires from the spark plugs and move them out of the way (no picture)
• Remove the exhaust outlet from the engine by loosening the clamp. This took some pulling and it helped to squeeze the rubber exhaust outlet below where it meets the engine. This helped to loosen it and with some prying of a screwdriver, this was removed.

View attachment 1356

• Remove the grease line that is connected to the intermediate housing assembly. This pulls off with some wiggling.
• Remove bolts from intermediate housing assembly which hold the assembly to the engine compartment wall. (no Picture)
• Mark the engine shim locations (4) by using a marker and marking the outline of the "V" opening in the shim. It is very important that the shims go back in the same place so that is the reason for marking them before you remove the engine bolts and shims. (no picture)
• Remove the 4 engine bolts using a 12 mm socket. You may want to buy new motor mounts but you may have to spend more time making sure that the bearing assembly meets the engine flywheel to the exact specifications detailed in the service manual. My engine mounts were in good shape (fresh water)
• Once the engine bolts are removed, slide the engine towards the front of the boat. Be careful as you work in this small space since you have oil lines, wires, etc.

View attachment 1357

View attachment 1359

• I think it is necessary to remove the impeller from the back in order to get enough room to pull the bearing assembly forward and remove it. It is connected to the impeller and unless the impeller is separated, I did not have enough room with the engine in place to pull it away from the impeller shaft and pull it out. NOTE: This is a great time to check the impeller wear ring, the impeller (I had a ski rope wrapped around mine), etc. If these need to be replaced, this is the time to do it.
• Start the impeller removal by removing the jet pump housing and reversal gate from the back of the boat.
  • Remove the 4 (long) bolts
  • Remove the Steering link/cable Remove the Gate linkage (forward/reverse cable)
  • Remove the Water hose that is connected to the jet pump by removing the clamp. Note: This is a good time to think about removing the jet pump seal cone on the end of impeller shaft. This can be cleaned and regreased. You should also change out the rubber seal on the cone.

View attachment 1360
View attachment 1361
View attachment 1366

• Pull out the impeller (see my write up in the member tips section). Use a lot of PB blaster if it is hard to get out and I used a long bolt/nut to pull on the impeller assembly... also lots of wiggling and patience. More patience.
• Once the impeller is pulled out and separated from the assembly (or out entirely), you should be able to pull out the Interm Housing assembly from the engine compartment.

View attachment 1363

• Here is the impeller and the housing assembly once it is out of the boat. Housing assembly is on the left and the impeller is on the right.

View attachment 1364

• You then need to separate the black/coupler from the housing and then this coupler needs to be pressed into the new housing assembly. I had my local yamaha dealer do this for $60 (one engine/side) since this needs to be attached and removed precisely. You don't want this to be offset or bent in any way. See the yellow circle in the attached picture. This is the new assembly that you would buy and the other piece is what needs to be detached and then pressed onto your new assembly. Some people rebuilt the entire assembly by buying new seals, etc. It needs to be done exact since you would get vibration, leaks, broken drive shaft, ?? if it is not perfect.

View attachment 1365

• I stopped documenting the process but when reassembling it is important to use the different Loctite products for the various bolts, etc. You can see the specifics in the service manual. Very important and you want to tighten all fittings using the torque specs in the manual
  • Before reattaching the grease fitting to the new bearing assembly, you should either use a new tube that is clean or you should run new grease through the fitting. You will likely find older, hard grease in the tube that will prevent future greasing to be effective. I will still caution about greasing this assembly and you will know what i mean once you see how the grease can force out the rubber seal, resulting in the leak....
  • Double check all connections when you are done, especially anything to do with the oil injection system. Pay attention to the cooling system (pee holes) and the expected smoke when you first test drive and subsequent drives after. You just had the engine out.... I didn't have any problems but you certainly could if you aren't careful.

Can not the black rubber coupler be unscrewed from the coupler shaft thus allowing bearing housing removal without moving the engine off its mounts???? PLEASE advise and save me some pain.

 

[dabomb6608]

Can not the black rubber coupler be unscrewed from the coupler shaft thus allowing bearing housing removal without moving the engine off its mounts???? PLEASE advise and save me some pain.

No. It would be physically impossible to remove the housing assembly without moving the engine. Once you do it you will see why.


Actually to edit...there is one scenario I have seen that could potentially allow removal but NOT installation....Had a customer ski shear a driveshaft right at the threads of the intermediate housing coupler. I didn't attempt to as I knew I was going to have to need the room for putting things back together but TECHNICALLLY I probably could have removed the impeller/shaft then unbolted the intermediate housing and removed the housing then removed the coupler as they were separate parts at that point...

So to clarify it might not be physically impossible to remove...but it is 100% physically impossible to install a replacement without moving the engine forward.

 

[Kevin C]

No. It would be physically impossible to remove the housing assembly without moving the engine. Once you do it you will see why.


Actually to edit...there is one scenario I have seen that could potentially allow removal but NOT installation....Had a customer ski shear a driveshaft right at the threads of the intermediate housing coupler. I didn't attempt to as I knew I was going to have to need the room for putting things back together but TECHNICALLLY I probably could have removed the impeller/shaft then unbolted the intermediate housing and removed the housing then removed the coupler as they were separate parts at that point...

So to clarify it might not be physically impossible to remove...but it is 100% physically impossible to install a replacement without moving the engine forward.

Many thanks! We’re going to lift the engine today.

 

[Kevin C]

Do I have to pay a Yamaha parts $100 for two seals in a bearing. Can I just go down to the bearing warehouse and find the same size? Also can I find a substitute and Yamaha oil filter?

 

[dabomb6608]

Do I have to pay a Yamaha parts $100 for two seals in a bearing. Can I just go down to the bearing warehouse and find the same size? Also can I find a substitute and Yamaha oil filter?

Should be able to cross reference the oil filter at most auto parts stores. The bearings are a different story. I've only ever used OEM or WSM brand.