Impeller stuck good...broke my vise!

[mb300sd]

Well, this isn't good. I 100% was turning it the right direction, tried to torch it and thought I finally broke it loose... Nope, there goes my $200 machining vise.

Anyone have any tricks to bust one of these loose? It was formerly a salt water boat. I just ordered a much bigger vise and a trailer hitch mount for it.

 

[Julian]

Impeller stuck on the shaft?

 

[buckbuck]

Just checking but you do know they are reverse thread, correct?

 

[mb300sd]

Yep. I heated it up at hot as I could get it with my torch, but still nothing.

I was turning it counterclockwise. With the shaft tool in the vise and the impeller towards the camera in the above pic.

Guess it dosen't matter too much now - I'm gonna have to wait until the new vise gets here, it'll have clearance to clamp the impeller side so I can try my big impact wrench.

 

[Gym]

Did you try a couple of oversized pipe wrenches on the floor? You have to block it up to protect the impeller. You may also need some pipe extensions for the wrench handles for addituonal leverage.

 

[mb300sd]

I was doing pushups on a 3ft pipe when the vise broke New tools show up saturday, so I'm gonna put it aside till then. If it doesn't come off with my 3/4 impact, I'll probably need a new shaft after trying.

 

[Ronnie]

Bummer about your vise, it looked like a nice one, nothing like I've seen before.

I ended up taking mine to a PWC shop after I bought all the wenches and still couldn't get it done, I was bouncing on the 3' breaker bar/pipe and thought I was going to tear the vice out of my work bench even after heating everything up with a map torch. The skinny 17 year old at the shop broke them free with a 5' bar in less than a minute a piece of course I paid for a 1/2 hour of shop time to get this done ($60). Nothing like paying for a humbling experience.

I think @CrankyGypsy put his under the front tire of his jeep in the garage and may have jumped up and down on the breaker bar to get it done.

 

[Bruce]

I got one off using an impact and wrench without a vise.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/chan...-and-switching-to-oil-bath-lubrication.10155/

 

[swatski]

@mb300sd
Here is a setup that worked for me several times. Different prop in this pic, but the same concept. You would be standing in front and pushing down - with an impeller wrench.
That vice is barely big enough, BTW.

An example of a cheater bar that works - this one is 6ft iron support arm for a lift/crane

and the best wrench I found for these neck nuts on OEM impellers, easy to use with a cheater bar/pipe:

 

[itsdgm]

Yep. I heated it up at hot as I could get it with my torch, but still nothing.

I was turning it counterclockwise. With the shaft tool in the vise and the impeller towards the camera in the above pic.

Guess it dosen't matter too much now - I'm gonna have to wait until the new vise gets here, it'll have clearance to clamp the impeller side so I can try my big impact wrench.

Im trying to visualize how you had it in there but I thought that the threads were left handed and that the impeller would thread towards the long end of the shaft for removal. Wouldn't you need to wrench it clockwise?

Again, I could be 100% backwards here. Maybe somebody with more recent experience (or a YouTube video) could help verify.

Either way, hopefully you can bust it loose with the new vise.

 

[swatski]

And one more thing.
For the impeller wrench - many use a large crescent, which may work. But if it is on really tight, may round the corners and slip, these impellers are not made from very hard SS.
If you can find a box wrench for the impeller - I think it is kind of between 27-28, or around 1 1/16 - you may be better off.
Never tried to turn it the other way... by the spline tool. I find that if you cram the spline tool in LARGE enough vise, and prop the impeller/cone on a ladder or something, the whole set up is stable enough so that you can apply a giant cheater bar to the impeller wrench.

I had to use a 8ft something once. it was a support beam for a small crane, like the one above. but it worked. The bigger the vise, the better. I sometimes use one at my marina that is like 100 years old, works best.

 

[mb300sd]

Here's a better pic of the setup I was using. The shaft spline tool was clamped in the vise and I was using a large wrench to push down, with those black blocks supporting the shaft. I had the table farther back to balance the forces at the time.

I definitely underestimated the amount of force required.. the lathe/mill weighs 800lbs and it was shifting.

New plan is to clamp the impeller in the new vise, attached to my trailer hitch, and impact on the shaft tool, it's rated at 1100ftlb, I've seen splines on transmission shafts strip with less torque, so I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[Ronnie]

The shop owner and the tech told me it is best to use snapping motion to break the impellers free instead of trying to increase the force gradually over a longer period of time.

 

[Big Shasta]

just to clarify. It sounds like you had it right though.

They are reverse threads but because of the end of the shaft you hold, it ends up being lefty loosy righty tighty when your looking straight at the other end of the shaft.

Why you taking them off? I'd take the bearings out, repack them and replace the end seals if I were you. Good time to convert to a gear oil bath instead of grease.





I got that pic from this thread which also shows complete disassembly and rebuilt with oil bath.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/impeller-bearings-trashed-lots-of-rebuild-pics-pg-6.2822/page-6

 

[dan144k]

Do you have a chain vise for pipe threading. I always use that to read mine loose. I. Put a block of wood on the other side of the vise by the vee section.

I used 2) 36" pipe wrenches the 1st time and gouged my shaft more than I wanted.

 

[mb300sd]

I'm replacing impellers and wear rings, so just the bearing isn't really an option. I do plan on converting to an oil bath, I have a good bit of Royal Purple gear oil left from doing my differential.