What do you think about my port impeller and pump housing?

[Bruce]

Something got stuck in there today so I had to pull it out. My 2007 SX230 HO tops out at 46 with 530 pounds of people, a fridge full of drinks, lots of mods and toys on board. I have heard of plenty of other 46 MPH SX230s but I still want more.

How do these pumps and impellers look to you? @Cobra Jet Steering LLC I would appreciate you taking a look. Thanks

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Looks average to me I don't know what the clearance between the impeller and the liner is from the pictures but I would clean the leading edges and not worry about it.

 

[Scottintexas]

did you find anything else out about them being a different pitched stock impeller than the AR, did the part # on the impeller match the book?

 

[Bruce]

did you find anything else out about them being a different pitched stock impeller than the AR, did the part # on the impeller match the book?

The part number is 6P600 which is consistent with the 18.x degree impeller used on AR230s.

 

[Bruce]

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC, do you have a preferred method of measuring the gap? Thanks

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

a good old fashioned feeler gauge, also look for high spots in the liner from bi metallic corrosion those will show contact with the impeller

 

[Bruce]

Do you use the feeler guage when the impeller and pump are installed in the boat? Or do I need to pull the pump and check from the front side?

There are visible rings in the pump housing with one having a discolored look.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

well the liner looks like you could use a new one, usually the liners get bumps under them from corrosion and those become a problem but this looks like sand etc run through the pump. From experience if you don't need to replace the impellers don't mess with them I also used a plastic liner on my last one with good results. and eliminated the corrosion issue. I have seen people get their pumps totally locked up after the boat sat for a while just due to corrosion under the liner contacting the impeller.

 

[Gym]

I had both my pumps off yesterday and yours look consistent with mine with the exception of a gouge on the dark inner ring of your liner. I'm sure that was caused by debris rather than impeller contact. In addition to the 530 pounds of people, a fridge full of drinks, lots of mods and toys on board were you carrying full fuel? Was the bimini in the full parked position? What were the wind and wave conditions? Was the windshield and bow door closed? Those conditions, combined, could account for 2-3 mph.

 

[bronze_10]

@Bruce... during our run back from charleston today at one point we were a little behind the lead boat... we sped up to get caught back up.... I was using my navtronics app to map the run.... it said my gps registered a max speed of 49.1 mph.... I had 8 people on the boat and we just fill up in charleston with the Bimini top open.... I am going to have to do a little more testing with the GPS speeds... I always thought 46 to 47 was the max!

 

[Bruce]

@bronze_10, were you going upstream or down?

 

[Bruce]

were you carrying full fuel? Was the bimini in the full parked position? What were the wind and wave conditions? Was the windshield and bow door closed

I am a bad test case. We almost always boat with our family of four with the Bimini up and open and a near full tank of gas. Today we had those conditions with a full tank and the windshield and bow door open. The water and wind were calm today.

 

[bobbie]

Whew! @Bruce I thought you coined a new phrase for your "Frank and beans"!

 

[Murf'n'surf]

The whole setup looks good but the clearance needs to be checked on both housings.

How do the bearings on the shaft feel? Should turn nice and smooth with no noise. Mine were bad and did reduce my overall RPM and speed. Are you still turning 10,000 rpm?

My opinion is to stay away from the plastic liner inserts. I've seen a lot of liners damaged or pushed out (read day of boating is over) were the solid housing would have held up and been no issue.

 

[Bruce]

@Murf'n'surf, both engines top out at 10,200 RPM.

I pulled the cones and found both sets of bearings to be in good condition in 2014. The port shaft spins freely and silently and is held stabile by the bearings.

 

[swatski]

Your impellers look fine, unless there are some unexpected clearance issues not obvious from the pics (IMHO).
If you decide to change your impellers, here is my 0.02.
I have come to love the OEM impellers, not-refurbished. Having gone through a stack of OEM and various repitched OEM, as well as aftermarket (Solas Concord, Skat Swirl, Skat Riva version) new and repitched - over 10 combinations so far - I find OEM impellers (new out of the box, untouched/non-refurbished) to be hands down overall best performers in my boat, as tested in various conditions. Keep in mind my single engine is a lot more prone to cavitation than a twin, so I would think the results would translate well. I think that Yamaha has put a lot more thought into their impeller design than they are generally given credit for.
I like plastic inserts as they make my boat a little more quiet and they work fine. However, @Murf'n'surf is right about a possibility of a catastrophic failure of the liner if it's plastic. I am thinking of switching back to the OEM wear-ring for the Bimini trip for that very reason.

 

[bronze_10]

@bronze_10, were you going upstream or down?

It was going up stream but the speed was measured by gps on my phone... would the speed of the water matter?

 

[Seadeals]

Heading upstream, the flow of the river would reduce the indicated ground speed the gps calculated. If you were going 40mph through the water and the river was flowing at 3 mph downstream, the gps would read 37mph. If your sprint was closer to Charleston, tidal flow could have been helping us out in the other direction; but I haven't looked to see if it was rising at that time.

 

[Britboater]

Are Yamaha still using the same design pumps now, thinking is there an upgrade, improved part you could fit while you've got your pumps off.

 

[Bruce]

Are Yamaha still using the same design pumps now, thinking is there an upgrade, improved part you could fit while you've got your pumps off.

The pump housings are the same. Each model of boat has specific impellers that are pitched to match the engines and hull design.