How do identify the source of water entering the impeller cone?

[WaterEnthusiast]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 2008 Sea-Doo Wake 215. As I was following the instruction from this site on how to winterize it, I questioned whether it was worth it disassemble the impeller (see video previously linked, from 7m07s) and put the grease back in place. Most people on the various forums told me not to bother, but I decided to be rigorous and open the impeller anyway. As soon as the cone came off (and I am concerned I may have damaged the cone itself while prying if off - picture to follow), a good amount of water also came out. The person in the video (and another one I used - here, in French, at 27m27s) states the importance of ensuring that no water has penetrated through, but they don't say what do I do if there is indeed some water in there..!

Looking at the 2 o-rings (Parts #22 on this assembly image) they don't seem cracked or damaged (although I've had to replace many rubber gaskets and finds on this Sea-Doo), but I have not taken them out to really inspect them.

My questions are as follow:
1- How do I determine what allowed water to penetrate?
2- The guy in the above maintenance video suggests to REPLACE the 3 impeller cover screw. This seem a bit zealous... Is this required? Why?
3- As you can see in the picture below, while prying off the impeller cover, I have worn it a bit, but I don't think it is critical. Do you think I need to replace it?
4- Do I really need to replace the 2 o-rings (part #22 in above link) each year...?

See pictures:

1- Old grease and water inside the impeller


2- Water inside the cone


3- After cleanup



4- Damaged cone while prying off





Thanks for any advice or input.

PS: I later stumbled on this great post that gives some details on how to remove the impeller cover. I wish I had seen it before I did my own disassembly: this great post

 

[Rikky001]

My simple and cheap advice is to invest in a service manual; cheap in the long run.
As a member you can download it for free.

Looking at the pictures, you are looking at a pump overhaul as there will be damage from the water penetration.
Why it happened? Lots of reasons, wrong O-rings, bad installation of the O-rings, bad torquing of the 3 bolts, not sufficient grease, or too much grease, damaged cone, etc...

The cost of replacing 3 new screws compared to the cost of the job to be done now will answer your question why they need to be replaced.

Post one time pictures after you dismantled the pump.

 

[WaterEnthusiast]

Thanks for your answer. I do have the service manual and didn't realize this sort of information was in there. I now see that I should probably do some leak tests with the special tools that I don't have.

I'll post pictures once I get to the pump.

Thanks.

 

[Chester]

Take it apart and replace all the o-rings and seals. You will also have to replace and re-pack the bearing. Just putting new grease in the cone does nothing as it will not reach the bearing.

Chester

 

[LakesideRec]

One of your photos of the cone shows a pretty good gouge on the sealing surface. If it was like that before you worked on it, that could be the source of the leak. You will want to replace the cone with a new part.

There is also a set of seals where the pump shaft enters the front side of the pump. Unlike the cone which just sits there without spinning, the front pump seal is around a spinning shaft. In my mind, there are four possible causes of that seal leaking: damage caused by something like fishing line entangled on the shaft wedged into the seal; the drive shaft surface that the seal rides on is corroded (is this machine run in salt water?); the seal or shaft surface were damaged or defective when first built or installed; or the seal is just plain worn out from many hundreds of hours of use.

Once water starts getting in there, bearing failure will eventually follow. You will likely be tearing down the pump to replace the bearings and seal at some point in the future in any case.

 

[LakesideRec]

Regarding the reccomendation to replace the bolts, that is because the factory bolts are treated with a coating of single-use locking goo. Once you pull them out, the locking goo is not effective the second time around.

Also, it leaves a residue in the bolt hole and bolt threads that may not be compatible with other locking glue. If you carefully and completely clean out the bolt threads and bolt hole threads, the appropriate (waterproof) Loctite would likely be effective.

However, if you are already ordering other factory replacement parts (like the seals, O-rings, and bearings), its more convenient to just also order the replacement bolts.

 

[WaterEnthusiast]

Thanks for the replies. As far as I know, it has not been used in salt water.

I've managed to disassemble the turbine and here are some more pictures.

To note:
1- On the first picture, I could see some sort of plastic coming apart (see red square). I thought it was a seal but turns out it seems to be part of the fiberglass/plastic that is delaminating a little bit. I'll probably change the 2 orange o-rings seen on the first picture, bit I'm not sure if I need to change the yellow part below (couldn't identify it on the part charts)

2- Looking at the wear ring, I see a slight scratch across and some overall scratches, but I don't know if this is normal wear or something that should be replaced immediately..?

4- Picture #4 shows the neoprene seal which seems in decent condition from the looks of it. It didn't seem cracked or worn.

I'm not sure what is the correct way to disassemble the impeller shaft and the angled bearing.. I'll dig further in the service manual.

Thanks all for your comments.

 

[LakesideRec]

The wear ring looks pretty good. I would presume you are not experiencing any noticeable loss of power with it in that condition.

The "neoprene" seal where the drive shaft spline engages the impeller is to keep the grease in the splines between the drive shaft and impeller from rinsing out. It is not what seals the pump bearing and cone area.

Apologies for being slightly unclear in my previous post, but there is another short shaft that the impeller actually spins on. It runs from the nut back where the cone is, through the bearing, then through a seal, and is threaded into the back of the impeller. The seal on that shaft is what can allow water into the cone area and pump bearing.