Time to Change the Impeller

 

It was time for one of the most tedious but necessary boat maintenance tasks.  We were at 500 engine hours since the last change, and the gurgling sound when we turned off the Yanmar engine wasn’t as happy as it used to be.  

Here’s what we saw when we uncovered the old one.

As you can see, the blades are curved in opposite directions- not good. We used a ziptie to hold all the blades on the new one in the same direction while inserting it. This took a few tries, as  the lubricated impeller was slippery and difficult to insert.

Finally! Success!  The new impeller is inserted.

The best part of the job was the cooldown.  We jumped into the water and swam to the beach.