Impeller on a Honda 50

[Tim Holmes]

I recently had the unfortunate experience of having my Honda 50 overheat due to a failed pump impeller. Fortunately I got a free tow back to the harbour after having to shut it down in no wind! Also fortunately the repair was not expensive. The point here is that my Honda dealer said that he considers this a maintenance issue not a repair issue. He recommends replacing the impeller every 2-3 years or 200 hours. I wish Honda had put this in their owner's manual as my motor is 8 years old and judging from the chewed condition of the old impeller, it had never been replaced by the previous owner. Lesson learned and shared.

[Rick Westlake]

I recently had the unfortunate experience of having my Honda 50 overheat due to a failed pump impeller.... The point here is that my Honda dealer said that he considers this a maintenance issue not a repair issue. He recommends replacing the impeller every 2-3 years or 200 hours.

The previous owner of Bossa Nova told me he had his maintenance folks replace his impeller about every 2 years. Among the "stores" he gave me with the boat, he included a full cooling-pump rebuild kit and an extra impeller.

You see articles about changing the impeller pretty frequently in such magazines as SAIL and CRUISING WORLD. Those inboard diesels have the cooling pump on the outside of the engine, where it doesn't require major disassembly to replace it ... cheap insurance against costly engine damage.

I'll probably get mine replaced this autumn, and I will watch and help and learn how to do it. Since you have to drop the lower unit on a Honda to get at the impeller, it's more of a task than I'm ready to try alone without help/instruction.

[TAM]

I check mine every year. Needed replacement last year, but was fine this one. It's fairly easy to change, although a little cumbersome. 2 hard parts - getting the shift linkage detached/attached, and getting the impeller housing back on around the impeller. First time I replaced it, it took 2 hours. Could probably do in in well under an hour now. Get the Honda service manuals. Well worth the price.

Oh don't forget he hidden bolt under the trim plate. (and mark the position of the trim if it's already well set)



Terry

[Kelly Hanson East]

I think 3 years/300 hours is almost industry standard nowadays. If you only use the boat on a lake where you know you can get a tow back in, you can use it until it fails... if you are offshore, and dont want the hassle, replace on schedule.

I confess I have 7 years on mine, but almost never use the motor over 3000 rpm. I do carry a spare and all the tools to replace it though.

[vatalon]

Tim,
I had a similar problem. Took "All The Way" out a couple weeks ago and all the motor did was putter and quit. Every time I tried to advance the throttle it would not power up.

This was the first time I had the boat out in 2 years. I did flush the motor last year but did not do a good job checking it out at the beginning of this season. I was not getting any discharge from the cooling system and I thought my problem was the impeller also but come to find out , some mud bugs had clogged the discharge port for the cooling system. A little bit of WD-40 did the trick by clearing the blockage! www.marineengine.com has a good discussion board for outboard motors and this is where I went to figure out how to troubleshoot the problem.

Now I need to tackle the low idle RPM. Ever since I've had the boat, the idle has been very low. I've adjusted it before (the set screw below the lower carb) but was wondering if I'm doing it right and what should the idle RPM be?