Water Circulation Pump Replacement

M

mcarrigan

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I have 5.7 SX Volvo sterndrives that are leaking water out of the weep hole of the water circulation pump on both engines.

Just looking for some input on whether or not replacing the pump is a fairly straight forward DIY project (similar to impellers) or something I should pay a mechanic to replace.
 
Mine did the same thing. There is a little $5 seal that was the issue, I replaced it first while changing the impeller. It has been fine for over 2 1/2 years.
 
The seal is what goes, but usually the bearing is not far behind. If you have more than a few years / few hundred hours on it, I would just replace the pump. I replaced the one on my Mercruiser a couple of years ago, same thing it was leaking through the weep hole - when I removed the pump it was obvious the bearing was shot also. It's straight forward, remove the belts (usually a serpantine belt) remove the 4 or 5 bolts holding the pump in place and replace it. Easier than most raw water pump impellers. You should be able to find the part for around $75 for a Sierra, more for the Volvo OEM. I replaced mine with a Sierra and it has worked fine for 200hrs. If you are raw water cooled I would go with a marine replacement - if you are a closed system go to NAPA. Pumping anitfreeze is no different on a boat than a car. One tip - loosen the pully bolts from the front of the pump before you remove the belt, otherwise you will fight with it for an hour!
 
I'm raw water cooled and the boat is a '98 and they are original so I will just replace the whole pump.
Thanks for the info. I'll just replace them myself and save some money.
 
Definitely a DIY job, I am assuming these are sterndrives with easy access to the front of the engines? On a v-drive it can get a little trickier with the engines facing stern.
 
Circ pump replacement is generally well up there on the easy scale.

If by any chance you have a crank-mount RW pump too or other configuration that requires removal of brackets to replace any belt, this would be a good time to place a new spare belt around the bracket (and secure very well out of harm's way with zip ties) to greatly ease potential emergency replacement when rocking around at sea, possibly at night . But if you have an open-access serpentine belt with tensioner you don't need that.
 
Spend a few extra bucks and replace the belt(s) while you've got everything loosened up. They are real cheap, but can ruin a weekend if one goes at the wrong time.
 
Shoot some penetrating oil on the bolts now so they're easier to remove when you do the job.
 
Cardone used to sell re-manufactured marine water pumps--lifetime guarantee. If you engine block is a gm product, the price is very reasonable.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to replace the belts also as they are the original belts.
 
Getting ready to order the pumps. I see oem pumps from Volvo are over $150 and Sierra's in the $90-100 range. I found an marine outlet in Louisiana that is selling them for $64 and they state they are new and not rebuilt. I'm normally a believer in you get what you pay for but there is quite a bit of price variance there.
Anyone having any experience with using the non OEM pumps, good or bad?
 
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