Sportjet 175 water impeller replacement

[Best Fishes]

I have a 1990 Willie with a 175 Mercury Sportjet. On my last time out the temperature alarm went on after idling for about 7 or 8 minutes. The temperature gage was up to 150 degrees. I think my impeller on the water pump might be warn & needs to be replaced. Is this something that a average guy can do? Does anyone know where I can find instructions on how to do this?

Thank you in advance,

Best Fishes

[cmb1998]

Originally Posted by Best Fishes

I have a 1990 Willie with a 175 Mercury Sportjet. On my last time out the temperature alarm went on after idling for about 7 or 8 minutes. The temperature gage was up to 150 degrees. I think my impeller on the water pump might be warn & needs to be replaced. Is this something that a average guy can do? Does anyone know where I can find instructions on how to do this?

Thank you in advance,

Best Fishes

I was under the impression that the 175's dont have a water impeller like the std OB. Instead they have a inteake tube off the inside of the pump that provides water to cool the engine. I don't have the manual infront of me, but I will take a look when I get home tommrow.

Might be that the pickup tube is cloged?

Hope this helps.

Later,

Chris

[Kevin Turner]

1990 175 SJ? I don't think Merc came out with the 175 SJ till late 98, but no matter.
Have you had the boat long? Is this the first time the alarm sounded after idling for extended periods?

Some 2000-2002 Sport Jets had a faulty temp sender that sounded the alarm when idling (Even though the temp never got hot).

Maybe you could provide your local dealer the power head serial number. He could reference the TSB for ya.

BTW: If your hole shot & performance is good, it's not likely you need to replace the impeller or wear ring.

[Phillipkol]

SportJet 175 owners:

I am looking to buy a used Willie Predator with a Sportjet 175. I went on a river trial recently with the owner and had a warning horn go off intermittently.(probably the oil pump).
The sportjet was also hard to start even after it was warmed up. I am undecided about the purchase and would like some advice about these problems and the SportJet 175 in general.
My e-mail is phillipkol@earthlink.net. I am in Medford. If you would be willing to give me your phone number and a time when I could call, please send me a pesonal e-mail.

Phil Kolczynski

[fishkisser]

Originally Posted by Phillipkol

SportJet 175 owners:

I am looking to buy a used Willie Predator with a Sportjet 175. I went on a river trial recently with the owner and had a warning horn go off intermittently.(probably the oil pump).
The sportjet was also hard to start even after it was warmed up. I am undecided about the purchase and would like some advice about these problems and the SportJet 175 in general.
My e-mail is phillipkol@earthlink.net. I am in Medford. If you would be willing to give me your phone number and a time when I could call, please send me a pesonal e-mail.

Phil Kolczynski

Try using the search feature type in (sportjet 175 problems ) ...Barney

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Phillipkol

SportJet 175 owners:

I am looking to buy a used Willie Predator with a Sportjet 175. I went on a river trial recently with the owner and had a warning horn go off intermittently.(probably the oil pump).
The sportjet was also hard to start even after it was warmed up. I am undecided about the purchase and would like some advice about these problems and the SportJet 175 in general.
My e-mail is phillipkol@earthlink.net. I am in Medford. If you would be willing to give me your phone number and a time when I could call, please send me a pesonal e-mail.

Phil Kolczynski

Typically the 175 hp sport jet is a rock solid performer.

[cmb1998]

Originally Posted by Phillipkol

SportJet 175 owners:

I am looking to buy a used Willie Predator with a Sportjet 175. I went on a river trial recently with the owner and had a warning horn go off intermittently.(probably the oil pump).
The sportjet was also hard to start even after it was warmed up. I am undecided about the purchase and would like some advice about these problems and the SportJet 175 in general.
My e-mail is phillipkol@earthlink.net. I am in Medford. If you would be willing to give me your phone number and a time when I could call, please send me a pesonal e-mail.

Phil Kolczynski

If the oil indicator was going off then more than likly the oil gear failed. I would run like hell from that boat. The 175's have a plastic gear that mixes the oil so they can run reg gas in the main tank (instead of pre mix).

The plastic gear often strips and will leave the motor with no lubrication. If your running at speed when this happens then you can shell the motor in about 2 seconds flat. Merc recalled some of the motors that had this issue, but very few. The solution was really a kit from merc that blocks off the mixer gear, and then you run premix in your main tank so no risk of oiler gear failure.

As far as hard starting, the 175's are know for hard starting when cold, but not once running. The fix for that is an electric fuel pump, the std diaphram pump just has a hard time pulling fule into the carbs when cold.

The 175 is the std 2.5L Merc power head with a special crank to match to the Sport Jet pump. Good package, very light weights, good on fuel. Cost about $3K - $5K to rebuild if the motor had an oiler gear failure and the motor is damaged. (Just the crank is about $1,400).

Later,

Chris

[HntnFsh]

Actually they recalled lots of the motors.And put in a better gear for the oil mixer.

You can call Merc with the serial # of the powerhead and they will tell you if it was involved in the recall and if the work has been done.

These motors have their quirks.But they are excellent motors.