Alpha I Gen II water pump impeller

[megkay]

I just replaced my Impeller I used all the new gaskets that came with the kit. and after I got the water pump houshing on I noticed I couldnt turn the drive shaft by hand, But if I turned the prop. it would turn (still kinda tight). So, I guess my question is, is it susposed to be that hard to turn the drive shaft (on the lower unit) by hand with a new impeller or do I maybe have something crossed up? I dont want to put it all back together and find out the hard way. Thanks

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Alpha I Gen II water pump impeller

If you try to turn the shaft with the impeller you need to put it in neutral. Way too much stuff to turn by hand when in gear. It should be tight.NEW STUFF.Jerry

 

[megkay]

Re: Alpha I Gen II water pump impeller

I guess i should have said that, I did have it in neutral when i was trying to turn the drive shaft..I turned the shift shaft when i turned it with the prop. (my bad)

 

[Schillio]

Re: Alpha I Gen II water pump impeller

Just did this same repair two days ago. I noticed that the shift shaft in the lower part of the drive unit tended to twist itself so the prop was engaged in the forward gear. I made sure my gear selector/throttle lever in the boat was in the forward direction, then mounted the lower unit. All worked smoothly. If the prop is hard to turn while the shift lever is in neutral, it's because the small shift shaft twisted itself. You'll know its in locked in the forward gear if the prop is hard to spin in reverse and loose spinning forward (that seems backwards, but trust me.... it's correct). I learned all this the hard way though - I installed and removed my lower drive unit 3 times before I figured this one out.

Hope this helps!