Bravo 3 Sea Water Pump - What's this?

[badrano]

I'm trying to remove the sea water pump and the intake has this fitting with a spring loaded something on it that pulls up in to a second position. You can sort of see the one leg of it in the pic. At first I though it could be a quick disconnect in the middle but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Also, there's got to be an easier way to pull the intake hose off because I've been wrestling with pulling the hose off from this fitting.

 

[tpenfield]

Picture is taken too close . . . not sure what we are looking at besides a bunch of hoses . . .

 

[alldodge]

Which hose are you talking about?

The black thing on the bottom of the exhaust is a valve used for draining the exhaust during winterization, and keeps water from being pushed into exhaust during running

The Red hose is unknow, need to know where it goes. As Ted mentioned, further back

 

[badrano]

Sorry about that. The picture was kind of upside down.
I notated the pic as well as a screen shot of my cooling diagram. The red hose seems to more rigid than the black hoses and that might be what is giving me trouble pulling the hose off.
The box is the fitting that has that spring clip thingy.

 

[alldodge]

You said

spring clip

Don't understand the spring clip
The motor has an option to install a fresh water flush Tee fitting. Without the Tee, then there might be just a barbed fitting to join the 2 hoses.

That said; your pump has drain fittings on entrance and exit to/from pump to drain water

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks the modified picture helps . . .

Might be as simple as a splice to make it 'easier' to remove the water pump for maintenance

 

[badrano]

I wrestled with it some more to rotate the fitting to better see the clip thingy. One pic is with the clip pulled up.
Don't mind the blood on the one hose clamp. Missing a few skin cells

 

[badrano]

Thanks the modified picture helps . . .

Might be as simple as a splice to make it 'easier' to remove the water pump for maintenance

The red hose has stampings for 200 PSI rating and is way more rigid. I can't seem to flex it enough to pop it off that fitting. The discharge hose was easy. I don't know how such a high rated hose got installed on the intake side. There's no need for 200 PSI rating. My luck it got replaced in the past with what ever was laying around??
My next try, I guess, will be to undue the pump bolts so the pump can hang free and maybe give a little more flex. Or I might just cut the hose off and replace with the proper black hose.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if there was a trophy for hypercomplexifying a cooling system, Keith and the crew at Mercruiser would win it.

 

[tpenfield]

As far as 200 psi . . . it was probably lying around and had a strong enough wall to avoid collapsing under the suction of the sea water pump. Normally there is a wire coil within the wall of the hose to keep it from collapsing.

On the exit side, the hose is under pressure, so it can be 'softer' than the intake side.

 

[RaceCarRich]

I believe the red hose is OEM. Looks just like mine. Mechanic told me it’s stiffer because it’s on suction side and they don’t want it to get sucked in (negative pressure).

 

[alldodge]

What is the complete number on top the fitting?
Something 04

 

[badrano]

I believe the red hose is OEM. Looks just like mine. Mechanic told me it’s stiffer because it’s on suction side and they don’t want it to get sucked in (negative pressure).

Didn't think of the suction side. That makes sense.
Do you do you're own impeller change? If so, any tricks to dealing with stiffer hose? This is my first go-around with a Bravo water pump.

 

[RaceCarRich]

I was preparing to change the pump when I thought it was leaking (was actually the hose behind pulley that rubbed through). In preparation I talked to some folks and was told to loosen the pump then pull hoses off back. Also, if your in the water, depending on your boat, you might have water start coming in through inlet hose so have a plug or something to shove in the hose.

 

[RaceCarRich]

BTW - I was wondering what that black thing was also. Sure looks like a disconnect but don’t know.

 

[muc]

The fitting in the picture is a quick disconnect. MerCruiser added it to make it easier for boat builders to install the engine, but it makes it harder to do anything else. How it works is covered in the service manual and a service bulletin. I recommend you not disconnect it, they are very hard to get reconnected because water intake hose is so hard to work with.

Suggest you drop the pump and remove the hose from the pump. Dish soap mixed with water in a spray bottle really helps with tough hoses. Work a screwdriver between the hose and hose barb, spray some soapy water. And repeat in different places around the hose. “Work smarter not harder”

 

[tpenfield]

Didn't think of the suction side. That makes sense.
Do you do you're own impeller change? If so, any tricks to dealing with stiffer hose? This is my first go-around with a Bravo water pump.

One of my least favorite maintenance jobs - I only do the impeller change every other year. Brute force tends to win out when dealing with the intake hose.

 

[badrano]

Thanks for all the info/help.

One impeller change done but what a PIA getting the pump off and back on mainly due to the hoses and the shape of the bilge.

I was going to try the recommendations of pulling the intake hose off the pump, but there wasn't enough room and my hand/wrist doesn't bend in that many places. I went for the quick disconnect and it worked great coming apart but took a little bit of effort, but not too bad, to connect it back up.

Bought the boat with 166 hours about 2 months ago, I think this may have been the first time the impeller was ever changed. All the bolt heads had black paint on them, unless the mechanic last time repainted the bolt heads. A couple vanes were split near the center, so it would be a matter of time before they would have broken off.

 

[RaceCarRich]

Good job. How old is the boat?

 

[Fun Times]

If room is tighter one the other engine to get at the black quick disconnect fitting then one other trick to consider looking over would be to remove the in-take water hose back at the inlet fitting held on with one clamp then pull the entire hose out with the pump housing...Just remember exactly how the hose was routed and "situated" at rest especially as the hose enters in & around the starter, Y-pipe, flywheel housing areas leading back up to the inlet fitting as it needs to be positioned just right...