Hello all, new boat owner here. I have a 1993 200TXRR Yamaha outboard. I went to replace the water pump as a bit of preventative maintenance and found that the plastic housing was starting to melt on the side facing the exhaust. Upon further inspection I found the rubber exhaust dam (what Yamaha calls a rubber seal) was drooping because the angled piece of metal that holds it in place (rubber seal guide) had cracked in half. I ordered the new parts, cleaned out the corrosion so they would fit in there nicely, but I wasn't sure which way the rubber dam went in. It has one beveled edge that appears like it should face the water pump but when I put it in that way there was this rubber lip on top that prevented me from sliding the lower unit all the way back on. There was about a 1/8" gap. I could have closed the gap buy tightening up the bolts but wasn't sure if the rubber dam was supposed to be compressed that much. That could have been what broke the metal guide the first time. I checked the old rubber dam and by the wear marks it was in there with the beveled edge facing the water pump but the previous owner made lots of mistakes so I'm hesitant to follow his lead. I turned it around so that the beveled edge faces the exhaust. The lower unit still didn't slide all the way back on but it was better, maybe only a 1/16" gap before being bolted tightly. I want to make sure this piece is in correctly before I try firing up the motor. I don't want to melt the new water pump housing I just put in there. I have checked every exploded diagram I can find online but the image quality is too poor to tell which way it goes in. I have a maintenance manual but of course that piece is missing from every exploded diagram. I searched the online forums but only found one other posting on the subject that went unanswered. Please help.
