"Vinny" wrote in message
...
This is my first season prepping a boat for the water and
I have a question about maintenance of the water pump.
I've heard that you should change the impeller every 1 to 2 years.
I'm nervous about dropping the lower gear case to get at the pump.
I bought the boat last year, it was already in the water and ran
fine all season. I'm tempted to use the old "if it ain't broke" philosophy
but I'm sure this will get me into trouble at some point.

So two questions:
How often should an outboard water pump be serviced?
How hard is it to service the pump? Again I'm mostly concerned about
dropping the lower gear casing.
(BTW, it's a 1995 130HP Johnson)

Thanks in advance
-VI

Three reasons to replace the impeller with normal use. 1) Dirty water or
idling in shallow water can cause the impeller to wear out prematurely
(sand). 2) The impeller becomes less flexible and can loose it's shape
causing less water flow and poor priming (apx two-three years) . 3)
catastrophic failure because the rubber rotted (Aprox 5+years).

Another good reason to do it often is that the bolts will be easier to
remove.

Outdrives are easier to pop off and replace the impeller (45 min for me).