Well, quick update on the project, only took an hour and had the impeller and housing in my hands with the pump still affixed.

Removed serpentine belt from pulley, secured the seawater pump with tight bungee cords to be sure it didn't drop, backed the 5 bolts out, cradled it, then put a couple of the studs back in place to attach it back onto the bracket. 2yrs 7mos old with 43 hours of run time, the inner housing has some scratches and the impeller some scrapes in the fingers, but largely all in great shape. Prefer to see and know it was/is fine, then not know and have one shred apart on July 4 weekend or something!

With it off now, I will get the kit and start with a fresh set up this season.

Thanks all for the comments and information.

Maybe one more question, some lube on the impeller to get it in place?
Thin layer of Ivory soap on the tops of the impeller blades to get it properly seated in the housing? I think I read somewhere that was the recommendation.

Thx.

Soap is good, don't use oil or grease. You can use WD40 because after it dissipates what is left behind hurts nothing. I use soap, some use glycerin

Some info to think about --- Impellers are a form of rubber compounds - in which is derived from oil - dish soaps and soaps clean oils away and dissolves oil very well - one good example when crude oil was dump in the ocean and the animals were covered in crude - many of those animals were cleaned with Dawn soap because it cleaned away and dissolved the crude oil very well - . Anyways the product for installing impellers from those manufacturers, one example like Johnson Impellers is glycerin. Or water base KY jelly - FWIW

You can buy Glycerin at most drug stores

What type of rubber are impellers made of ?

Just learned something new! Thanks, I will steer clear of the soaps and follow your expert advice, thanks!

Steal the KY from the night stand ....

Wonder how many folks install an impeller and put it to bed for the winter. Don't see soap doing anything to rubber, if it did I'm sure there would be threads over the years of impellers and exhaust boots being damaged. Impellers will wash everything out, the boot will not.

Mercury manual states to lubricate the impeller with a water and soap solution.

I've done at least 50-75 with dish soap