Bravo water pick up question
 

I have a 2002 496 Ho motor with bravo 1 drive.
I replaced the water impeller and stuck the drive in a large tub of water covering the water pick up...and it wont pick up water when running it for a minute or two...is this normal and do i need to force water in with a flusher...I wouldnt think so but any help would be great!!....??

I've never had any luck with the bucket method with anything. A flusher will help get the water up to the pump. You will just burn up pump trying to get it to pull water up the drive.

Thanks,
question, how does the water get pulled up at the ramp when your just sitting there and not moving ( meaning not force feeding it).
is there a suction on the drive that I'm missing since I only covered the pick up area on the lower unit?

You need to make sure the low water pick up is covered at the nose of the lower unit along with the side pick up holes just in front of the prop is covered with water with no air getting to either hole.

when at idle the impeller is sucking up the lake water from the drive, It does not need to be forced, But sometimes the impeller hose will need to be primed, Because you can get a air pocket between the drive and the impeller.

Try liffting the drive up, Then shake the intake water hose at the impeller housing around a little bit, Then lower the drive back down into the water one more time before starting the engine back up agian, You should have water coming out of the exhaust within 30 seconds, If not then turn it off.

Also another trick is to carefully put your hand on the side of the impeller housing as soon as you start the engine to see if the housing is getting hot, Or if it's staying cool like the water temp from the water tank, ect.

If it's getting hot you will want to put a new impeller in again, Prime the intake hose and try it again.

If you really let it pump for 2 minutes without water, Then you more then likely will want to put a new impeller back in.

Good luck with it.

Great, got it and thanks, i had the nose and the side intakes under water but it still would not pump.
I'm going to the lake in the morning and trying that way.
thanks for the input!

When you are just ideling in the lake, the water level is alot higher in the system than it is when you just have the drive in a bucket. Keep an eye on your temp and water flow when you do go to the lake, as you may have very well toasted the impellor on the dry run. I've ruined a brand new one just installed in less than 30 sec. Either on the muffs or in a bucket, you should know instantly at start up if the pump is pulling water. Don't have to wait till it comes out the exhaust. Either the bucket level will lower, or the water blowing past the muffs will lessen as soon as the motor is started showing water draw.

got it.
After inspecting the housing I saw a few ridges on the side and .0028 gouged out out of the top and bottom of where the impellor sits...thinking I lost the vacuum out of the pump with these facts even with a new impellor it did not pump...bought a complete new pump..will install tomorrow.
Thanks!
tony

Those sound like the parting lines from the molding process. Normal.
I always take some sandpaper or such on the inside and knock off any sharp edges.

As they say "Water seeks it's own level". In most boats when sitting in the water the actual water level is above the pump. If you need to run out of a bucket then simply put the bucket on the swim platform, then the water is above the pump, and is going downhill. Anti-freeze mine this way every fall and the pump always picks it right up.

[QUOTE=US1 Fountain;3088405] I've ruined a brand new one just installed in less than 30 sec. QUOTE]

me too - now I put a bit of grease on the blades in case I make a mistake. Seems to work OK