I have a 2001 29 fever with a 2008 496HO motor. I started it up for the first time after it has been winterized all winter and I am not getting any water circulating or coming out of the exhaust tips (which it normally does). engine starts and runs fine. anyway to diagnose this issue. has anyone ever ran into this issue? any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks

impeller , or lost prime .. pull the intake hose off motor and start , see if pump is moving water . pretty easy .

With no water moving it won't run fine for long. It will overheat.

First thing, pull sea water pump apart and look at the impeller. Also look at housing and make sure it isn't grooved.
I used to always change my impeller every spring. The thought being it sits in one spot in the cold all winter.

That and its just so cheap I would rather do that then try and find all the broken pieces. If you doubt the housing or impeller just change both.

Do you have dual water pickups on the drive? When I first bought my boat and ran it on the hose I didnt know about the LWP and just stuck the muffs on the drive like I had done a 100 times before on my old boat.

Fountain has a weird flush and water pickup valve thing going on. Not to sound to simple but make sure your flush is closed off and the water from the drive is open.

Did you have any water pouring in the bilge? You have to pull the little release pin on the Water Drain system, and make sure the actuators are closed. Tell-tale indicator of this would be the little GREEN and WHITE plastic plungers will be IN their housing, instead of protruding. This is on the forward, SB side of the engine, up top.

You very likely need a new impeller now. I normally don't let them go more than 2 years, regardless of usage.

Most important thing is we need to know how you are introducing water to the engine.
Did you back it in the lake? Or do you have a water hose flush fitting in the bilge?
Or were you using muffs on the drive? If using muffs, and you have dual water pickups, did you have the lower ones taped off?

Pulled up to a sand bar last weekend in my Advantage. Ran 20 miles back home no problem. Went to start it up this weekend -'poof - nasty smell and knew my impeller had let go. Was surprised to see that the housing is too. That's boating.

Even if it was just a closed off valve your impeller is smoked by now or will soon be. Better change it and as others have said make sure that there isn't a valve closed preventing water to the system.

I've had several impellers from my 496 take a hard set over the winter from sitting in the pink anti-freeze. Upon start-up in the Spring, it wouldn't pump water because the vanes weren't contacting the housing the whole way around. On my boat, it's a PITA to reach the water pump!

I never seen a water pump yet ,that was easy to change .. lol I hate impeller changes