looking for some help from the experts. Was out on the water Saturday when I noticed the bilge pump coming on, opened the hatch and found the water pump housing was split down the side and spraying water out like mad! Its a GEN VI 502 carbed setup with a external raw water pump/fuel pump assembly. Is this a normal thing to happen after a few years or did something cause this? Its only a plastic housing, does anyone make a non-plastic design housing? Any help and advise would be great, thanks. Derrick

That's not too uncommon. It usually is caused by overtightening the bolts. You must replace the entire pump assembly with another pump (sherwood, jabsco, etc.) to get away from the plastic. Just replace it with a kit from Mercury and it should last a long time. I'd stay away from the Sierra brand housing. It appears to be made of a much lighter plastic. I've had several break and won't use them any more.