Hi, all. I just need to vent a little here and see if anyone has any thoughts other than consolation.
I had reported in another thread not too long ago that the original raw water pump bearings had seized at about 1700 hours (in Dec 07) and I replaced the entire bearing/seal/shaft housing and pump/impeller housing as one brand new unit for about $330.
Well, we took a 4-day cruise this past weekend and my wife noticed water on the galley sole after 2 hours of hard motoring into heavy seas. I checked it at anchor and found the engine has salt caked over it from the v-belt spraying the salt water around. There is raw water leaking prodigiously through the weep holes in the housing. I know the holes are there to alert you that the seal has failed and you now need to take action.
I removed the entire assy and found the bearings may already be damaged. This is especially disheartening because I had checked the engine (belt and visual inspection) on the last usage and it was fine. It appears this failure happened over a brief period of operation. I reinstalled everything after checking the impeller (perfectly fine) and it ran well going home, although the bearings may have been running hot.
When I got home, I investigated a rebuild kit and so far found that a major rebuild kit is 95% of the cost of a new pump ($270 from a cheaper source than last time). I have already ordered a new pump.
So, here's where I can use your experience:
1. Am I correct that no major rebuild kits are available for a reasonable price (meaning, substantially cheaper than the entire assy)?
2. Any ideas what could have gone wrong? When you install a complete new assy, there doesn't seem to be anything you can do wrong once you get the rotational alignment where it needs to be.
3. Once I get the replacement pump in, I want to take apart the not-so-old pump and see if what shape the shaft is in. If it is not scored at all, maybe I can find bearings and lip seals 'ala carte' rather than some expensive kit and get a serviceable spare out of it. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks for your help.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Duane
What pump was (is) it?
Full rebuild kits may, I say, may have more than you need. Check the parts list. Since you've already had it out assuming you did the work, you know what you're looking for: the seals and the carbon bushing, that's pretty much it, plus the gasket, and a new shaft if yours is scored.
I, too, ordered a new pump years ago because it would have cost almost as much for them to redo the seals on my old pump as the complete new pump. Time's acomin' to redo it and I'm getting ready to do it myself. Rare is the pump body that goes.
I used nylock nuts to hold the pump on. We have an Oberdorfer. M25 engine.
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Hi, Stu. Thanks for the post.
My pump is the Sherwood G908 model. I agree 100% that the cast iron housing and bronze pump body should really never wear out. When you get the major rebuild kit, you get the bearings and seals for the pump assy, but when it costs 90% of the cost of a pre-assembled pump, why would you do a rebuild?
That's why I'm hoping once I get the new pump in place, I can take the old one apart and find bearings and seals separately. It will depend upon what I find wrong.
I was hoping you might have some comments about the brand-new pump seals failing after 14 months and 250 hours (BTW, that seems like a lot of motoring, but we did over 1700 nm for our Bahamas cruise in that time).
Take care.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Duane,
I have a lot of experience with the Oberdorfer, but none with the Sherwood. Ron Hill (of C34 fame) has posted numerous times that Oberdorfer parts can be found at discount, but Sherwood parts cannot. Having never looked for Sherwood parts, I can't prove or disprove that statement. In a recent issue of Mainsheet, Chooch Jewell did an excellent article on rebuilding the Oberdorfer. You might want to refer to it, as some of the techniques might be similar. For my Oberdorfer, I have found that the impeller lasts about 200 hours, and the seals last about twice that long. As they say, "Your mileage may vary," depending on how dirty or clean your waters are (suspended particles, etc.) I have a feeling that the carbon bearing's life depends heavily upon how large an alternator you are running, and how tight the alternator belt is. I would hope that you could find just the parts you need and not an expensive "kit". Please report back as to what you find!
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Thanks for the post, Tom. I think there is some confusion in that the raw water pump is driven off the end of the camshaft and the v-belt does not come into play at all.
I do intend to report my findings. Take care.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Duane, try this link, one of the many that Tom mentioned: [url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2815.0.html[/url]
It does sound like a rather short shelf life. Our seals have lasted since 1998 or 1999, or 1,000 +++ engine hours. Hard to say why without guessing, Tom's guess is as good as any I could come up with. How 'bout this: a bad batch? Is it worth going backwards? You could justify a new Oberdorfer, but that's only because I like it better because I have one!
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Thanks, Stu. I will check out the link. I guess it's just one of those things and considering it didn't fail completely, cause any major drama, or make us cancel the cruise, that's a 'good'failure to have.
Cheers!
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Just a quick status report: I removed the old v-belt and cleaned/polished the running surfaces of the three sheaves as best I could to remove the rust. I installed the new pump, tensioned the belt and the test running seems fine. Of course, it did 16 months ago, too.
I started to disassemble the old pump but have some other priorities. I will report how I fare with a potential rebuild.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/