Circulating pump pulley wobble-gctid802887

[Guest]

Unfortunately my circulating pump pulley revealed itself as drunk during spring startup and service. I noticed she had a good wobble and had been wearing the belt. Is it possible the wobble is just a bad pulley or is it definitely the water pump itself that needs replacing? I removed the pulley and the water pump spins smoothly when I turn it by hand.

I have the capacity to replace the pump I guess I just need confirmation that is the best place to start.

To confirm, I am dealing with the circulating pump in the center of the engine, not the raw water intake pump at the lower starboard side of the engine!

Thank you!

[yachtman]

There is usually a weep hole just under the bottom side of the shaft. If there are any signs of water coming out that hole the shaft bearing or seal are shot time for a new pump.

Generally that is the first sign if it's the pump

[boatworkfl]

Check for leaks at the seal/bearing area, if the bearing wobbles a bit, then the seal will have abnormal wear.

[Guest]

Thanks, all! I didn't notice a leak anywhere when running on the muffs. I decided to pull the pump which was much easier than I expected and will install a new one tomorrow and hope the pulley is okay.

Any good way to check the pulley itself?

[builderdude]

Joel, Me thinks it's likely the pulley, you had the engine removed/reinstalled for the repairs to your boat and a pulley can easily be bent if it make any abrupt contact with something during the process with the weight of the engine behind it. It doesn't take much to tweak a pulley.

[Mr._Darcy]

"mgm1986" post=802910 wrote:
Thanks, all! I didn't notice a leak anywhere when running on the muffs. I decided to pull the pump which was much easier than I expected and will install a new one tomorrow and hope the pulley is okay.

Any good way to check the pulley itself?

In your shop, put the pulley on a level surface (table maybe) with the belt side down. Look for gaps between the pulley and table, to indicate warp. The check the hub for level in relation to the table surface. If it does not match the table then the hub is bent.

Greg

[Chief_Alen]

Pulleys are not marine specific .

I'm thinking someone used the wrong puller.

[Guest]

Excellent, thank you! I will see if I can check the pulley using a flat surface. Maybe I get lucky and it's just the pulley! To Dave's point, I did have my engine pulled twice last season and before that had no issues with the belts. I'm gonna finish this project today and will post back with details.

Chief, no puller necessary for this pulley, just the four bolts holding it on.

[green650]

Is there any surface rust on it that may have prevented it from sitting flush on the hub?

[Guest]

"green650" post=802992 wrote:
Is there any surface rust on it that may have prevented it from sitting flush on the hub?

There was a little surface rust but I pulled and cleaned it and reinstalled the pulley with the same result.

After pulling the circulating pump it looked like it was indeed leaking at the weep hole as it had signs of rust as if it was constantly getting wet. So I replaced the pump and the pulley and it is much better BUT... it does still have a very slight wobble so either something else is causing the issue or its just normal. My 4.3 in my pickup has always had a slight wobble and hasn't been a problem so I am going to leave it as is and keep an eye on things. Great peace of mind putting a new pump, the one I pulled off could have been original the way it looked.

I also got a peak into the cooling chamber of the block and it doesn't look bad at all.

As always, thanks for all the tips!