Suzuki

Installing a new water pump impeller on a Suzuki DT8 outboard motor

Suzuki part number: 18-3097

This is best done in your shop with access to your tools and good lighting.

Put the motor upside down on its head on the floor. This will be comfortable for disassembly and reassembly.

Remove the 2 inch diameter plate on the side of the upper shaft housing to expose the shift linkage access hole.

Put the motor in forward gear.

Looking in the access hole, you will find the linkage clamp that clamps the upper shift linkage to the lower shift linkage. Clamp a clothespin underneath the clamp on the motor side shift linkage to prevent the clamp from falling towards the motor when it is loosened in the next step. Leave the clothespin in place as a reassembly guide tool.

Loosen, do not remove, the clamp with a 10mm socket.

Remove any attachments, if any, to the lower linkage rod that protrudes through the housing towards the motor to allow the rod to slide through the guide hole.

Remove the four 12 mm bolts that attach the lower propeller drive.

Lift off the lower propeller drive and place it upright on your workbench, support it vertically with something, I used one gallon solvent cans on each of the four sides.

Remove the four 10mm nuts that hold down the water impeller housing.

Clean the drive shaft before removing the impeller housing so not to ruin the shaft seal.

Remove the impeller housing by sliding it completely off the drive shaft. Note that the drive shaft rotates clockwise. This will inform you when orienting the new impeller blades.

Remove the ruined impeller, take care to find the the keyway key as you remove the impeller.

Clean out any particles of the ruined impeller from the water passageways in the drive housing

Install the new impeller into the impeller housing. You must orient the blades of the impeller so that they are bent backward away from the direction of rotation. Be sure to orient the keyway in the impeller so that it will slide over the key on the drive shaft and match the position of the impeller keyway to the position of the drive shaft key. I used some plumber's grease inside the impeller housing to lubricate it during assembly and put some on the key to keep it in position during assembly

Carefully slide the impeller housing containing the new impeller down the driveshaft and watch the key as the impeller keyway slides over it making sure that the key stays in position until the housing is seated fully. Take care to only rotate the driveshaft clockwise from now on to prevent damage to the new impeller.

If you wish you may circulate water through the cooling system in the upper housing assemble by pumping water through the fitting currently exposed.

Reassemble the lower propeller drive to the upper assembly. You will be guiding three points simultaneously, the drive shaft into the motor, the shift linkage into the clamp, (this is where the clothespin pays off) and the lower linkage rod through the hole in the motor housing. Be sure the shift linkage in the lower propeller drive is still pushed down into the forward gear setting and the shifter on the motor head is in the forward gear setting.

Replace the four 12 mm bolts to secure the lower section

Once you have mated the lower propeller drive to the upper section you will tighten the shift linkage clamp with the 10mm bolt. Test the shift linkage by shifting to neutral and rotating the propeller.

Replace the shift linkage access cover. mission accomplished!