Not Pumping Water

[gford001]

I have an old Suzuki DT115 2-stroke that has had some recent gearbox dramas.
I have replaced the gearbox and there is no water coming out of the pisser.
This is running it on the hose in the yard.
Could it be something as simple as not running long enough? Needing the water to get through the motor? I was thinking this but I was worried running it for more then 30 secs or so would damage it.
I am pretty sure all the bits and pieces are ok. I used mostly the bits from my old gearbox as the water pump, seals and what not that came with the new (Second-hand) gearbox that I bought were pretty sick.
I used my old impellor which looked fine to me as well.
I have had it apart a couple of times and checked that it all looks good, and the water pump has water in it, just not pumping or something.......
What should I check?
Cheers

Glen

[gford001]

Oh yeah, was talking to my mate just then, he suggested checking if telltail blocked. I unhooked it and blew through it, seems clear.....

[terryc]

first thought would be if there is a key in the shaft that has been left out, or if the water tubes are aligned. have wasps blocked up the hole where the water exits.
I'm sure others will make better suggestions soon.
terry

[gford001]

I checked the key, thats all good. Next time I pull it apart I'll chwck the water tubes.
Cheers

[Gon Fishun]

Tap turned on. :P

[Gon Fishun]

When you pull it off again, put it in a drum of water and attach a drill to the drive shaft and spin it up. That will tell you if the pump is working. Watch the direction of rotation.

[Crocodile]

Hello All,

That idea of the drill to test the pump is a wow! What a good idea.
There will be a pipe that connects the outlet of the water pump to the engine block.
I had an old Johnson where the pipe was fixed to the water pump and then fitted into a rubber grommet on the underside of the block as you replaced the gearbox.
Not a good system because you cannot watch the pipe going into the rubber grommet and if it is mis-aligned the grommet folds and blocks water supply.
I do not know how Suzuki fit the pipe but that is something to watch out for.
Sounds like gford001 is getting very good at removing and replacing the gearbox.

[gford001]

Will definitely try this. Last time i had it off I was thinking that it would be handy to find a way to spin it and see if its working without the hassle of putting it back together...

[gford001]

Yeah Ican get it done pretty quick now...

[gford001]

If I was to put the hose up the water tube with the gearbox off (to check if water getting through the engine), would this be a good idea?

[Bremic]

If I was to put the hose up the water tube with the gearbox off (to check if water getting through the engine), would this be a good idea?

I resorted to this once, just to identify which end the problem was with. The hose was roughly the same diameter as the pipe heading up the block. Held it tight against the pipe and water very quickly started squirting out of the tell tale.

Turned out the key had fallen out and of course the impellor wasn't turning.

[Flex]

I had a Yamaha that wouldn't pump water and woukd alarm at idle.
Turned out to be a slightly warped impellar housing.
To the naked eye it looked fine.
Are you using muffs or bucket?
If def try with a bucket to eliminate any air locks

[BM]

The easiest go/no go test to perform is attach a garden hose end to the water tube when the leg is off the motor. Turn on the tap and run the engine. If you now have a working telltale then the problem is in the leg.

[gford001]

Cheers mate. I'll try that. When its not so cold outside. Just thought I'd better check because I know you can flood jetski engines easily, didn't want to fill mine with water accidentally.

[scottar]

Yeah, not sure if it will be an issue - I would start the engine prior to adding the water. Without the water pump in-situe there is nothing that will get damaged with a few seconds without water.

[gford001]

UPDATE.
I put a hose up the water spout. That's good.
I am sure everything else is fine, no blockages etc. I could see right through to where the water pickup ports are.
I think I have narrowed it down to 1 thing. The earmuffs.
Should the earmuffs push the water to the water pump (I reckon they should), or does the water pump suck it up? I don't see how it would suck it up as the top of the water pump, around the drive shaft is not sealed, so no actual suction would form.
Point being. I had the gearbox off, I took off the water pump and attached the earmuffs. I then turned on the tap to see if water came through to the pump. It didn't.
Increasing pressure still didn't make it go through, it just seemed to leak out around the earmuffs. I tried pressing them on harder, still no dice, it always found a way out.
I wanted to try it our in a large bucket to see how it went, but haven't found anything big enough, (big bucket too small, wheelie bin too big).
Should I go get some new earmuffs?
Take it to the ramp and dip the motor in the water to see if it pumps?

[gford001]

Well,
After all that it was my crappy old earmuffs.
Got a new set and it worked fine.
Wishing I had of thought of it earlier.

[Dignity]

Followed this thread with interest but had no input due to lack of knowledge other than the fact that the impeller housing on the 150hp did start to melt due to insufficient water due to the muffs. I have tried buying new muffs especially for the 30 hp on the tinnie (as i flush my motor at the ramp) and went through a number of stores and dozens of already hard muffs before I found some supple ones that would bend around the leg. They are getting cheaper and nastier as time goes on.

[littlejim]

On my Evinrude there is also a valve in the motor head that stops coolant flow for a fast warm up, then opens up according to the amount of heat being produced.
Recall at least once it failed because of rust or such and stopped the tell tale.
Could be worth putting on the list of things to check out on your donk.

[gford001]

I got my muffs from cunninghams. Theyre a dual flow set. Really soft rubber, has trouble getting them on theyre so tight. Needless to say, not a lot of water escaped and the motor worked as it should........

[gford001]

I did wonder about something like that, as my jetski has similar. Worried it could be something like that but had no idea how I would check. Dont think its got one though. Usually get water out the telltale straight away.