Impeller Change D350's


L

Laconia Formula

Member
I need to change my impellers next season. Can someone tell me how much of a job it is? is this a do it yourself job or should I leave it to a professional? I have an 07 Volvo's D350 with about 250 hours.
 
I have a 41 PC and what I can tell you is that I have been told by my boat maintenance guy that they are hard to get to....he said the SB, on my boat, is almost impossible to get to and he had to have his wife (who is very tiny) do the work because he, himself, could not reach it due to his size.
 
I've done both sides on a 400SS and it's not too bad. The starboard engine is easy but you have to lay down on your side to get behind the port pump. I'm 6'2, 215 lbs. and I squeezed in. The toughest part of the job for me was removing the old impeller. I found the best method was to use a pair of smaller vice grips to grab the rubber (and then the metal center once you pull it out a bit) and then wedge a long screwdriver through the handle of the vice grips and create a fulcrum point to create leverage to pull the impeller straight out. I needed that setup on the port side because otherwise I didn't have enough room or a good angle to directly pull back on the vice grip itself.

Use plenty of glycerin to lube up the new impeller. I also use a wide zip tie around the impeller to bend the vanes in the right direction when it first goes in the housing. The only thing I could never find was a definitive torque spec for the pump housing cover bolts so I think I used a generic torque spec for a 10mm bolt. The impeller kit comes with a new o-ring for the cover.

I wouldn't want to do the job away from the dock, but I always carry spares in case I had to. Hope this helps.
 
Laconia Formula give a shout out to TAG - esp Sean. I had an almost major issue late this summer where I thought I burned up an impeller. My marina is certified Volvo and they took a peak to give me a preliminary prognosis and it wasn't good. They were talking removing the engine. Now remember I have D6's that provide a little more room but they couldn't get a tech anywhere near the port impeller which is actually located below the engine. TAG provided solid 'best practices' on the right tools, technique etc on how to get into those tight spaces with the least amount of work. Net - they talked our shop into an manor to change the impeller without pulling an engine.

I see Clyde mentions he did it fairly easy on his own and is a big guy - not sure if he is talking gas or diesel. If it is diesel than that is good news.
 
Its only 4 bolts and two hose clamps to pull the pumps off and do them on the bench. The belts are almost more of a pain (with the late style idler) than the pumps.
The old style idlers had a wrench hole(3/8" square drive). The new style has none!......Nice!! I bought a napa finger oil filter wrench for $12....It works..
 
quick and possibly stupid question but can I change impellers with the boat in the water? 20007 400SS with D6 350's
 
Old thread but I recently changed the impellers on my D6-350's in a Formula 400 SS. Not really that bad although I am 5'8" and 170. I removed the fuel filters to get better access but that was it. I used an impeller puller too which makes the job much easier. I did this in the water.

Just make sure you don't drop one of the 6 screws holding the back plate onto the water pump. Also of note that these engines can come with two different water pumps and impellers. I initially had ordered the wrong part. Impeller kit (21951358) was the one I needed. Others use this impeller kit (35935673).
 
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I wonder if my D6's have the same setup. I tried an impeller puller last winter and I could not get to it, so I gave up and said they should last one more year. Now I am not sure if I even have the correct impellers...why would Volvo have two different setups - arghhhhhhhhhhh.
 
toofast said:
I wonder if my D6's have the same setup. I tried an impeller puller last winter and I could not get to it, so I gave up and said they should last one more year. Now I am not sure if I even have the correct impellers...why would Volvo have two different setups - arghhhhhhhhhhh.
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CORRECTION in my post above. The impeller kit part number for mine is 21951358.

Yeah, not sure why they would either.....very frustrating. Typical VP to have different options....just to p*** us off. Do you remember how many blades your impeller had? If it was 12 then it's 21951358 otherwise 35935673 has 8 blades.

Also, the back plate of the water pump has a number stamp on it; it's the plate you remove to gain access to the impeller. If that plate has a 21419376 number then you need the 21951358 impeller kit otherwise I assume you would need the 35935673 impeller kit.

You could always remove the water pump from the boat to remove the impeller. That seems like overkill to me but others prefer that method.
 
toofast said:
I wonder if my D6's have the same setup. I tried an impeller puller last winter and I could not get to it, so I gave up and said they should last one more year. Now I am not sure if I even have the correct impellers...why would Volvo have two different setups - arghhhhhhhhhhh.
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toofast, where do you boat out of?
 
My boat is in Sandusky Ohio.

I can't remember how many vanes ... I'll have to count them again this winter.

Thanks for the details it's one more thing to check for.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
toofast said:
My boat is in Sandusky Ohio.

I can't remember how many vanes ... I'll have to count them again this winter.

Thanks for the details it's one more thing to check for.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
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No problem. Let us know what you find out for future reference. Also, how does your 40PC run with the D6-IPS500?
 
Yeah it runs great I cruise at about 29 miles an hour at 2850 RPMs... burning about 25 gallons per hour combined.

Top speed is nearly 40.

My wide-open throttles only 3400 RPMs makes me think I might be slightly over propped.... compared to some some old school Volvo diesel Guy saying I should be hitting the rev limiter 3630.

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That pretty good for a 40' boat with over a 12' beam. Love the Formulas. Yes, I think your target WOT RPM's should be 3,600 and 3,630 is ideal. Rev limiter kicks in at 3,650 I believe. You are probably leaving a couple mph on the table.
 
Advantage said:
That pretty good for a 40' boat with over a 12' beam. Love the Formulas. Yes, I think your target WOT RPM's should be 3,600 and 3,630 is ideal. Rev limiter kicks in at 3,650 I believe. You are probably leaving a couple mph on the table.
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However, I found a boat test of a 2009 Formula 40 PC with D6 IPS500's and they got 42 mph at 3,480 RPMs. So you might be right there.

Link is https://www.boattest.com/oem/386/boats/1194/0/off.
 
Wow great information thank you I think I'm more worried about overloading the Diesels versus top speed as that's what this old Volvo guy was worried about but then again who knows...

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Quick update.

I pulled impellers again at the end of the season. This time I cracked the sea strainer to let some air into the system. Then I took the back plate of the impeller housing held on with 6 small screws and let the water drain. Then I sprayed WD-40 quite liberally in each of the crevices of the impeller vanes.

I then cranked the engine over a couple of times without starting them to get the impeller to spin in the housing. Both impellers pulled out like butter; super easy with this method. Make sure you clean the inside of the housing to get rid of the WD-40. Apply marine grease to the impeller shaft and glycerin to the impeller and reinstall everything.
 
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