Water pump - woodruff key removal

[pstephens46]

some of those keys are insanely tight.
I have had a few brought to me with the key sheared off to the shaft.
that is when I make it glow.
the key glows a different color red and I know where to whack it.

Whacking gives me a headache.

I would rather grind than wack any day.

[cpostis]

I do this for a living.
I am lazy.
I try to find the easy way to do something.
easiest way to do a pump on an F350 is to get someone else to do it .

I hate the V8.

got three boats in this summer with triple F350.

Rodbolt:
Just what is it that makes it so difficult to do a F350 water pump? Is it the physical size/weight, or something else? The design looks similar to other lower HP Yamahas.

[IMG]F350.LU by Charles Postis, on Flickr[/IMG]

[rodbolt17]

it is almost like lifting a bravo gear case.
it weighs about 137 pounds.
I weigh about 142 on a good day.

when the boat is on a work rack ya gotta lift it about chest high and hit the shaft splines and the shift splines and figure out how to hold it while you start a bolt.

[robert graham]

Regarding those Woodruff keys, I always lap each side of the key on a piece of Emory cloth before installation so it's just a nice snug fit and I don't have to beat it into it's slot with a hammer....that way, it comes out a bit more easily at pump change time......

[erniefish]

it is almost like lifting a bravo gear case.
it weighs about 137 pounds.
I weigh about 142 on a good day.

when the boat is on a work rack ya gotta lift it about chest high and hit the shaft splines and the shift splines and figure out how to hold it while you start a bolt.

The older I get , the more lower units weigh , never use to take the prop off first , now I even think about draining lower unit oil , because it might be lighter , lol
Reminds me of the time we were moving a air compressor to another shop, (not sharpest knife in the drawer employe ) asked if we should drain the 150 lbs of air out to make it lighter .

[99yam40]

Heh, 150lbs is 150lbs right.
wonder if you drained it and filled back up with 150lbs of helium if it would be lighter]
Joking aside air does weigh something, just not much unless you can compress of it into a liquid

I found out that the sharp edges on a SS worn prop will cut.
need to pull the props to clean and grease anyway, so might as well remove before dropping the lower unit, and it will make it a little lighter

Rod I wonder if they make a jack that could be used if pulling on a good concrete floor where it could roll well.
kind of like a transmission jack where you have ways to change the angle.

Without a flat surface on the bottom of lower unit it may be difficult, but I am sure someone could come up with a way to get them to be supported properly.
How about it anyone see one before?
maybe it is an good opportunity for someone to design and patent one.
Or an adapter for a transmission jack

[walleye1]

I use a ratchet strap on the heavy ones, hook
on the lower cowl rap around the cav plate and
back to the cowling. Got to use your head or
you will be replacing a lower cowl.

[dastrauckas]

I bought a new-old boat (2006), and my first Yamaha's. Replacing the water pumps on both 250's today. The woodruff key was seized-in hard. I tried the blunt-chisel-hammer technique on the top and bottom of the key alternately, but that just deformed the installed key on both ends, with no movement of the key in the keyway accomplished. Next, I used my dremel tool with the smallest grinding wheel i had, and cut down the middle of the key as other posts described. In less than 3 minutes, both halves of the now-cut woodruff key were flopping around in the keyway and were quickly and easily removed.

In examining the existing water pump parts, I can see that the last owner used an after-market water pump rebuild kit and not OEM . .. I'm wonder if the woodruff key in the after-market kit was softer metal than OEM woodruff, which maybe led to the chisel technique not working? In any case simply sharing the good effectiveness of the grinding-wheel method here.

I will be using OEM rebuild kit for the extra $70 for other reasons.

[pstephens46]

I bought a new-old boat (2006), and my first Yamaha's. Replacing the water pumps on both 250's today. The woodruff key was seized-in hard. I tried the blunt-chisel-hammer technique on the top and bottom of the key alternately, but that just deformed the installed key on both ends, with no movement of the key in the keyway accomplished. Next, I used my dremel tool with the smallest grinding wheel i had, and cut down the middle of the key as other posts described. In less than 3 minutes, both halves of the now-cut woodruff key were flopping around in the keyway and were quickly and easily removed.

In examining the existing water pump parts, I can see that the last owner used an after-market water pump rebuild kit and not OEM . .. I'm wonder if the woodruff key in the after-market kit was softer metal than OEM woodruff, which maybe led to the chisel technique not working? In any case simply sharing the good effectiveness of the grinding-wheel method here.

I will be using OEM rebuild kit for the extra $70 for other reasons.

Needs to be a very dull chisel. You don’t want to cut it. 3lb hammer delivers a great whack. I dremeled once. Now I know better.