Testing an outboard water pump 

Every time I work on my boats I end up watching hours of Dangar Marine. Thanks so much you have helped me keep my family having fun and fishing year after year. Thanks again Sir.

You just saved my 4th of july man! cleared the tell tail still wouldn't pee, lifted my bin up a little higher and she started peeing again.... i was 5 mins away from taking the lower off, hopped on RU-vid for a guide on how to do it and seen your video in the recommended, thank the lord i watched your video first! Thanks a million man!!!

Did this test on a Suzuki DF4 WP which revealed I had a leaking drive shaft seal on the top of the housing - half water coming out the WP discharge, the other half out the leaking shaft seal, result - insufficient pump head pressure to reach the tell tale let alone the cylinder head. I would suggest fitting a tube to the outlet with sufficient height to demonstrate the pump head pressure. As presented the test only demonstrates the pump impeller is rotating and won’t demonstrate pump head. Hope this helps.

You are the man!!!! I was about to give up. I didn’t know it would suck air if the water wasn’t high enough. The muffs did nothing for me. Filled a tote and now she pumping water like a champ. Thank you!!!!

Man you really know your stuff! I tried that same test and it was only pumping on high rev!!!! and was only pumping sometimes . So thanks for the info!!!!!! Will do a total overhaul!

Stu is spot on; recently experienced this after I build a motor stand and tested the water pump after replacement (previously would do it from the stern of the boat). Used the same bucket which was not high enough with the stand like it was with the boat.

Thank God I found your video , I've been battling water pump issues on an old johnson seahorse 35hp for months now , I think I've finally worked out what is going on

Thank You I rebuilt my water pump reinstalled my Foot (Lower Unit) No water with muffs.Placed it in a barrel up to the water intake’s and no water. Removed the lower unit 3 more times to re check my work. Scratched my head,slept on it and tried again the next morning NADA! Searching the IT and found your posting. Repositioning the engine in order to get deeper in the barrel and WooHoo, my work is good and proves a point to me that muffs can’t be trusted nor can a barrel if you are not close to the cavation plate. Thanks again and as you said if it were a self priming pump things could have worked but now I know. Stay Safe and Enjoy the Water ✌️

Hey brother, I'm from Brazil and I'm serving the Brazilian Navy and your videos are helping me so mutch to fix de boats of my ship. Really thanks!

After battling a water pump for a couple hours I watched this and just hooked up a hose with earmuffs. Problem solved, boat runs like a champ. Thanks Stu!! Rebuilt my lower unit with new dog clutch and all new seals, carb rebuild, fuel pump rebuild, fixed throttle advance, and everything is greased up. Literally all from your videos. Two years ago I paid a guy $650 to replace my impeller (after 6 weeks with my boat). The freedom you've given me is unbelievably valuable.

I've repaired many many motors here in Alaska and didnt know they couldn't self prime, you make great videos and they're Always very informative.

Straight to the point. This guy is great. Thanks for the terrific learning experience.

My son and I had taken ours apart and worked on the impeller. Once we were done we reassembled everything and... no water flow. We had the lower unit in a tub of water with enough to allow the intakes to be below the surface but your tip about lowering it even more was the key point to prime the pump. We tried again with a taller water tub and voila... problem solved...! Thanks so much for posting this video. It saved us so much time and money. Cheers..!

Man, Thanks so much! I just did my first water pump on a little Johnson 15 and set the engine in a bucket of water and it did not pump. Was getting ready to tear the thing apart again thinking I had done something wrong. Your video was a life saver. As you pointed out, these pumps are not self priming. I found a deeper bucket and filled to the level that you recommended and presto, she was peeing like crazy. Thanks for the excellent video. Keep up the good work!

Thank you,I think that is what is going on with mine,replaced all the pump parts including a new outlet seal and little or no water pumping,it was about the level of your first test and no luck with the muffs either,I need a trash can or something deep to get this thing primed.Going to try spinning it while disassembled too to know it's pumping.

You just saved me a lot of time and money. I replaced the water pump and couldn't get it to pump water. Filled up the trash can with a little more water and it pisses out water like a racehorse. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your content. I completed a rebuild on a 15hp Evinrude which is mounted on an adjustable jack plate, which worked perfectly on the muffs when tested after the rebuild but hadn't been on the water yet. When I tried to start it up with the boat beached it wasn't sitting deep enough in the water to prime the pump, so all I had was a noticeable pulse of air coming from the tell. After bringing it home and scratching my head I found your video and immediately took the boat to a local boat launch to test immersing deeper and voila - strong stream from the tell.

Stu you are the man. This is the first and only time I have seen or heard this golden nugget of information. If this works I will dance a jig.

Hey just wanted to say thanks for your efforts and time. I'm an apprentice boat tech and I'm just finishing up Yamaha school in the states. Your videos are very helpful .. thank you sir. Michael.

I might end up sleeping tonight after watching this video , must try tonight , thank you !

Great tip. Also, if you have checked everything out and everything appears to look good and the water level is high enough and it's STILL not pumping, look closely at the seal on top of the impellor housing. If it has a seal. Some housings don't have seals. Some do. If they don't, look at the housing itself. Make sure its not distorted from heat. If you stick a short hose into the housing where the water shoots out of the housing, there should be a good stream of water coming out of the hose. Just keep your face away from the sudden gush of water.

Great stuff Stu - saved me a bunch of panic - thought I had munted my brand new outboard but this explains why !

Thank you! I was testing my 3.5 envinrude, which is a Tohatsu 3.5, it seems, and no water was coming out of the tell tale (I also learned from another video of yours that it is just a tell tale, not all of the water comes out of there). I was thinking I had a problem in cooling system but it was just the water level that was too low. Saved the day!

Stu is a good teacher his videos are very helpful he knows the trade thanks for sharing mate

Thank you so much! I replace the impeller on my Evinrude 9.9. The motor has planing fins, so I used a storage box that accommodated them, and still submerged the intake. I had used a motorcycle fork seal grease, on the impeller, during reassembly, for insurance. After running for 20 seconds, no "peeing"? I was about to tear it back down, second guessing my work, when I found your video. I removed the fins and used a recycle bin, deep enough to submerge the pump...presto! It primed and circulated. THANK YOU!

Sadly, I did not see this until after I dropped the lower unit and took apart the impeller housing. I reassembled all and raised the water level in my tank to the prescribed height in your video and Eureka! A lesson I'll not forget. Much thanks!

Thanks Stu. It was doing my head in why it wouldn’t pump water. Now I just need to adjust the gear selector and all done.

Stu Thanks so much for your videos and knowledge this connected some dots for me

Thanks you so much, your video has saved me. I just could not understand why my new impeller was not pumping. The ear muffs are useless and then used a large bucket. But as you have shown water level is critical. All good now. Thanks again.

Changed the water pump and gaskets, raised the water level in the 'bucket' to just about where the water pump is situated and poured in 5-1 ratio of plain white vinegar which was cheaper at the supermarket, cancelled the descaling fluid......Ran for about 1/2 an hour and was left with a tablespoon full of sand, shells and silt in the bottom. Rinsed with fresh water and the tell tale and exhaust were pumping water out. Job well done

I replaced mine last year and the test run worked great. I tried it with just the intake underwater and didn't work. Now I know why! Thank you.

Well, this vid might have solved a suspected problem I have. With the "ear muffs" on the motor on land the water is very slow to piss out but when the motor is in a lake it's fine. I will test this theory in a bucket and I suspect you've helped me out again. Thank you! excellent video once again.

Thank go for this video!!!! I almost When and changed my pump because I had water low like the first I was freaking!!! Thank You!

Glad I found this video. You just saved me a few hundred bucks by not having to get my pump replaced. I had been testing my motor in tank but the tank wasn’t deep enough. Got a taller one and pump works great.

I had changed my impeller at the end of last season.. I filled up a bucket and started the motor and no water.. let it run a while and heard an alarm so shut her off.. started thinking I had to tear it apart again but thought I would see if you had anything about this. Saw this video, used a larger container and that did the trick!Thank you thank you thank you!!

Always make things simplistic, love all the videos and tutorials! Thanks again....

I am glad I watched your video. I tried to test mine today and thought it was bad but after watching the video I realized my water may have been to shallow. Thanx!

Great info, mine does not self prime and I could not figure out why I was burning up impellers. Thanks for great info.

I would have spent hours removing the powerhead and ordering expensive parts if I didn't run across this video. I had everything together fine, forgot about the water depth. Thank you Sir!

Just a quick comment to thank you for the excellent videos on Outboard engines it's helped me tremendously

That's a new one to me . Thanks for the phenomenally great informative vids

Thanks for the info. Ran into the same problem. Didn't realize that they are not self priming.

After testing my motor after a 6 month break it wasn’t pumping water, pulled the pump apart and rebuilt it only to find it still didn’t pump… after a second rebuild and a lot of cranky words I found your video! Adding more water to the bucket magically fixed it, thanks!

Thanks! Had this issue yesterday, going to retest today!

Stu, I have to agree with J Dexter. Another good tutorial. I took my lower unit off due to it not pumping water. I suspected the impeller but it's fine. However the rubber piece covering the top of the impeller housing is torn and unserviceable. I'll test the lower unit just like you've shown and also pump water through the upper unit before assembly. thanks

Thanks for the idea. I did this with my 40 HP Johnson, but the driveshaft was too big. I ended up clamping a piece of garden hose on the shaft, and a half inch extension{upside down}, and inserted the extension in the drill. worked awesome.

Wow, this little gem of a video just made me and my motor very happy. Thank you!

Damn! Thank you! I was Fed up with taking this leg off wondering what the heck I had done wrong on the impeller change

Saved Me from splitting the motor. Just did the Impeller and no water coming out. It was just covering the intake. Back out for deeper bucket. Thanks for the vid.

You saved me a bunch of time also/// I was getting ready to change out my water pump and tried what you showed...it worked just fine with a little more water...thanks so much... : )

I have to THANK YOU as I replaced a few parts to include the impeller, water seal damper, gasket...etc and no water came out.....I filled a bucket higher with water and it came out just fine.

Excellent video. Thank you.

Pulled lower unit off 4 times thinking it wasn't working right. Then my google skills found this video. Thank you so much....sunk it in a trash can and boom...working. Awesome sauce!

you bloody legend, thats the best little nugget on the interweb. fixing up my Merc 20hp that has sat for 7 years. just had the leg off and on again and off again put it all back together and then found this, boom there she goes water like a horse. If I could send you a box of coopers I would. Thanks John. New Zealand

You are my go to for sure this video is gonna pay big dividends tomorrow thanks

Excellent instructor

You might have just saved me 250 bucks. I just ran my outboard with water only up above the intake holes and got no flow. I had already gotten a price for a new water pump. But I decided to check out my man Dangar. If this works, I'm going to open an account on patreon for the sole purpose of making a donation.

Thank you for this video.

Just saved me a second tear down. I have a long outboard 6hp johnson designed for sail boats and mine wouldnt pick up until the pump portion was below the water line.

Thank you so much by doing this it's working for me.

Great info, simple and informative. Thank You!!

I learn so much from your tutorials boss ;-) Love it. Greeatings from Norway.

Thanks for showing us how to solve the mystery of why our newly installed water pump was not working! Not having the water level high enough when testing prevented the stream from flowing. It would have been better if we had found your video before our fourth breakdown and re-assembly, but my 16 year old is now an expert on both impellers and thermostats.

Great help- Just bought a used Yamaha 8 that had no telltale water. Pulled gearcase, had an unusual problem, the output pipe grommet was jammed down into the output hole. Error in prior reasembly. Quick cheap fix, I thought. Still no telltale. Pulled it apart again, submerged more deeply. Still none. Poured water into outflow hole and now it pumps. If I stop the drill, it does not reprime itself, but I expect it will be OK when submerged on the boat, just a testing problem. New pump kit on order, but I am back underway for now.

best ever videos on youtube thanks

Stu, once again your videos are a life saver. Planning to take the wife out on the lake tomorrow and when I was prepping the boat earlier in the week, it wasn't pumping water. Thankfully I knew what not to do and it didn't overheat but I remembered this video and tried getting a bigger tub. Bam. Pumping just fine. Also a nice side effect of the engine getting a little warm was my moisture misfire gremlin was cooked out of the ignition system. :P

Ha ha ! I've been scratchin me head for 2 days tryin to figure out why it's not pumping. Added a bit more water to the bucket & ....BINGO ! It's pumping ! Thanks mate !

Nice idea there. Thanks!

I always appreciate thanks your lectures

Once again you have saved me from pulling my hair out. I replaced the impeller in my '93 Evinrude 25 (among other things) and after putting it all back together got no tell-tale while running it in the tank. Watched this video, jacked my water tank up higher, filled it to the very brim and...PRESTO! Motor is pissing like a champ. Donation sent, and money will spent. Many, many thanks mate!

Great information! Thanks Mike

So glad I watched this video. I bought a used 2002 Honda 225 outboard. I saw it running at the time and it gushed water out the jet, but when I installed it on my boat a couple of weeks ago using ear muffs on the garden hose, no water came out, so I switched it off. I then put it into a tub with the water coming to about 1/4 inch above the intake, ( deepest tub I could find ) but still no water came out. Now I know why, thanks to you. Your videos are the best on the web and I really enjoy watching them. I like the fact that it is not all about spending money, it about getting things to work one way or the other. I would love to see you working on the exact same engine as mine but realize it would be difficult as there are so many choices out there. I would suggest however, that if you did do videos on the most popular models and horse powers, I, and many others, would be prepared to pay for access to in depth instruction videos of their particular engine, done in the same manner as your existing videos. I really like when you ad small additional pieces of information, just so that we are fully aware of the situation and therefore stop us rushing in and doing something stupid. I was about to strip down my engine and replace the water pump. Now I will wait until next season and test it in the water. I am now sure there is no problem, but at some point I will service it, just so I am aware off it's condition. I would like to see you make a buck just so you will stay with it. Thanks again. Keep up the good work. Bob.

OMG! THIS is the video that everybody is looking for. I took careful attention to Change my impeller properly and then did the test in the driveway with the Ear Muffs, then the flush line with my garden hose (tell tale worked perfect with this flushing test) etc. EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING was perfect though I could not get water to come out of the Tell tale. I even filled my trash can up to just above the Intake Grids and STILL couldn’t get water to pump through the tell tale. I watched this video and thought “...there’s no way this is going to work..” and yet when I backed the boat down the landing ramp and lower the unit into deeper water, I started the motor in deeper water and WHAM! ....Water streaming like a river!!!! YES! I still don’t understand the physics of this as to why the deeper water makes/made a difference BUT IT WORKED and Dangar I am forever grateful! Thank You!

Farking brilliant. Thank you.

Awesome. I love this channel thank you

Great information. Thank you

Holy shit. I destroyed my newly rebuilt pump running it in a tub without enough water. Now I know. Thank you!!!!!!

Stu, Thank you for all of your videos / help. This video saved me from going crazy. You were right and your technique works. I couldn't get a cordless drill on the shaft. I used a shop towel and vice grips for my experiment. Please keep up the great videos... We need you in the States (even if it is via RU-vid)

Some solid advice on this video. For new folks to the outboards that is handy to know. Thanks.

Thank you that was very very informative you are a great teacher thank you

your videos are very well explained and good for problem tracing, great tips, keep up the great info

Awesome video and info.

This video saved me a lot of time and money. My motor telltale was not peeing. I replaced the impeller. Still nothing. I tried muffs. I tried a bucket. Nothing. Was just about to take the lower unit off and verify everything looked right (and it would have, because it was right). That would have lead to even more confusion. Then I would have taken it to a repair shop. But I saw this video suggesting the need for deeper water. Got a new, larger, deeper water trough and it worked! The telltale was working perfectly. Yayyyyy!!!!! Thanks Dangar Marine!

Wow!!!!! I believe this is my problem. I have a 30 hp 1995 evinrude. I’m in the process of getting ready to replace the water pump. I bought a kit. And have been researching videos to properly replace the water pump. If you are able to answer some of my questions please let me know. Thank you so much for your videos.

Answer to my problem, thanks brother will try tomorrow

Your the man I did what you said to see if the new water pump worked after putting it into a bucket or large garbage can. I did just that and now the water is peeing out of the piss tube Thank You very much. A++++

ooh i think you have solved my issue with my 2008 suzuki DT30. Thank you keep up the great work!

Very handy tip. Thanks Stu.

Another amazing video, thanks.

Love this guys channel

Awesome tip, really helpful.

Thank you. You just saved me a lot of money.

2nd time ive used this video , thanks mate keep up the good work

great info, cheers

Thank you so much this helped soooo much

I like your videos thanks for making them great job

Great information about things that appeared like only a Factory trained Mechanic could do. Your video presentation is straightforward And demystified. Thanks M8, you're Awesome, And you saved me a lot of money. Fair dinkums..

thanks , i didn't know that, very helpful

your videos have shown and taught me so much, in the past I would've taken it to the marine shop for simple things, and for that I'd just like to say thank you!

Thanx! You solved my problem.