Last week when running my 40 for the first time in several weeks I noticed it was barely pissing out of the peehole .It wasn't completely stopped so I am sure the engine is fine, it never overheated I believe. The previous time I used the boat it seemed fine.
I brought the boat home and picked up a replacement kit from the dealership watched a couple utube videos and printed off a pdf file from Honda that clearly showed the instructions on how to change the impeller.
Everything came apart without issue but when I removed the impeller housing the "fins" were oriented in the opposite direction showed on the Honda pdf as well as the videos I watched. It wasn't in terrible shape, pretty much all there with minimal bits broken off. The rest (housing etc) were all in good shape.
I installed the new one as described in the file and videos and put everything back together. When I fired it up initially there was no water coming out then very little after 10-15 seconds. Shut it down and bang my head a couple times.
I decided to try sticking a wire up thru the peehole. I got it in about the length of the rubber tube, pulled it out and instantly I had flow but not as much as I should have. So next I pulled the rubber tube off and got the wire probably 3-4 inches into the engine and it seemed to help the flow.
So I replaced the tube and restarted the engine. It's pissing OK, enough that I'm not worried about using it, but it could be better.
First question - is it possible for the impeller fins to flip to the wrong direction if its in decent condition? Did Honda change the direction of the impeller at some point? Mine is a 1999 model.
If I installed it correctly (the way it showed on the Honda pdf), what else can I do to increase the flow? Should I take it apart and try to stick a wire up the water tube from below? Is it possible the key fell away while I installed the housing - if so would I get any flow at all?