When to do PM on the Thermostats / Water Pump

[hotajax]

How often should these be replaced? Water pump new this past spring, I estimate will probably run a hundred hours b-4 putting her away for the winter. Am not having any overheating problems at this time. EJF

 

[seasick]

I have not replaced the pump or the thermos in several years. They are working well. There is all kinds of dissagreement on the subject of water pump replacement but for me, I have taken the road of " If it aint broke, don't fix it"
I don't go far offshore and I don't suck sand into the motor. As long as the tattle tale stream is strong and the motor doesn't overheat, I am nor concerned.
In the spring when its time to launch, I run the motor on land with the cowling off and warm up the motor. You can feel the temps by putting your hand on the heads. Both sides should warm up, be abut the same temp and not get really hot. If that;s the case, the thermos are OK.

 

[wahoo33417]

Two Yamaha techs told me 400 hours for replacing water pump and thermostat.

 

[HMBJack]

The answer here "depends" on : can you afford to overheat and be disabled where you do your boating. For example, you can follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" schedule if you boat on a lake or inland waterway where you have cell phone coverage 100% of the time and - worst case - you'll be late getting home. In my scenario - all of my boating is on the ocean (off of San Francisco) and I frequently am out of cell phone range. For this reason, I change my water pumps in even numbered years and thermostats in odd numbered years. This may be overkill but I don't think so - I can tell you the impellors and T-Stats that I have removed looked ready to be replaced. And p.s. I carry a T8 kicker on my 22 footer just in case I really have bad luck out there.

In summary - answer to your question - "it depends".
Good luck!

 

[Tashmoo]

I do my pump and t-stats every two years which equals out to around 300 hours, I think based on the way mine looked coming out (six on my last boat) every three years would be more than ok. I did let my T-stats go for 5 years before I realized that they needed to be replaced and when I did pull them one was pretty salted up, and I fresh water rinse after ever use.

Personally, I think common sense needs to factor in here. If you suck up a lot of sand or mud then you might want to change out the pump sooner. If you boat on a clean lake why bother. If you're on the ocean change them it’s cheap insurance.

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

yama says check or replace every 200hrs or 1 year for both t-stat and water pump

i do it every year, cuz if i check it, I'm going to replace
t-stats are like 25 each, so i test them in hot water and give them a vinegar bath in my ultra sonic cleaner

that yami tech that said 400hrs IS WRONG!

 

[Brad1]

I believe the service manual for my 2003 F225 says every 3 years or 500 hrs. That said, I changed mine at 3 years and I had less than 300 hrs on it at the time.

I think the service interval varies from motor to motor. I've seen some motors call for the service every 100 hrs. I read an article in Trailer Boats that said rule of thumb is every 100 hrs. I believe that was the service interval for my MerCruiser Alpha 1, Gen II.

When in doubt, every other year is probably a safe policy. But it you are running in very sandy, silty water, you may want to do it more often.

If your not sure whether your due or not, then just go ahead and change it. Easy service to perform and you'll have peace of mind.

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

I believe the service manual for my 2003 F225 says every 3 years or 500 hrs. That said, I changed mine at 3 years and I had less than 300 hrs on it at the time.
.

nope 1 year or 200 hrs, it is yami standard

 

[fishingFINattic]

I do my pump and t-stats every two years which equals out to around 300 hours, .

Same here - fine so far -

Tim

 

[Boats Rock]

I check and flush my T/stats at the beginning of the season.

 

[Brad1]

I believe the service manual for my 2003 F225 says every 3 years or 500 hrs. That said, I changed mine at 3 years and I had less than 300 hrs on it at the time.
.

nope 1 year or 200 hrs, it is yami standard

According to the maintenance interval chart on page 3-3 of the Yamaha OEM service manual for the F200 and F225, the service interval for the impeller change is 500 hours or 30 months. I was at work when I made my previous reply. Now I'm at home and I have the service manual right in front of me.

The service manual says to check the thermostat every 1 yr / 200 hrs. It doesn't specify how often to replace it though.

 

[Boats Rock]

They can be checked by boiling them and checking the water temp when they start to open. If they start to open at the same time then your go to go.

 

[wahoo33417]

Two Yamaha techs told me 400 hours for replacing water pump and thermostat.

I should point out that the Yammie techs considered that I boat nearly exclusively in deep, blue water, flush the engines after each use and I put about 300 hours per year on my boat. One 'tech' is the head mechanic at my Grady dealership and I believe he does his best to give me reasonable recommendations.

I should note that he also recommends changing the anodes inside the engine heads at the same interval. I thought he was pulling my leg - I never heard of these. Then he showed me some. From his account, internal anodes sneak up on a fair number of Yammie four-stroke owners.

Rob

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

I believe the service manual for my 2003 F225 says every 3 years or 500 hrs. That said, I changed mine at 3 years and I had less than 300 hrs on it at the time.
.

nope 1 year or 200 hrs, it is yami standard

According to the maintenance interval chart on page 3-3 of the Yamaha OEM service manual for the F200 and F225, the service interval for the impeller change is 500 hours or 30 months. I was at work when I made my previous reply. Now I'm at home and I have the service manual right in front of me.

The service manual says to check the thermostat every 1 yr / 200 hrs. It doesn't specify how often to replace it though.

you got the updated book?
yami manuals are written in japaneese then translated
the 1 year/200hrs is right, we just did it in yami school, they fuct up!
but if you check the thing why not change it

 

[wahoo33417]

This thread has my curiosity peaked, but my owner's manual is on the boat. So I checked Yamaha's web site. I could not find the online manuals that I have seen before. (Maybe someone else knows where?) But I did find 'Maintenance Matters' which looks like a replacement for the owner's manual.

I could not cut and paste the maintenence interval chart. But among other things, it now recommends water pump impellor every 200 hours and oil change every 50 - 100 hours (and 10 micron fuel filters every hour on the hour). Interestingly, oil filter is still every 200 hours.

I did not find anything about thermostats.

Rob

 

[Brad1]

I believe the service manual for my 2003 F225 says every 3 years or 500 hrs. That said, I changed mine at 3 years and I had less than 300 hrs on it at the time.
.

nope 1 year or 200 hrs, it is yami standard

According to the maintenance interval chart on page 3-3 of the Yamaha OEM service manual for the F200 and F225, the service interval for the impeller change is 500 hours or 30 months. I was at work when I made my previous reply. Now I'm at home and I have the service manual right in front of me.

The service manual says to check the thermostat every 1 yr / 200 hrs. It doesn't specify how often to replace it though.

you got the updated book?
yami manuals are written in japaneese then translated
the 1 year/200hrs is right, we just did it in yami school, they fuct up!
but if you check the thing why not change it

I have the OEM service manual (covers the engines I mentioned) that I purchased from Shipyard Island Marina in 2004. I'll have to look into there being an updated OEM service manual.

 

[choogenboom]

I have my 2004 F225 manual in front of me. Both water pump and thermostats are "Inspection" every 200 hours or 1 year. Of course if you take the time to visually inspect it you might as well spend the few extra bucks to replace it.

On my 1994 250TXRS Yamaha I replaced the water pump for the first time in 2007. 13 years of service on one pump, and I replaced it pre-emptively; it had not failed. I don't have an hour meter but would say that hours were below average for its age. Boat was in salt water year around. In 2006 (thats 12 years of service) it started overheating at idle every now and then. I removed both thermostats and one was stuck open and one was stuck shut.

The local dealer charges $280 for a water pump replacement. If you did that every year as recommended ... well, you can do the math. I think the Yamaha recommendation defies credibility. Perhaps if you really abuse your engine and run the pump dry or suck in lots of sand you might chew up a pump but even annual inspections likely won't prevent the abusive user from chewing up a pump before the next annual inspection. I can't see any way to abuse the thermostats. Perhaps by inspection they mean checking the water pressure and engine temperature - that would be more credible in my opinion and far less costly than a direct visual inspection.

In my case I have twins so I will wait for the engines to tell me there is a problem; I can always limp home on one.

My 2008 Mercury Verado 150 has water temp and PSI as well as oil temp and PSI right on the guage. Love it! If I were to repower my Grady (which I have no plans to do) I would be very tempted to go with Verados.

 

[Legend]

My dealer has mine scheduled to replace every 3 years. I average about 150 hours per year. A bit higher than some of the previous quotes but I have not had a problem in the last 25 years using this schedule.