Clr Run Through My Outboard/cool Longshaft Swap Today ;)

[stephenronning]

Hello group. I did a cool project today. I bought a honda 75 '80 for my new kicker. she's been garaged since '80. BRAND NEW BASICALL!

However she was a short shaft but I just had to have her. So I found a longshaft 75 with a blown power head and swapped the lower ends..heck of an all day job for a guy like me. It's done and it was quite rewarding. Now here's my question. When I put the lower end on I noticed a lot of calcium buildup on the tube on the old used lower end that runs the water up through to cycle water to cool the motor. I was gonna dig it out but forgot..I had parts everywhere and it was basically an all day nightmare for me and my friend. So now I ran her and of course she doesn't have a steady stream of water peeing out..just a bit more than drips. I know that means to put a new impellar in. However I was thinking of filling my full-size garbage can up half way with water, adding a bottle of clr and running her to see if it got the lime and calcium out of it and cleared it up to a steady stream. Has anyone ever tried this? Do you think it would hurt? or Could hurt the motor? I was planning on doing this and running her for 15 minutes. Then dumping out this water and refilling the can and flushing her out with just fresh water. What does the group think? BTW. How much is it approx. to take my motor in and have the impellar done?
Thank you, Stephen

 

[sailingdog]

I'd use barnacle buster instead. CLR may damage the aluminum, since it isn't meant for this usage...

 

[BobM]

If you swapped the lower unit you really should have changed the impeller too. It is still only about a half hour job to do so, one I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to do if you could handle the lower unit swap. Unfortunately you will need to undo about half of your work. Just take the time to clean the tube then. There really isn't any avoiding it. If she isn't pumping well you may destroy your nice new to you kicker.

 

[kloudie1]

Both these guys are right on, Stephen.. I don't think CLR has enough "UMPH" to do the job, and the impeller should be renewed, so that is not an issue for a while. Best of luck with it!

 

[Ross]

I think I know why the long shaft powerhead went up in smoke> NO COOLING WATER. Citric acid will desolve the lime but I can't say what it will do to the aluminum.

 

[sailaway78]

You will be almost there

when you change the water pump impeller. Pull it and clean it. A long wire will knock most of it out, then finish cleaning. Change the impeller no more than every two years. Ross was right, and this is why the long shaft motor was trashed. Keep the impeller changed out, and check the pipe each time. If it gets plenty of cooling water, that little motor will last forever.