DF140 - 2004 - Noisy Water Pump / Impellor?

[Scott-Aust]

Hi,
I have a 2004 DF140, 120 hours. I used it today for the first time in ~10 weeks and noticed (only when I was flushing it after use) that there was a small amount of noise coming from the general area of water pump. The noise is a bit hard to describe, just a bit of irregular 'harshness' - not particularly loud nor aggressive. I haven't had this boat long, but I don't recall hearing it previously.

The boat has been serviced 12 monthly since new, and the impellor has been replaced 12 months ago, at 100 hours. Water is coming out of the tell tale OK.

Any ideas ???
Not being mechanically minded, my thoughts are that perhaps a piece of the impellor is floating around in there (or worse - piece of corroded metal), but realistically could this happen, and would it make any noise?

Is there anything else I can consider, short of taking it in to be looked at by a mechanic?

Thanks,
Scott.

[nelbur]

Check the oil level in the lower unit to be sure it is still full and has no water in it. The drive shaft and gears are turning when ever the engine is running. If your shift adjustment is off, you might be hearing a ticking of the dogs against one of the gears. If so you need to adjust the shift linkage. I doubt you would hear the water pump, but the engine is darned quiet at idle.

[Scott-Aust]

Thanks Nelbur.

I may have been a little hasty with my uninformed assumptions, but.....

I ran it again yesterday with the muffs on, this time using a different hose (with more flow) and didn't hear the noise? Could insufficient water flow have contributed?

Will check the items you have mentioned in coming days also.

Scott.