How to Change the Impeller on a '97 Sea-Doo GTI

The 1997 Sea-Doo GTI has an aluminum impeller housing and nozzle. This means that pulling that pesky impeller isn't an onerous job, as long as you remember to keep dish soap handy as a lubricant. After you remove the nozzle and the impeller housing, the removal and installation are just a push-and-pull process. When you've finished the re-installation, recheck the gap between the impeller and its housing to avoid the shrill screech of metal on metal.

Things You'll Need

  • Pliers
  • 9/16-inch socket
  • Liquid dish detergent
  • Flat-head screwdriver
  • Torque wrench
  • Feeler gauge
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Instructions

  1. Removing the Impeller

    • 1

      Trigger the seat latch at the rear of the seat and remove the seat.

    • 2

      Remove the air vent tube support from the bottom of the seat. Disconnect the small clamp on the impeller housing drive boot, using pliers, and keep the clamp.

    • 3

      Reach under the engine into the bilge and disconnect the engine water inlet hose, using your hand. Disconnect the bailer pickup tubes from the fittings on the bottom of the impeller housing, also with your hand.

    • 4

      Unsnap the steering cable and reverse cable ball joint fasteners from the nozzle. Remove the two trim screws from the nozzle trim ring. Heat the studs that hold the impeller housing to the hull to break down the thread locker locking the nuts in place. Remove the nuts with a 9/16-inch socket. Remove the pump from the hull.

    • 5

      Apply liquid dish detergent between the impeller and the impeller housing's boot flange. Insert a flat-head screwdriver between the impeller and the boot flange. Pry the boot out and slide the impeller down the drive shaft and out of the impeller drive boot.

    Installing the Impeller

    • 6

      Push the impeller onto the drive shaft. Press a new boot into the boot flange. Apply a thread locker to the threads of the studs. Reposition the impeller housing in the hull, over the studs. Thread the nuts onto the studs to hold the housing in place. Tighten the nuts to 16 foot-pounds with a torque wrench.

    • 7

      Position the nozzle trim ring over the nozzle and install the two screws that hold it in place.

    • 8

      Snap the steering and reverse cable ball joint fasteners into their places -- they're different sizes, and each will fit into only one socket -- on the nozzle.

    • 9

      Reach into the bilge and reconnect the engine water inlet hose that rises from the intake grate. Push the two bilge bailer pickup tubes onto the nipple at the bottom of the impeller housing.

    • 10

      Measure the distance between the boot flange's wear ring and the impeller blade tips at the water inlet side, using a feeler gauge, to ensure that the gap is less than 0.04 inches.

    • 11

      Connect the clamp -- the one you kept -- onto the impeller drive boot and reattach the air vent tube to the bottom of the seat. Reinstall the seat.