Water pump leak

[j schara]

I'm looking at a 1979 Saber 28ft sailboat with a MD7A Volvo Penta engine. The owner pointed out a leaky water pump. With the flash lite pointed to the lower left hand corner of the engine you can see the water falling but not the pump.

My question is how do you get to it if it has to be replaced? Anyone done this before?

I might be a first time boat owner (with mechanical knowledge) and would need to know just what I'm getting into.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on the subject.

Jim

[Sailmonkey]

Learn and excel at boat yoga!

Although I just looked at photos of those boats with that engine and access looks good

[sailah]

My dad has a Sabre 28 with the Atomic 4. When repairs need to be done he just yanks the engine into cabin. He constantly complains about the extreme lack of space to work on things hence easier to just pull the engine.

Rebuilding the water pump is pretty simple, I just did mine on a Westerbeke. Buy kit, swap parts, reassemble. Takes 30 min assuming nothing goes wrong.

[a64pilot]

I used to drop the motor out of my air cooled VW’s way back when to do much of anything, just three bolts held them in if memory serves, throttle cable, fuel hose and a couple of wires.

[stormalong]

Boat engine spaces are always tight. Do you want interior space or a roomy engine compartment? You may have to strip away some other engine items, like the alternator to get at the pump but I am sure it is doable. Working on boats is an exercise in patience. Last week I was replacing a cable and the time it took just to remove and replace one cable tie was at least 15 minutes. Whenever doing boat work my time estimates are half the actual time needed.

Is that the water pump">raw water pump or the fresh water pump? Removing the raw water pump is easier and you have to expect that every two to three thousand engine hours. Rebuilding them is easy. It is usually just bearings and seals. Sometimes the shaft has a groove worn into it and either a new shaft or speedy sleeve is needed to fix it.