berkley pump question

[pimpinpdr]

what causes vbration???

[pimpinpdr]

i had ran in too shallow of water yesterday and now i have got a vibration coming from the boat under acceleration. any advice on what to check would be great.

[pimpinpdr]

i is vibrating under acceleration. also when you hit the throttle it seems to rev extremely quick now.

[pimpinpdr]

after the shallow water, i couldn't get the boat to run more than about 20mph or so.

[pimpinpdr]

no vibration when cruising or sitting in the driveway. it seems to be only under acceleration.

[maxwedge]

you have somthing stuck in either the impellor or the bowl. That's what causes the vibration. Look for somthing like these rocks here.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/506/2890impellor_004-med.jpg

[Oldsquirt]

First thing to do is slide under the boat and look up into the pump. ANY foreign matter, rocks, sticks, weeds, etc will cause the pump to cavitate badly causing a vibration and poor performance. Is there any damage to the leading edges of the impeller?
If you don't see anything, launch the boat and see if the problem is still there. It is possible that whatever caused the issue has fallen off/out of the intake. Happened to me once with an empty ice bag. Hung on the intake until I was coming out of the water when it fell off on the ramp.
If you don't see anything and the problem is still there, you will be in for further disassembly/inspection. Anything that sticks in the backside of the impeller or in the bowl will not be visible without removing the bowl. Last year about this time there was another thread by someone with a very similar problem. Turned out to be a rock that was small enough to get past the front of the impeller, but too big to pass all the way through. Even if it had gotten through the impeller, it would have been stuck in the cavity between the impeller and bowl, continuing to be a problem.

[pimpinpdr]

from under the boat everything looks good. the impellar looks fine and i didn't find any rocks or foreign objects.

[pimpinpdr]

also i am new to jet boating so i'm sure i kind of sound like an idiot here.

[Oldsquirt]

also i am new to jet boating so i'm sure i kind of sound like an idiot here.
Well there's always a learning curve....just better when you are learning from someone else's misfortune, not your own.
Take a read through this thread.... Boat Wont Run (http://www2.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78235) This guy had a similar problem and has taken some pics, including what the problem was finally found to be. Again, don't rule out the possibility that something was simply stuck to the intake grate and has since fallen off. If another test run is within reason, I'd do that before further disassembly.

[maxwedge]

Don't worry everybody sounds like an idiot here. :D Welcome to the boards. Those two rocks were only part of my problem (thanks bro). I took the bowl off (not as hard as it might seem) I found three more large rocks, so they don't always pass right through. There's a video about removing the bowl somewhere on the web...Jet Boat Performace website maybe? I'll see if I can find it and post it.
Also you can write several sentences in a post, instead of posting several times like that, unless of course you are just trying to build up your post count. :D

[MarKist]

from under the boat everything looks good. the impellar looks fine and i didn't find any rocks or foreign objects.
they could be down in the impeller.....take a clothes hanger and stick it in the impeller and bowl it might be where you can't see it ......just my 02 it work for us.......good luck and wecome to the jungle !!!
Markist

[maxwedge]

Video is at CP Performance website, here's the link.
http://www.cpperformance.com/TechTips/Berkeley-Rebuild/default.htm
Like everbody says, it may have fallen out, but if you do wind up removing the bowl, I found this site helpfull.

[pimpinpdr]

alright, so i got the bowl off. besides a tiny amount of sand there was a dime size piece of a beer or coke can. it was stuck in the side of the impeller that you can only see with the bowl off. Would that be anything big enough to cause the problem?

[YeLLowBoaT]

alright, so i got the bowl off. besides a tiny amount of sand there was a dime size piece of a beer or coke can. it was stuck in the side of the impeller that you can only see with the bowl off. Would that be anything big enough to cause the problem?
It could.... but I would be willing to bet thats all that is left of the can after you sucked the whole can it.

[pimpinpdr]

that's kind of what i figured since i dont have a grate under the pump.but when the problem started, i drove around slowly for about 10 minutes or so and the problem never went away.

[pimpinpdr]

actually i say i drove around slowly. but i did hammer on it several times. i wonder if the impellar chewed up the can to the point where the pieces were small enough to either fall out or just get blown out by the pump? in either case everything else looks to be in good shape.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

I agree there had to be more there .. bet that's all that is left.
Imagine the stresses that beer/soda can took in there... check the bowl to make sure nothing trapped in there.

[pimpinpdr]

i did check the bowl and even used the clothes hanger idea. that dime size piece was all that i found. i just hope that that was the extent of the problem.

[pimpinpdr]

should i check anything else while i have the bowl off, or put it back together and go run it later? by the way this really sucks because the pump only has about 5 hours on it since it was rebuilt.

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Put it back together. Go buy a intake loader grate, go water test it AND stay out of shallow water while running! Budlight

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Yea, what wicked said. Go test it like ya stole it. :2purples: :wink:

[Riverat84]

you have somthing stuck in either the impellor or the bowl. That's what causes the vibration. Look for somthing like these rocks here.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/506/2890impellor_004-med.jpg
that is EXACTLY what i have in my impellar right now! only a lil bigger.....you think pliers will get that bitch out of there? i first have to take the grate off but the screws are stripped for some reason...screw extracter? what ideas do you guys have? (sorry to threadjack)
Reid

[Riverat84]

Are you sure it's not thru bolted? Not that you are dumb or anything... Just asking in case...
well chit! ill just have to look on top of my intake then wont i? haha i totally didnt know that...ill check it when i get home. thanx,
Reid

[SmokinLowriderSS]

that is EXACTLY what i have in my impellar right now! only a lil bigger.....you think pliers will get that bitch out of there? i first have to take the grate off but the screws are stripped for some reason...screw extracter? what ideas do you guys have? (sorry to threadjack)
Reid
You don't have a cleanout opening in the suction piece??

[maxwedge]

that is EXACTLY what i have in my impellar right now! only a lil bigger.....you think pliers will get that bitch out of there? i first have to take the grate off but the screws are stripped for some reason...screw extracter? what ideas do you guys have? (sorry to threadjack)
Reid
I just reached my hand up through the grate from the bottom, pulled one out with my fingers, then accidently dropped the other one through to the backside of the impellor where I couldn't reach it. I then cursed up a storm for a few minutes, pulled the bowl off and discovered the other rocks in there. :crossx
Saved myself a wasted trip to the lake anyway.

[pimpinpdr]

so today i took the boat out and ran the hell out of it. Everything worked and ran great. Acceleration from bottom to top and no vibration. THANK YOU guys for all of your help. I really appreciate it And look forward to talking to you guys again.