I was out yesterday on my Spectra 20 BBF Berk 12jc w dominator bowl and sport loader. Ran good all day. Going back in, driving 20 min all of a sudden while on plain I felt the hull was vibrating. Almost felt like driving on a gravel road.  I went through a no wake zone and at idle it sounds and felt normal. Tried to put back on plain and it was vibrating enough to make me want to just idle it back to the ramp. Looked at loader, impeller, and exit veins and saw nothing abnormal. I know its possible something i sucked up fell out. I moved pump shaft up down left and right and was tight, no play. But when I rotate it there is play in the U joint. What do you guys think?

Nope nothing around shaft when I pulled boat out


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Is the play in the u-joints?  Replace them!  Don't let it fail.

Is the play in the splines of the shaft?  A tiny amount is normal.  It is bad when the splines bind.

I would replace the u joints start there..have you greased them lately?

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I water tested it again and the vibration is gone. It runs good and pulls hard again. It must have been something stuck either in jet or on loader and then came out when put on trailer. My U-joints are definitely going out. When I run out of water it clatters so bad. In the water I can only hear the U-joint slop if you blip the throttle and pull back quickly. I'm going to pull the motor and install the new U-joints. My question is; Is it possible with a 3 point Hardin bell housing to Remove PTO and run motor? It looks tough to do but has anyone done it?

What do your u joints look like?


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Ok I found it!! 


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Ok I found it!! 


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Dude! Good find. At least now you can justify going through everything and rebuild your pump.


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Yes the pump was the last old piece... bound to fail!  Anyone know for sure how this pump is serviced?   Motor must come out if I’m not mistaken...


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99% sure I spun the wear ring and really chewed up the housing...


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Not able to get the bowl to slide off aft... how hard can/should I pry?  It slides back about 1/2 inch then stops.  The wear ring looks melted


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DO NOT PRY!!!

Partially thread in two bolts (6 turns min.) at approximately 3 and 9 o'clock positions and give the bolt heads a few sharp blows with a hammer.  Don't whale on them, it just takes a little motivation to move the bowl.  There should be an interference fit between the suction housing and the bowl to properly register them together.  Just make sure that you have good thread engagement so you don't damage the threads.  Lastly, the bolts prevent the bowl from falling off unexpectedly.

It is best to service insert pumps in the boat.  Don't try to remove the suction housing, they are a huge drama to R&R.

Hopefully the housing is still usable, they are crazy expensive to replace.  Usually what happens is, when the thrust bearing fails, the impeller saws through the housing, into the hand hole cover bore.

You should also check your engine oil for metal particles.

I don’t see how I could give much of a whack to the bolts in the bowl with how much space I have between the transom.... 

EXACTLY!!!  Choke up.  No back swing.

I guess the good news it that I definitely didn’t get to the hand hole cover!

Not yet, you need to take it apart and see how bad it really is.