So I took Friday off to spend a whole day in the "shipyard". It's getting cold and I need to finish things up before first freeze.
While disassembling the water pump (replacing the impeller is smart maintenance every year or two and its hard to know how long it has been with a used boat) a bolt snapped. Finally ended up drilling it out and tapping new threads. As part of this, it was evident that the pump base was cracked and needed replacement. $90 from Mercury.
Here's where it gets confusing. 43055a4 is the "old base" which uses traditional gaskets. 19282a1 is the "new base" with integrated silicon gasket. The difference is explained well in the tech manual. I had a "new base" which broke. I had purchased on Ebay a 43055a4 for $40 (which came with a bonus 43055a2, 2 being an earlier revision, apparently the same except for no new spacers). When I got it, I realized this was the old base, so went to order directly. The tech manual was confusing, since it said that the new base could not be used with old pumps, but was silent whether old bases could be used with the newerpumps. I found 19282a1 is no longer available, replaced by 19282a2. So I opened up my 19282a2 from Cape Marine -- and it was an old base too. Not only that, it was completely identical to the 43055a4 with the same manufacturer markings on the base. Two different part #s, two different prices ($86 vs. $88), identical products.
So what happened? I'll get back my $90 (-10% restocking fee). Apparently the silicon bases were unreliable (surprise, maybe like how mine broke), so they moved back to the old pump base. And I've got a 43055a4 for sale for $40+shipping (I installed the a2 freebie).
Oh, and completely undocumented (another waste of $50), the two seals come preinstalled on all bases, so neither the 2 $10 seals nor the $30 tool for seal placement is necessary.
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