I need a couple things done to my boat. Boat is currently in Channelview area, so looking for someone in Baytown, Crosby, etc. Definitely can take it a little farther to get fixed, but would prefer something over there. Boat is 2001 Procraft with a 2001 Mercury 125 on it. Main issue is motor not spitting out water. I thought something might be clogging the line, but I feel I cleaned that out pretty good. I was told there is a little plastic wheel type part in the lower unit that pulls the water up into cooling system that goes out somewhat frequently.

Impeller. You can probably youtube it and do it yourself

probably the impeller....I take mine to Bowden marine up in atascocita

Reynolds Marine or Boats ETC. Both good dealerships. Also LMC Marine but they are on the north side of Houston.
If you are somewhat mechanically inclined you can do it yourself. You can get a water pump repair kit that will have a new impeller and the other needed parts.
You have to drop the lower unit by disconnecting the shift rod then removing the bolts that hold the lower unit on. The prop vertical drive shaft will pull out of the power head and there will also be a water line that will have a rubber connector that will pull apart.
The impeller is in a housing that is easily removed for access. The impeller will slide off the vertical drive shaft.
As was said above.... I'm sure there is a you tube for your model engine.
If the engine has not been serviced in a while I would take it to a dealer and let them do a complete service/tune up on it and they will replace the water pump impeller and change the lower unit oil.

As stated above, its a very straightforward fix if you have just a couple basic tools. Also, if you plan on using the boat anytime soon, could be worth doing yourself. Most places last time I checked had a pretty decent wait time on turnaround.

We replaced our impeller when our boat was doing this and it ended up being a stuck poppet valve that was causing the issue, not the impeller. Still glad to replace it, but infuriating at the time, especially since it was during covid and getting parts took FOREVER.

I would avoid a dealership at all costs. Take it to Mike's Marine in Pasadena. He's an honest guy and a dang good Mercury mechanic. Took my boat there for 10+ years.

Sorry gunny, love all you contribute to the board but gotta disagree with you on LMC.
Took my ranger in there and they claimed to fix issue. When I took boat on water to test they hadn't and I called them up about it. Response and discussion was total bull. Talked to Fred barthold and he met me halfway (live in humble) and fixed boat within a week.
Since then been going to either Fred or mostly Bowden marine here and they're both great

They (LMC) seem to be good sometimes and bad at others.I have had real happy customers with them for the most part. Fred is a good man and a good dealer for us. Know him well. More than a dealer.... he is a good friend. I would take my boat to him for sure. And would certainly recommended him as I have in the past........
However he is a long way from East Houston as the OP wanted.

Red Wing Boat. Ask for Fred.

Holiday marine in Crosby/Huffman just off 1960 east of 2100
Bowden Marine off Atascocita Road.

Have taken my boats to both of them. Bowden is a certified Mercury shop.

I agree what someone else said, your impeller is probably shot, especially if you haven't changed it out in the last few years.

alittleright said:

---

Holiday marine in Crosby/Huffman just off 1960 east of 2100
Bowden Marine off Atascocita Road.

Have taken my boats to both of them. Bowden is a certified Mercury shop.

---

Bowden is now also certified yamaha shop too

Experience on impellers are that they should be swapped out every 2-3 years, no exceptions or you are putting your expensive motor at risk of damage that will cost a lot of money to fix.

Impellers in outboards and other marine engines are made of rubber that degrades over time due to heat/cold cycles and wear. The rubber fins lose elasticity and the tips of the impeller fins degrade over time. This causes a loss of efficiency, cavitation and sucking air in the system.

So an old old impeller might be still pumping but it's not 100% full flow.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you run an impeller to failure you'll have fins and pieces of the impeller breaking off and going downstream through the r/w cooling system. this can cause all kinds of secondary issues that are expensive to fix. #1 culprit on inboards is pieces of impeller blocking a tube and bundle cooler or making it all the way to the thermostat or exhaust. You have this happen and you got pieces stuck in random places that are difficult to find or flush out.

Avoid running the impeller dry at all cost. If you got to start up with no water for whatever reason, a couple seconds max.

Changing an impeller yourself is not hard but there is a risk of damaging something else in the process i'e. damaging the splines on the driveshaft or powerhead, damaging the splines on or bending the shift shaft, stripping out the housing screws that go into aluminum, putting the impeller on in the opposite direction potentially causing damage, or misaligning something where you end up sucking air and have to start over.

So if you are on the fence about whether you can do it, send it to the shop if possible.

If you got an mercury Alpha drive, send it to the shop as reinstallation can be harder than it looks for a number of reasons unless you do it all the time.

I'd recommend using only OEM impeller kits, and also the full kit, not just the impeller.

Grease all splines on propeller reinstall. A prop seized to the shaft can be a big problem.

If you got a jabsco style pump, Mercury Bravo or Volvo pump then you are dealing with brass and you have to be real carful not to mar the mating surface on the cover or the pump housing. You ding the housing on removal or install and you might have to replace entire housing which is expensive. Also the risk of marring screws into brass housing and thin o-rings.

tldr; water pumps have to be done right with little room for error or you will cost yourself a bunch of money.

Fred Lester and family are great folks. Very close friends. Have called on them since 1981.
Don't think he is a Mercury dealer. Just Yamaha now. Was a loyal E-Rude dealer for years.

Think OP said he had a 2001 125HP Merc. Outboard.

Oh yeah, I went full tilt on all things impeller. Figure somebody may well some benefit from me doing things the hard way.

You know what? I damn sure enjoyed your post. Like I always do! Lots of good knowledge always sir.