On Jun 13, 4:33*pm, Tim wrote:
On Jun 13, 3:11*pm, "Chuck" wrote:

This has been a long-standing argument. *On an outboard, does a good looking
"****er" stream mean that water is passing through the thermostat and
cooling channels? *Or... does it merely mean that the impeller is pumping
water up to the thermostat. *I think it only means the waterpump impeller is
ok and the thermostat could still be closed or clogged. *Thanks

I'd say it's doing both, because if the thermostat was stuck closed
there wouldn't be a stream. a good stream usually means that
everything is OK, if no stream or a weak stream, the impeller or
thermostat needs attention....

The thermostat is closed when the motor is first started, and you
still have the tell-tale stream, so it doesn't indicate anything about
the thermostat. That is, unless you want to argue that you can tell
by the strength of the stream if it's open or not.

I beleive it was meant to be an indication that the impeller is
working, and the water intakes aren't clogged.