My little 1993 6hp Johnson got hot last weekend when i tried to take the Mrs
on an afternnon sail.
Luckily noticed the lack of "pee" from the little outlet that let's one know
the cooling system is doing it's thing before it actually overheated and
shut it down.
Anchored off to the side of the canal leading out to the Banana River and
immediately a young couple offered a tow.
Nice people, boaters. Not all but more than not.
Ordered a new impeller (knew I was pushing the age on the old one) and
replacement parts for the thermostat. When I disassembled the thermostat, it
was clogged with salt, cleaned it up and replaced all parts. On inspection,
the parts didn't need replaced so I have spares. The impeller was old and
stiff but hadn't failed. Reassembled everything.
Fired it up in a bucket and after a few minutes the pee stream stopped
again. Pulled the lower unit again and rigged a small bilge pump (powered
with a jump start power pack) to flush the cooling system through the water
tube that normally goes to the water pump. Flushed the system with vinager
for about 3 hours. Cleaned the thermostat again and this time it was fouled
with sand, which I guess had been trapped from an old grounding (I've had
the motor for 3 years and always on the sailboat whose rudder is about 2
foot deeper in the water than the motor so this must happened in the distant
past on another boat) so I guess the vinager flush dissolved the salt that
had the sand trapped in the system.
Flushed it all a couple more hours and reassembled. Fired it up and it pees
freely now and is cooling well.
So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.

On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:50:35 -0400, "mmc" wrote:

Anchored off to the side of the canal leading out to the Banana River and
immediately a young couple offered a tow.

I would have left you there. :)

So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.

Well that's unique - vinegar huh? Makes sense, but I've never heard
about that trick.

Nice trouble shooting job, although if it had been me, I'd probably
have replaced the parts anyway and bought some new spares. In
particular where it obviously had sucked sand at some point.

But that's me. A fiscal New England conservative I ain't when it
comes to boats.

mmc wrote:
My little 1993 6hp Johnson got hot last weekend when i tried to take the Mrs
on an afternnon sail.
Luckily noticed the lack of "pee" from the little outlet that let's one know
the cooling system is doing it's thing before it actually overheated and
shut it down.
Anchored off to the side of the canal leading out to the Banana River and
immediately a young couple offered a tow.
Nice people, boaters. Not all but more than not.
Ordered a new impeller (knew I was pushing the age on the old one) and
replacement parts for the thermostat. When I disassembled the thermostat, it
was clogged with salt, cleaned it up and replaced all parts. On inspection,
the parts didn't need replaced so I have spares. The impeller was old and
stiff but hadn't failed. Reassembled everything.
Fired it up in a bucket and after a few minutes the pee stream stopped
again. Pulled the lower unit again and rigged a small bilge pump (powered
with a jump start power pack) to flush the cooling system through the water
tube that normally goes to the water pump. Flushed the system with vinager
for about 3 hours. Cleaned the thermostat again and this time it was fouled
with sand, which I guess had been trapped from an old grounding (I've had
the motor for 3 years and always on the sailboat whose rudder is about 2
foot deeper in the water than the motor so this must happened in the distant
past on another boat) so I guess the vinager flush dissolved the salt that
had the sand trapped in the system.
Flushed it all a couple more hours and reassembled. Fired it up and it pees
freely now and is cooling well.
So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.


Chuck the impeller.

"jim7" wrote in message
...
mmc wrote:
My little 1993 6hp Johnson got hot last weekend when i tried to take the
Mrs on an afternnon sail.
Luckily noticed the lack of "pee" from the little outlet that let's one
know the cooling system is doing it's thing before it actually overheated
and shut it down.
Anchored off to the side of the canal leading out to the Banana River and
immediately a young couple offered a tow.
Nice people, boaters. Not all but more than not.
Ordered a new impeller (knew I was pushing the age on the old one) and
replacement parts for the thermostat. When I disassembled the thermostat,
it was clogged with salt, cleaned it up and replaced all parts. On
inspection, the parts didn't need replaced so I have spares. The impeller
was old and stiff but hadn't failed. Reassembled everything.
Fired it up in a bucket and after a few minutes the pee stream stopped
again. Pulled the lower unit again and rigged a small bilge pump (powered
with a jump start power pack) to flush the cooling system through the
water tube that normally goes to the water pump. Flushed the system with
vinager for about 3 hours. Cleaned the thermostat again and this time it
was fouled with sand, which I guess had been trapped from an old
grounding (I've had the motor for 3 years and always on the sailboat
whose rudder is about 2 foot deeper in the water than the motor so this
must happened in the distant past on another boat) so I guess the
vinager flush dissolved the salt that had the sand trapped in the system.
Flushed it all a couple more hours and reassembled. Fired it up and it
pees freely now and is cooling well.
So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.
Chuck the impeller.

Oh yeah, I mean't say I'll keep the thermostat mechanical parts and replace
the diaphram (rubber) next time.

On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 18:34:48 -0400, "mmc" wrote:


Oh yeah, I mean't say I'll keep the thermostat mechanical parts and replace
the diaphram (rubber) next time.

I've heard it's wise to replace your rubber every time.

"Zombie of Woodstock" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:50:35 -0400, "mmc" wrote:

Anchored off to the side of the canal leading out to the Banana River and
immediately a young couple offered a tow.

I would have left you there. :)

Ha! thanks..


So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.

Well that's unique - vinegar huh? Makes sense, but I've never heard
about that trick.

I'll be honest and admit I read online about using vinager or phosphoric
acid. I opted for the vinager since I know it's a real mild acid and didn't
have to wory about anything too strong. Online advice seems to come without
any warrentees.


Nice trouble shooting job, although if it had been me, I'd probably
have replaced the parts anyway and bought some new spares. In
particular where it obviously had sucked sand at some point.

But that's me. A fiscal New England conservative I ain't when it
comes to boats.

The metal parts looked fine after I cleaned them up. How often does a
thermostat like these go bad? By the time I need to do this again, I'll
probably have lost my "spares" or forgot about them anyway. I like to
pretend I'm saving money with stuff like this.

On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 18:42:09 -0400, "mmc" wrote:

The metal parts looked fine after I cleaned them up. How often does a
thermostat like these go bad?

I don't think it's a matter of time as it is cycles. Then again, I
think I've had one go bad on me on anything and that was a antique
tractor that was 50 years old.

By the time I need to do this again, I'll probably have lost my
"spares" or forgot about them anyway. I like to pretend I'm saving
money with stuff like this.

I hear that - been there. I amaze myself everytime I clean up my shop
- all the stuff I bought as "spares". The other day I found a bottle
of 3M Restorer that I never opened - has to be three years old. :)

On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:50:35 -0400, "mmc" wrote:


So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.

A fresh water flush will probably keep you good.
Maybe not doing that allowed the salt to trap/deposit
non-solubles that required the vinegar to break loose.
Just guessing. though.
Maybe a vinegar flush should be scheduled maintenance.
Do that with the coffemaker when it slows down.
Pretty small tube, but same principle.

--Vic

"jps" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 18:34:48 -0400, "mmc" wrote:


Oh yeah, I mean't say I'll keep the thermostat mechanical parts and
replace
the diaphram (rubber) next time.

I've heard it's wise to replace your rubber every time.

Especially with all the nasty stuff that's out there now a days.

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:50:35 -0400, "mmc" wrote:


So, my new plan is to flush EVERY DAMN TIME I use the motor in salt water
like I know I'm supposed to and do a periodic vinagar rinse.

A fresh water flush will probably keep you good.
Maybe not doing that allowed the salt to trap/deposit
non-solubles that required the vinegar to break loose.
Just guessing. though.
Maybe a vinegar flush should be scheduled maintenance.
Do that with the coffemaker when it slows down.
Pretty small tube, but same principle.

--Vic

Yeah, my excuse had been that the boat was in a hard to get place for
flushing. I'll rig a bucket to drop in the water with the motor tilting into
it and fill with fresh water. An 84 yo neighbor showed me that. Pick up a
lot of good knowledge in 84 years.
As for the vinager, I think you're right on the non-soluables and will make
it a point to take the motor off the boat periodically to do this. Vinager
is cheap and I don't have to make a trip to Worst Marine to get it, just
grab a bottle when the Mrs isn't looking!