BoatBanter.com - Cannot See the Telltail Water Stream from the Motor

wrote:
On 16 Oct 2006 08:16:33 -0700, "
wrote:

wrote:
I left the boat in the driveway for one year without starting the
motor. Today, I put the lower unit into a bucket of water, and start
the motor to winterize it. After trying to start it for a couple
times, I finally manage to start it. Unfortunately, I cannot see the
telltail water stream coming out from the motor cooling system. All I
see is some smoke coming from the hole where the water stream is
supposed to come out from. Despite the fact that the motor temperature
was not overheating (only run it for 30 seconds or so), I decided to
turn off the motor just to be in the safe side.

My question is:

Should I expect to see the telltail water stream coming out from the
motor as soon as I start the motor? Does the motor need to reach a
certain temperature before the water stream coming out? The boatowner
manual said this:

"2. If engine is cold, run engine for 1 or 2 minutes ...
3. After engine has warmed up, check water temperature
gauge to ensure that engine temperature is not
abnormally high... Check that water is running from
the tell-tail on the back of the engine..."

This seems to suggest that the telltail water stream may not come out
if the engine is not warm enough. Considering the fact that the
overheating warning horn doesn't sound, the cooling system may not
really have a problem.

However, the Mercury Operation & Maintenance Manual for my 1995 Mercury
115hp outboard said this differently:

"10 Turn ignition key to START ...re-prime until engine
is running smoothly.
11 Check for a steady stream of water flowing out
of the water pump indicator hole.
IMPORTANT: If no water is coming out of the water
pump indicator hole, stop engine..."

This surely seems like I should expect to see telltail water stream
coming out as soon as I start the engine.

Now, I am really confused with this conflicting info. Obviously, I
don't want to risk overheating the motor. Can someone help me with
this?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

I thought the impeller was damaged and could not push water through the
telltail. Last weekend, I opened up the impeller and found that it is
in very good shape. Now, I really don't know why I cannot see the
telltail water stream when I start the motor.

At this point, this problem is beyond my skill level. I will bring the
motor to the dealer next spring and let them to fix it. Meanwhile, I
can only finish half the winterizing process (fuel system is only
partially winterized). I will just have to try my luck and hope that
some of the treated fuel managed to get into the fuel system of the
motor when I ran the motor for 30 seconds two weeks ago (I am betting
on this because I know that I had used up all the old fuel from the
fuel tank before I ran the motor).

Thanks for all the people who have tried to help me. I appreciate
that. I will let people know how this goes next spring when I will
bring the motor to the dealer.

Jay Chan

Have you tried to blow water up the water tube that goes to the
impeller? DO NOT put too much pressure in there. Just wrap your hand
around the hose and tube so it won't blow too hard. You can also try
to blow water back towards the impeller from the telltale.The telltale
is nothing but a port off of the intake water manifold. You still may
haver a plugged up tube somewhere. Another thing you can try, while
you have the foot off, is to squirt water back through the thermostat
hole towards the foot. If something was plugged up, back washing it
may break it loose. While you have the foot off, be sure the water
flows freely from the impeller housing through the intake slots. Just
be careful not to put full house water pressure into the system. The
outboard typically uses less that 20psi.

Yesterday, I blew water from the water tube up, and I found that the
water didn't come out from the telltale. Instead, the water came out
from somewhere in the middle between the water tube and the telltale
that was in the back of the motor (facing the bow of the boat). Is a
hole supposed to be in there? This got me worry.

I opened up the themostat cover (this was a bad move because I will
have to replace the gasket of the themostat cover ) and found that the
area was clean. I blew water through the hole in the themostat
housing, and I found that the water still didn't come out the telltale.
Instead, the water came out from the water tube. This probably
doesn't mean that the telltale is blocked. The reason is that the
configuration of the themostat housing is in such a way that the water
tends to flow to the water tube easier than flowing to the telltale. I
closed the temostat cover; but I was not satisfied with this test. I
decided to use my mouth to blow air from the telltale water hose and
see where the air would show up. And I could feel that the air was
blowing out from the water tube. I figure that this means the pathway
between the telltale and the water tube of the impeller is not blocked.

I also blew water at the impeller area, and I found that water coming
out from the water intake in the lower unit. This means the pathway
for water between the impeller and the water intake is also not being
blocked. This also means that the pathway from the water intake to the
telltale is entirely clear. But I still need to figure out why water
was coming out from the middle of the motor. If there is a hole there,
water will take the path of least resistance and comes out from the
hole instead of going up through the telltale. This really makes me
worrying about why there is a hole there... I will have to check the
service manual when it arrives.

I checked the impeller itself to make sure it was not debonded by
pulling the vanes. It was fine.

I will let people know how this goes.

Jay Chan