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

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'll ask a simple question. Is the bucket big and deep enough so that
the outboard's cooling water intake is below the surface?

wrote in message
ups.com...
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?

Yes.

Does the motor need to reach a
certain temperature before the water stream coming out?

No.

The impeller is shot. Any easy replacement. Here is one source for the
replacement kit.

http://www.outboardparts.com/mercury...repairkits.htm

"Don White" wrote in message
news
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'll ask a simple question. Is the bucket big and deep enough so that the
outboard's cooling water intake is below the surface?

Either way, he needs to replace the impeller now.

Jay, do not run the engine anymore until it is replaced as you can do some
serious damage to your engine.

" JimH" not telling you @ pffftt.com wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message
ups.com...
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?

Yes.

Does the motor need to reach a
certain temperature before the water stream coming out?

No.

The impeller is shot. An easy replacement. Here is one source for the
replacement kit.

http://www.outboardparts.com/mercury...repairkits.htm




edit ('an', not 'any')

Don White 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'll ask a simple question. Is the bucket big and deep enough so that
the outboard's cooling water intake is below the surface?

Yes, the bucket is deep enough, and I have enough water to cover the
water inlets in the lower unit.

Jay Chan

Tom Francis wrote:
On Sun, 8 Oct 2006 18:28:21 -0400, " JimH" not telling you @
pffftt.com wrote:

Should I expect to see the telltail water stream coming out from the
motor as soon as I start the motor?

Within one or two seconds.

Does the motor need to reach a certain temperature before
the water stream coming out?

No - the tell tale indicates that the impeller is working properly and
that there is water flow through the engine. It works independently
from the from the thermostat.

If you are using mouse ears (flusher ears), make sure you are getting
adequate flow - some ears can be problematic when it comes to
providing water - it all depends on where the water intake is located
on the lower unit.

If you are using a barrel or tub, make sure you have adequate water in
order to get the tell tale to work.

Most likely the problem is lack of water, but you might have a bad
impeller. The only real way to find that out is to make absolutely
sure you have adequate water for the impeller to work on and try it.
Give it ten seconds, then shut it off if no tell tale water stream
appears. At that point, it's the impeller and you need to replace it.

Thanks for the suggestion. The bucket is large and I have enough water
in it to cover the water inlets of the lower unit. Seem like I should
check if the hose connected to the telltail hole is blocked or not, and
I also need to look into replacing the impeller in the lower unit.

At this point, I tend to believe that the impeller may have some
problem. The reason is that last fall when I tried to use an ear-muff
attachment to winterize the motor, I also could not see the telltail
from the motor. I ended up using the bucket to finish the task. Seem
like the impeller might be at its last leg in last fall, and now it is
done with.

Jay Chan

JimH wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
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?

Yes.

Does the motor need to reach a
certain temperature before the water stream coming out?

No.

The impeller is shot. Any easy replacement. Here is one source for the
replacement kit.

http://www.outboardparts.com/mercury...repairkits.htm

Thanks for pointing out that I likely need to replace the impeller.
And also thanks for the link to the impeller kit; I quite likely need
to order one.

Now, I need to write down on my boat-owner manual to expect to see the
telltail right after I have started the motor -- to prevent it from
confusing me again.

Jay Chan

wrote:
On 8 Oct 2006 15:08:59 -0700, "
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.

Make sure ity isn't just a plugged up pee hole. Some bugs like that
size hole to lay an egg in and they mortar it shut. Run a stiff wire
up there and try it.

Thanks for the tip. This should be easy to try, and I will try this
when I get back home today. But I have a feeling that the telltale
hole is probably not plugged; otherwise, I should not see smoke coming
out from the telltail hole.

Jay Chan

wrote in message
oups.com...


Now, I need to write down on my boat-owner manual to expect to see the
telltail right after I have started the motor -- to prevent it from
confusing me again.

Seriously??? Do you plan on looking at the manual every time you start the
motor? Checking for cooling water should be as instinctive as making sure
your dick's not about to be bitten by your pants zipper.