Flushing an outboard motor
 

I use a plastic barrel with fresh water in it to flush our two-stroke
Mariner outboards. I've searched and read many instructions for
flushing an outboard motor, but to my surprise I have not seen a
single mention about whether the prop should be turning or not.
I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.

Is there anyone out there who thinks the prop should be turning? I ask
only because the people who have been doing the flushing for years do
have it turning, and I know they are going to argue with me.

No I'm not interested in discussing using a garden hose or muffs
thanks.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:42:15 -0800 (PST), Matty F
wrote:

I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.

It also has to do with getting water to the engine. With the prop in
gear, in a confined space, there is decreased water flow to the
engine.

There is no need to turn the prop anyway.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Is there anyone out there who thinks the prop should be turning? I ask
only because the people who have been doing the flushing for years do
have it turning, and I know they are going to argue with me.

I likewise flush my 6hp dinghy outboard using a trashcan and a wood block
jig mounted on a handcart. If the water exits via the usual 'pee' stream
then it wouldn't seem to matter. I've run mine both in and out of gear and
the stream was unchanged. It would seem unlikely it'd make much difference.
That and unless you're cranking it full throttle I can't see it doing much
to starve the intake of water.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:42:15 -0800 (PST), Matty F
wrote:

I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.

It also has to do with getting water to the engine. With the prop in
gear, in a confined space, there is decreased water flow to the
engine.

There is no need to turn the prop anyway.


I just looked up the manual for my 1994 Johnson 25 2 stroke.
The recommend:
placing engine in vertical position in area with good ventilation and
drainage
cover two small holes on either side of gear case with tape to make sure
enough water travels to the powerhead... remembering to uncover after
flushing
install flushing device & garden hose
place shift lever in neutral and remove prop
start water... keeping pressure between 20 and 40 psi
start engine... run at idle only and at least for 5 minutes
check water pump...steady flow must be coming from hole
then leave motor in vertical position (after shut off) to completely drain
the powerhead.

That's word for word from the operators manual.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:42:15 -0800 (PST), Matty F
wrote:

I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.
It also has to do with getting water to the engine. With the prop in
gear, in a confined space, there is decreased water flow to the
engine.

There is no need to turn the prop anyway.


I just looked up the manual for my 1994 Johnson 25 2 stroke.
The recommend:
placing engine in vertical position in area with good ventilation and
drainage
cover two small holes on either side of gear case with tape to make sure
enough water travels to the powerhead... remembering to uncover after
flushing
install flushing device & garden hose
place shift lever in neutral and remove prop
start water... keeping pressure between 20 and 40 psi
start engine... run at idle only and at least for 5 minutes
check water pump...steady flow must be coming from hole
then leave motor in vertical position (after shut off) to completely drain
the powerhead.

That's word for word from the operators manual.




THat's a lotta work to flush an engine.

--
George W. Bush - the 43rd Best President Ever!

Flushing an outboard motor
 

"Don White" wrote in message
...

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:42:15 -0800 (PST), Matty F
wrote:

I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.

It also has to do with getting water to the engine. With the prop in
gear, in a confined space, there is decreased water flow to the
engine.

There is no need to turn the prop anyway.


I just looked up the manual for my *1994* Johnson 25 2 stroke.
The recommend:
placing engine in vertical position in area with good ventilation and
drainage
cover two small holes on either side of gear case with tape to make sure
enough water travels to the powerhead... remembering to uncover after
flushing
install flushing device & garden hose
place shift lever in neutral and remove prop
start water... keeping pressure between 20 and 40 psi
start engine... run at idle only and at least for 5 minutes
check water pump...steady flow must be coming from hole
then leave motor in vertical position (after shut off) to completely drain
the powerhead.

That's word for word from the operators manual.


D'oh...better make that my *2004* Johnson 25hp.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

"HK" wrote in message
...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:42:15 -0800 (PST), Matty F
wrote:

I would guess that it makes no difference to the flushing quality, and
I reckon it's unnecessary and dangerous to have the motor in gear with
the prop turning while flushing.
It also has to do with getting water to the engine. With the prop in
gear, in a confined space, there is decreased water flow to the
engine.

There is no need to turn the prop anyway.


I just looked up the manual for my *2004* Johnson 25 2 stroke.
The recommend:
placing engine in vertical position in area with good ventilation and
drainage
cover two small holes on either side of gear case with tape to make sure
enough water travels to the powerhead... remembering to uncover after
flushing
install flushing device & garden hose
place shift lever in neutral and remove prop
start water... keeping pressure between 20 and 40 psi
start engine... run at idle only and at least for 5 minutes
check water pump...steady flow must be coming from hole
then leave motor in vertical position (after shut off) to completely
drain the powerhead.

That's word for word from the operators manual.


THat's a lotta work to flush an engine.

--

Sure is... I didn't remove the propeller when I flushed in October while
winterizing and I'm pretty sure I didn't cover the two little holes.
All seemed to work ok.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Jan 5, 5:24*am, wrote:

To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

That sounds a lot easier than trying to run the motor in a vat of
water.
Currently we use the motors every week day and flush them before the
weekends.
We are about to get new motors and I don't know the brand yet.
Using the above method we could flush them every day. I'll check with
the manual when it arrives.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.




It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?


It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Gene Kearns wrote:


It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom of the
engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water flow is
not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would expect if the
engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without water
available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped *up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to run while
using the flushing port. When I moved my boat down to a dry storage
almost within sight of the ramp, I became concerned that throwing cold
tap water into the flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called
Suzuki engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT run the engine
while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps anything you
read here.... what does it say?


My last Merc and Yamaha and my current Yamaha have a hose mounting at
the powerhead for flushing. The flushing is done with the engine shut
off. I don't use the fresh water hose at full pressure. I usually hook
up the flush and empty my gear out of the boat while the motor is
rinsing itself out. Maybe 15-20 minutes on the fresh water. When I wash
the boat out with soapy water, I also wash off the engine. When the boat
is pretty dry, I put the canvas cover on it. I probably spend about an
hour cleaning out the boat after use.

Putting the cover on is a real pain in the ass, but it ensures the boat
is clean when I use it again.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:16:25 -0500, penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 14:11:32 -0500, "Gene Kearns"
wrote:

I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Mercury uses a Yamaha power head (my 60 HP 4 stroke)
The shop manual says
"IMPORTANT:The engine must be run during flushing in order to open the
thermostat and circulate water through the water passages".

The flush port puts water directly into the manifold, the same place
where the water pump puts it. I can copy the pages with the water flow
diagrams and post them if you like.

As I said:

snips

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port.

snips

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?

Follow *your* manual......

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:33:58 -0500, Dan penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.




It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?


It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

As I said:

snips

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port.

snips

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?

Follow *your* manual......

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:33:58 -0500, Dan penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.




It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?


It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

Just to check that we are talking apples and apples...... how do you
get the water into the engine? Do you hook the hose up *directly* to
the engine... or do you use mouse-ear type flushers.... like these....
http://tinyurl.com/3yu25q


--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:43:08 -0500, penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:44:11 -0500, HK wrote:

My last Merc and Yamaha and my current Yamaha have a hose mounting at
the powerhead for flushing.

That connects to the water manifold but water will not get into the
engine until the thermostat opens ... according to the Merc shop
manual

I think we are talking apples and oranges.

If the engine has not been factory equipped with a fresh water
flushing fitting.... the engine *must* run when flushing.

With a factory fitting, the water is introduced on the "hot" side of
the thermostat.... that is why you *cannot* run these engines during
flushing. You are trying to force water into the outlet of the
pump.... that doesn't work.

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:33:58 -0500, Dan penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.




It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?


It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

As I said:

snips

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port.

snips

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?

Follow *your* manual......

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:33:58 -0500, Dan penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.




It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?


It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

Just to check that we are talking apples and apples...... how do you
get the water into the engine? Do you hook the hose up *directly* to
the engine... or do you use mouse-ear type flushers.... like these....
http://tinyurl.com/3yu25q


--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:43:08 -0500, penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:44:11 -0500, HK wrote:

My last Merc and Yamaha and my current Yamaha have a hose mounting at
the powerhead for flushing.

That connects to the water manifold but water will not get into the
engine until the thermostat opens ... according to the Merc shop
manual

I think we are talking apples and oranges.

If the engine has not been factory equipped with a fresh water
flushing fitting.... the engine *must* run when flushing.

With a factory fitting, the water is introduced on the "hot" side of
the thermostat.... that is why you *cannot* run these engines during
flushing. You are trying to force water into the outlet of the
pump.... that doesn't work.

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Gene Kearns wrote:
On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:43:08 -0500, penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:44:11 -0500, HK wrote:

My last Merc and Yamaha and my current Yamaha have a hose mounting at
the powerhead for flushing.
That connects to the water manifold but water will not get into the
engine until the thermostat opens ... according to the Merc shop
manual

I think we are talking apples and oranges.

If the engine has not been factory equipped with a fresh water
flushing fitting.... the engine *must* run when flushing.

With a factory fitting, the water is introduced on the "hot" side of
the thermostat.... that is why you *cannot* run these engines during
flushing. You are trying to force water into the outlet of the
pump.... that doesn't work.



My Yamaha manual sez about flushing with the fitting, "Do not perform
this procedure while the engine is running. The water pump may be
damaged, and severe damage from overheating may result."

That's definitive enough for me.

Flushing an outboard motor
 

Gene Kearns wrote:
On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:33:58 -0500, Dan penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Gene Kearns wrote:
On 1/4/2008 9:00:08 PM, Dan wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:51:29 -0500, Dan
wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:40:42 -0500,
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:24:30 -0500,
wrote:
To flush my Yamaha, here is what I do:

Attach garden hose to fitting built into the motor and
turn on water.
Do NOT run motor while doing this.

Drink a beer

Turn off water and unscrew hose.

If you don't run the motor long enough to open the
thermostat you are
not really flushing the powerhead, only the water
manifold.
There may be some exchange with the water in the
powerhead but there
will be pockets that remain.
The Yamaha was designed and built with this method
of flushing. It's
not an afterthought, and you do NOT need to run the
motor to properly
flush it. In fact, that would be a bad thing to do!


How could it be bad? It's no different than running it in
the water. I
have the built in connection but I still prefer to run it.
Your water pump may feel differently about that.


I don't get your point. When you idle in the water or a tub
there's
nothing but the impeller (water pump) forcing water though
the motor.
On muffs or with the quick connect there's +/- 50psi of
water forcing
itself through the motor. I have a 4 stroke
"Yamamercury". Yamaha on
top - Merc on the bottom.



It is pretty simple, really.

The water pump that is trying to pump water from the bottom
of the engine (the foot) to the top to the water jacket.

During flushing(using the port provided for this), the water
flow is not in the same direction as one (or the pump) would
expect if the engine were running.

Thus, it is a *really* bad idea to run the engine without
water available to the bottom of the engine to be pumped
*up.*

My Suzukis have this feature and the manual says not to
run while using the flushing port. When I moved my boat
down to a dry storage almost within sight of the ramp, I
became concerned that throwing cold tap water into the
flushing port might shock cool the engine. I called Suzuki
engineering and they said *that* wasn't a problem, but they
made a POINT to make sure that I knew that I could NOT
run the engine while using the manufacturer's flushing port.

Of course, your manufacturer's maintenance manual trumps
anything you read here.... what does it say?

It says it *must* be run while flushing. It's a 115HP Merc with a
Yamaha powerhead. Suzuki must have a hell of a system to allow proper
flushing with the engine off.

Just to check that we are talking apples and apples...... how do you
get the water into the engine? Do you hook the hose up *directly* to
the engine... or do you use mouse-ear type flushers.... like these....
http://tinyurl.com/3yu25q



There's a hose fitting on the back of the motor. No muffs.