Phantman wrote:
I've always wondered why the designers
didn't just get the cooling water through the bottom of the boat like
any normal straight inboard setup.

Jim wrote:
I suspect that the engineers felt it
unnecessary to reinvent a proven design

JamesGangNC wrote:
The inside water pumps are basically the same design rubber vaned
pumps. All of them will self prime if needed and the distance is not
far.

Jim wrote:
I don't think the internal pumps are self priming. I would consider
changing
my mind on that if I could see some proof.

Phantman wrote:
Are you familiar with inboards? I don't mean sterndrives. I mean
proven design straight inboards that have been around since long
before sterndrives were dreamed up (and still common everywhere). They
get their raw water through the boat's bottom via a thru hull fitting.
Whether or not they use a standard automotive pump or a special marine
design that's self priming, I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it sure
looks like a standard auto water pump and bolts right into place.

Jim wrote:
Rick, the pump under discussion is the raw water pump that brings water into
the boat, not the circulating pump.

Well, lets get on the same page then. My question was, "why wouldn't
the designer of a sterndrive use the same less complex method of
cooling water intake that Inboards have always used (and still use).
It's a time tested and proven design, no hauling the boat for impeller
maintenance, and less expensive to build. I see no advantage to their
more complex, more difficult to maintain design. That's not to say it
doesn't work at all, obviously it does. But it's one of several
complexities of standard sterndrive design that could easily be
simplified imho.

Rick