Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

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seahawk
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Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by seahawk »

I noticed today that there is almost no cooling water coming out from the outboard water discharge hole. I remembered last time I retrieved my boat I started my motor in a muddy shallow water in order to drive the boat to the trailer. How could I fix the problem if I want to try it first before bringing it to a marina. I think it must be the small sand or stuff block in the cooling system somewhere but how I can clean it out? Thanks.
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laker taker
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

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Use a small stiff piece of wire or small piece of wood and put it in the outlet hole and twist it around a bit. You may find that a
mud wasp has laid an egg in there. It happens quite often and just stops the water from discharging. It will only be in there a
couple inches. I have had it happen many times.
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CBB
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by CBB »

laker taker wrote:Use a small stiff piece of wire or small piece of wood and put it in the outlet hole and twist it around a bit. You may find that a
mud wasp has laid an egg in there. It happens quite often and just stops the water from discharging. It will only be in there a
couple inches. I have had it happen many times.
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X2
Or you have a blown water pump impeller and need to replace it. We used to wear out an impeller every yr duck hunting a muddy sandy area every fall and just replaced the impeller at the end of the season
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lape0019
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by lape0019 »

The water discharge on my motor has the capability of attaching a garden hose and flushing the system. I do it quite often because if the issues you are describing.

Check around and see if you have one and try flushing the system. I've also use air once in a while out of a compressor but a -0 minute water flush seems to work better.
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seahawk
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by seahawk »

Thank your guys for help. CBB, is it easy to open the lower unit and check the impeller? It seems I need to open the water tank top housing. I have a mercury EFI 50HP 4 stroke engine. I will give a garden hose flush first to see if this will work.
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dani
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by dani »

Just disconnect the water hose at the motor end and use compressed air to remove debris from outlet. Very easy once you look at it . Youtube water pump impeller change and you are good to go. Chances are it's bugs causing the problem, they plugged up my motors earlier this year. D
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seahawk
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

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I was quoted $230 for the water pump repair kits including the impeller if buying part from them. I an wondering of I need to buy the kits or just buy one impeller. Do I have to change gasket and o ring too? How hard to get the lower unit off and rely it back through the shaft coupling? The marina told me that i will need to put the boat there and it takes one to two weeks to fix it.
Thanks.
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CBB
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by CBB »

Not sure what motor you have but it is not a hard job to do and just google for Pump kit and order it online. I would get a kit and change the gaskets and o-ring when you have it apart and not have to worry if the old ones will be ok after being taken apart. Lots of vids on U tube showing the steps needed to change the water pump impeller.

Just noticed you have the 50 Merc. Not a hard job to change it out yourself and lots of kits available online or some of the local dealers
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seahawk
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by seahawk »

Just ordered the part and finger crossed to hope everything runs well so I could start to DIY this little project (but big for me) non fishing weekend. Tips and advices are still welcome to be given like if I need to drain the gearbox oil, do I need to make a support platform for lower unit since I was told the weight could be heavy, how to put the driveshaft back correctly, etc.?

Thanks again for all your help!
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lape0019
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by lape0019 »

No need to drain the LI oil unless you want to.

There is a process to get everything lined up, I just can't remember it right now. But Google is your friend. There is a video of almost every motor out there. And if not, a lot of them are the same. Just look for a Mercury and go from there.
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Re: Cooling water not coming out from the hole!

Post by CBB »

Do a search on your motor for instructions and follow those instructions to the letter. You should be good and you don't need to drain the lower unit.
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