Cooling system help

[bcollins 18]

Hey guys, started the boat maintenance and changed the impeller yesterday. Immediately noticed that while running there was no water coming out the exhaust like it normally does. I also noticed the water spilling out from the fake a lake wasn't pouring out any less when it was running....normally once I run the engine it sucks most of the water through with minimal spillage. Checked the trans cooler, I think I could be guessing here...the little tube toward the top front end of the motor, 350 MAG, that one of the hoses runs to directly from the pump....well it's teed off to another hose at one point but you get the idea. I found various rubber pieces and some weeds before the screen. Cleaned it all out....figured I found my problem. Pulled the pump and impeller was fine, as was the one I replaced before, so pieces weren't from impeller. Replaced, ran it again and same thing. Belt is turning pump just fine. Doesn't feel like water is cycling through at all. When I squeezed the hose by the trans cooler, while it was running, there was no water running through it. Pulled some of the hoses by the pump and they're clear. I'm lost at this point. Funny thing is the temperature guage doesn't seem to be registering at all now, and I could have sworn it did when I initially started it up, so I'm a little concerned I'm running it hot. Engine doesn't feel hot but I'm only running it at idle at this point. Engine seemed to run fine and I was getting the alarm.

 

Not sure what else to do. I'm pretty limited in my mechanical knowledge but would like to at least cheack all my options before I call the mechanic and miss half the season waiting for an opening. Could it be the thermostat? I'm not really sure how the whole system works so I assume it could be blocked before the pump but I don't even know where to look. Anyway, guess that's the gist of it....any ideas/suggestions?

[First timer 19]

How long did you run the motor? Water won't start coming out of the exhaust right away, especially with an empty motor. If you pull the drain lines at the bottom of the motor does water come out?

[DarksideR 1,679]

How long are you running the boat? I've heard people say that the water from the fake lake should push right through without the boat even running, but never worked for me. I chose to pull the hose off the intake and plug a garden hose barb into there. Sorry I can't be more help. I'm mechanically challenged!

[bcollins 18]

Ran it between 30 seconds and a few minutes, several different times. No water when i pull hoses which is kind why i figure its not getting that far.

[bcollins 18]

Typically it takes a couple minutes before i see the water cpming out but i definitely ran it long enough, at least in comparison to before. Concerned abput letting run dry for to long...still cant figure out why guage isnt registering.

[DaveO 0]

I would take off the hose at the thermostat housing and fill it with the garden hose to try and prime the cooling system.i don't know if it could have an air lock kind of thing going on?

[DaveO 0]

Also you might have to leave your fake-a-lake on and hooked up to the hose to keep the water you fill the cooling hose with from running out

[bcollins 18]

Ill give that a shot, at son's baseball game so ill let you guys know how it goes in A bit

[bcollins 18]

So pulled the hose that goes directly from the intake to the vdrive, clear, pulled the hose on the other side. Put the garden hose up to where I took the hose off and ran it....water ran right through. Then I just stuck the garden hose in the hose that runs directly through to the pump and forced water into it. It came right back at me which if I'm a complete idiot, which isn't to far from the truth, means I could have potentially put the hoses on backwards or it's clogged....or for some reason the pump isn't pulling it through. I honestly don't see how I could have put the hoses on backwards that but wouldn't put it past me....ha. I'm actually hoping that's what I did but I just don't see how. Anyway, from knowledge, does anyone know if the hose that runs from the intake to the pump goes on the bottom or top. Anyway, going to pull the hose from the pump and make sure it's not clogged. Going to pull the other hoses as well and do the same. Will try the priming step somewhere in there....yeesh.

Edited May 6, 2012 by bcollins

[bcollins 18]

Well I can be a little long winded so the cliffs notes version is that I got it cycling water through the system and all is good. Temperature guage was reading, and holding steady, at right about 175 after running it for a bit. Very happy.

 

The full version is I pulled pretty much every hose and checked for debris, pulled the pump a couple times to make sure it wasn't getting burned up from not cycling water and to make sure it wasn't bad, pumping water into the various hoses I pulled to try and "prime" the system, etc., etc. I think I can pull the pump in about 2 minutes flat now after doing it so many times. The good thing is I learned a bit from tracking all the hoses and did find some debris in the trans cooler that's probably been there since I bought the boat seeing as how every impeller I've ever pulled was in near perfect condition (I have 3 spares now if anyone wants one, they're used but appear to be perfectly fine. Figure they're good for emergency situations). Anyway, I didn't find anything which lead me to believe I had completely wasted my time and that there was just an issue with the fake a lake not sealing properly. Well, pretty sure that was it unless I miraculously did something in the process of pulling hoses and using the garden hose. The fake a lake is kind of beat so I figured I get under there and kind of help it seal....felt like I was at a water park. I also turned the hose all the way up and gave the engine a little gas. After doing that I noticed the water was no longer spilling out the bottom and water was coming out the exhaust. Also noticed the guage was registering and reading normal operating temperatures. Let it run, changed the oil....done. Thanks for listening to my stupid questions. Would have taken it to the lake but it's a half hour away and I figured I would show up and it would overheat. Probably would have been just fine....time to replace fake a lake, or buy a new plunger and use the old parts to make a new one.