Did I break anything?

I was that guy at the boat landing. You know the guy, the one who can’t remember all the steps to launching a boat. Then one mistake led to another.

Left the transom straps on and couldn’t figure out why my boat wouldn’t slide off the trailer. After some messing around and seeing the trailer floating the light bulb came on. So I jumped in the truck to pull it far enough out of the water to get at the straps. Step out of the truck and what do I hear, stupid motor is still running Mad panic jump and run to shut it off immediately.

So now the question is, what will my stupidity cost me? All told probably less than one minute from out of water to shut off. There was still water coming off and out of the lower unit when I killed the motor. I also don’t have a temp or oil pressure gauge, yamaha 115hp 4 stroke. I’m not worried about overheating the motor but other stuff like seals.

Your impeller should be the only concern, and it could very well be fine since it was wet.

You are probably fine.

My guess would be no damage, fingers crossed

I’m with the others. You are most likely fine. There are far worse things that have happened at launches before.

Damaging the impeller is the most likely. They are easy to replace and Yamaha recommends replacing them every 100 hours or annually anyway. (I don’t know anyone that does it that frequently) My dealer recommended it when I brought it in for winterizing and had 500 hours. https://maintenance.yamahaoutboards.com/interval-maintenance/

I did this exactly but in my driveway with muffs. Was wet, doing some tuning. Wasn’t on for more than a minute when I realized I forgot to turn back on water, brand new impeller I just installed that day was shot. Warped pretty good. I have a shot of it on my old profile somewhere.

Deuces wrote:

I did this exactly but in my driveway with muffs. Was wet, doing some tuning. Wasn’t on for more than a minute when I realized I forgot to turn back on water, brand new impeller I just installed that day was shot. Warped pretty good. I have a shot of it on my old profile somewhere.

I did the same thing years ago with my little kicker. I had the water on, but the water intake is in a weird spot and the muffs didn’t work. I ran it way too long and mine ended up being far worse than an impeller. This was back before I knew much about outboards or worked on them myself and it cost me hundreds.

I started the toon yesterday with the motor fully tilted.

Man the motor sure sounds weird today.

Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Smellson wrote:

Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Pee stream is an indicator that the system is working, it doesn’t mean it’s working effectively.

Agree, no problem. Also, you are not the first person to do this! Don’t ask how I know….

-J.

Deuces wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Pee stream is an indicator that the system is working, it doesn’t mean it’s working effectively.

If you know your motor you can tell how good or effective you impellar is and more. How long does it take to start peeing, how strong is it, how warm is it. These are some of the things I look at to monitor my engine.

Deuces wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Pee stream is an indicator that the system is working, it doesn’t mean it’s working effectively.

I can say it appears to be working same as before. I’ve never checked to see how warm it is so I don’t have a baseline. I’m hopeful the “you’re probably fine” is the situation.

I wouldn’t worry about it. I know marine mechanics that start there engines dry when in winter time to drain the water, same same if you ask me.

Deuces wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Pee stream is an indicator that the system is working, it doesn’t mean it’s working effectively.

I had a 60 horse mercury, stream was pretty good but after running for awhile an alarm would come on. Felt the water coming out of the motor and it was warm. New impeller was the fix. Odds are he’s just fine, but as long as it’s peeing he should be good. It might not pee as hard but it’s not going to ruin the motor if it’s got a strong stream.

I’d check your stream after running it for awhile and if the water is hot, replace the impeller.

Also, how old of a motor is it? Will it have an alarm that goes off if it’s overheating?

Impellers are a pretty simple cheap fix and it wouldn’t hurt to replace it anyway if you’re able to do so.

rjthehunter wrote:

I’d check your stream after running it for awhile and if the water is hot, replace the impeller.

Some thermostats are set in the very warm range, and with everyone’s definition of hot being different, this may not necessarily be true. Check with a mechanic before replacing.

Your motor, good luck!

rjthehunter wrote:

Also, how old of a motor is it? Will it have an alarm that goes off if it’s overheating?

2013, I’m guessing it has an alarm.

onestout wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mr.Beads wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Smellson wrote:</div>
Check your pee stream and if it’s good don’t worry about it. I’m sure you also have an overheat alarm on the outboard that will give you another indication of a cooling problem. You’re not the first one to do it….

Pee stream is an indicator that the system is working, it doesn’t mean it’s working effectively.

If you know your motor you can tell how good or effective you impellar is and more. How long does it take to start peeing, how strong is it, how warm is it. These are some of the things I look at to monitor my engine.

No one is going to seize on this comedic gold?

Since I turned 40 my impeller is much less effective, it takes me longer to start peeing and the stream is weak. Even intermittent sometimes.

I haven’t felt for warmth but I’ll give that a try next. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Charles wrote:

I wouldn’t worry about it. I know marine mechanics that start there engines dry when in winter time to drain the water, same same if you ask me.

X2. Unless it was dry, it was hot out and it ran for over a minute I wouldn’t crap my pants just yet. Just pay attention to how it runs and if anything is different.

I was thinking about it last night again, and think you’re completely fine.

When it was running in the water, the impeller pumped the water tube full and filled the block.

When you pulled out, the impeller was still spinning with a couple feet of head pressure above it, likely keeping it wet, lubricated and cool the entire time it was spinning.

Starting a motor that is completely dry (like sitting in the garage) will toast an impeller in seconds. You’re situation was a lot different than that, even though it was for a longer period of time.

Matt Moen wrote:

Since I turned 40 my impeller is much less effective, it takes me longer to start peeing and the stream is weak. Even intermittent sometimes.

I haven’t felt for warmth but I’ll give that a try next. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

So what kind of mechanic do you go too for this? Is there a happy ending at the shop? What do they charge per hour or is it per minute?

Boat seems fine too. Took it out, 30 minute one way drive with few miles running constant 4100 rpms. Thanks everyone!

If it was only under a minute you probably don’t have too much to worry about

Matt Moen wrote:

No one is going to seize on this comedic gold?

Since I turned 40 my impeller is much less effective, it takes me longer to start peeing and the stream is weak. Even intermittent sometimes.

I haven’t felt for warmth but I’ll give that a try next. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

If it’s over 100 degrees you need to quarantine for 14 days….