motor overheat question

I lost a fight with a sand bar during the ARM deal. I must have got some sand packed up in the motor because my tell- tale wasn’t squirting water. I’ve got an ’01 Mer 90 and the overheat alarm came on. Scared the bejesus out of me. Blew the hole out and continued to run at around 1/2 speed back to Evert’s. I took a wire and cleaned out the tell tale until water was running thru well. It did seem hot though. After about an hour lunch break we went out again and I had it at WOT. After a couple of minutes the overheat alarm went off again so i shut I down immediately. Did some more poking and finally got cool water to run thru again. Do I need to worry anymore? Could there still be sand jammed up in the exhaust or somewhere else it could do damage?

Should I take it in to the dealer and have him do a more thorough search?

dealer time. probably ground up the water pump impeller.

gundy

I got in a fight with that same sandbar I’d bet, twice (duh).

The water pump is pretty easy to deal with, if that’s what it is. The worst case is sand trapped in the motor, but I don’t even know if that’s possible or not. Check the intakes and make sure they’re clear, and if it has a flush fitting, hose it out at home. If it’s still unhappy, I’m fresh out of ideas.

gundy,
If I had ground up the water pump impeller would it still continue to circulate water thru the tell-tale?

SteveO,

If your water pump and impeller has not been replaced since new (2001) it’s overdue anyway. Take her in and get it done. Expect to pay 1 to 1.5 hour labor and $80 bucks in parts. Sould be in and out in a day.

I ran over that same sand bar too and am going to do mine here in a day or two. (That’s what you get Steve when you follow Jon J. in the back channel > LOL!) Mine is a 2000 and this will be the second water pump/impeller for me. It’s just time to do it.

The service manual says to change the impeller every 100 hours or sooner if you run brackish water. (Like the Miss) I also do the pump housing every time when I’m in there.

I do it myself. About $50 bucks for the parts and a couple hours/beers. Not a hard job. If you can do a brake job on a car, you can do a water pump/impeller no prob.

-J.

SteveO…save your money and your beer….PM Briank and you’ll be on your way…no fear!

I have the same motor…Pull off your cover…on the opposite side of your “tell tail” are two black water hoses. These are held on with those zip tie things….take off the one farthest from the discharge hole and either use compressed air (which I recommend) or blow like h—. Place your hand under the hole to catch anything that comes out. This generally will do it…(3 times out of 4 for me)
If you still feel it’s not working properly…send me a pm…I’ll be over with compressed air and the water muffes…I’ve changed the pump once and had it a part because of sand once…. it’s a snap….
Without beer…I’ll be on my way home in less than an hour…with beer….??

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it’s a snap….
Without beer…

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And you call yourself a catfisherman… for shame Brian.

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SteveO…save your money and your beer

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……if you are into your 4th season on a impeller, you’re running on borrowed time IMHO. Sandbar or not, it’s time to get a new one.

-J.

Takes a lot to grind up an impeller. What happens is the sand gets in there and scratches groves in the water pump and you lose the seal to the impeller. So you lose water pressure and circulation starts to drop off. Also, sand and muck can get pumped up into the top end of the motor restricting water flow. That stuff usually works it’s way out fairly quickly. Just because you have no flow out the pee hole does not mean the water is not flowing thru the motor. Most of the time it’s just that hose that is clogged.

Anyway, like I mentioned I’ll be doing my water pump and impeller here soon. I’ll make a step by step pictorial of the process and post it in the Articles section of the forum. By the way my motor is a Merc 150. But the process is basically the same for all outboards.

One thing for sure, the sand bar should be slightly deeper now that several of us drug through her. I only hit it twice that day. Stay under the hanging branch!!!

Steve O , Ya the impeller can be pretty beat up and still get water out your pee hole. What you don’t know is how much water pressure you are getting to your top cylinders. That is one reason why all your friends have been tell’n ya here to get it replaced. It is very cheap insurance.

Gundy

I got the motor in the Spring of ’02 because it was on an ’01 boat that didn’t sell so technically this is my third year. I doubt if I have a hundred hours on it because of my travel schedule.
Brian, I always have a case in my fridge in the garage.
I would appreciate your assistance since you have the same motor and all. How does your schedule look like the week of 8/9?
You going to be around?
Jon, again thanks for the knowledge. I’ll get it replaced when I get the boat winterized in November and put her away.
I gotta be able to get one more year out of it.

Ps… I reread my post… I meant save your money on labor…but replace your water pump… I totally agree with the Jon and crew…CHEAP insurance. Just looked up the price…$20.00.

See PM for your scheduled maitanance

PS Gianni….that’s why I’m STILL a catfisherman wannabe…

Brian,
Where would I purchase that thing? You got mail.

I’ll check at the Windmill Marina down here…they are only autherized for Merc Cruisers…but it maybe the same pump. Otherwise the guys at Ericson Marine in Hastings (More on 61 than IN Hastings) will have them. 11721 Point Douglas Rd.    Hastings, MN   55033     Phone: 651-437-6159  

Not sure of anyother place close by that handles Merc outboard parts…You have a lot of mail too!