Northwest Fishing Reports

I have a 2007 25 hp Merc. 4 stroke. The motor is tuned every year and kept in great running shape. I actually am only about 3 weeks since it's yearly last service.
I run it in both salt and fresh water equally. I'm well aware of flushing it well after a salt trip, and I always do so right when I get home.
However... last night after a trip to the salt, I had to garage it for the night, and immediately came home this afternoon to flush it. Motor does everything just fine.... but it is not peeing from the regular upper discharge hole.
I kind of freaked, as I know that can mean death to your motor if it is not cooling itself or essentially running dry in your yard.
Does anybody have any thoughts about anything I can do? Is there a piece of sea weed stuck somewhere, I wouldn't think such a little scrap in the intake could cause this? The intakes have fine mesh holes that act as a filter anyway, they can't take up seaweed.
I am using the same outboard motor muffs that I always use. The seal is fine over the intake.
Kind of freaked out here. Ran the motor for prob. 4 minutes at idle while doinking with the ear muffs. Refused to believe it had a problem.

Oh man, sorry Quad. I don't know a thing about 4 strokes. Have you looked on iboats.com? I've found a lot of good information there on my old Evinrude. Hope you get it figured out in short order.

EDIT: Quad, did a cursory search on iboats. Maybe the thermostat isn't open yet. Does the motor normally pee all the time?

The impeller is probably broken. Don't run it anymore with no water flowing!!!! Take the lower unit off, disassemble the water pump, and you should know right away if something is amiss. I'm sure if you go to a merc dealer you can buy a water pump kit to replace the broken parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n68sb7w-3Hw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...and found this:

http://forums.iboats.com/mercury-marine ... 47170.html

rcthepirate wrote:The impeller is probably broken. Don't run it anymore with no water flowing!!!! Take the lower unit off, disassemble the water pump, and you should know right away if something is amiss. I'm sure if you go to a merc dealer you can buy a water pump kit to replace the broken parts.

Thanks RCthepirate, I guess I did ask if there is anything I could do..?
I was thinking along the lines of gun the throttle to dislodge something, etc. I am not a mechanic of any means, and by choice. I leave that to the professionals.
BentRod, wow, that thread you linked is the exact same motor.. interesting find.

I think I will call my mechanic and ask him if there was any sort of check of the water pump/impellar function 3 weeks ago.
It's kind of a sticky situation. The link that said something about the outflow being sometimes intermittent? Mine has always been rock steady outflow. It's not the kind of thing that you can just let run, and kind of kick it, or scratch your head and ponder. Next thing you know, it's a $3K anchor.

do you have the motor submerged enough for the pressure to build up the shaft to pee? (sounds dirty) i heard needs to be at least 2 to 4 inches under water line from the intake..
i had a similar experience after i knew it was just fine.. turned out i needed to submerge the shaft about 2 more inches in water and then it pee'd just fine.. not sure how you do the flushes.. but i have a big garbage can i run my motor in, or used to..

oneshot wrote:do you have the motor submerged enough for the pressure to build up the shaft to pee? (sounds dirty) i heard needs to be at least 2 to 4 inches under water line from the intake..
i had a similar experience after i knew it was just fine.. turned out i needed to submerge the shaft about 2 more inches in water and then it pee'd just fine.. not sure how you do the flushes.. but i have a big garbage can i run my motor in, or used to..

I use the outboard ear muffs that go over the intakes on lower unit. No need for submersion in can. Water pressure is good, etc. this method has worked for 6 years.

The Quadfather wrote:

rcthepirate wrote:The impeller is probably broken. Don't run it anymore with no water flowing!!!! Take the lower unit off, disassemble the water pump, and you should know right away if something is amiss. I'm sure if you go to a merc dealer you can buy a water pump kit to replace the broken parts.

Thanks RCthepirate, I guess I did ask if there is anything I could do..?
I was thinking along the lines of gun the throttle to dislodge something, etc. I am not a mechanic of any means, and by choice. I leave that to the professionals.
BentRod, wow, that thread you linked is the exact same motor.. interesting find.

I think I will call my mechanic and ask him if there was any sort of check of the water pump/impellar function 3 weeks ago.
It's kind of a sticky situation. The link that said something about the outflow being sometimes intermittent? Mine has always been rock steady outflow. It's not the kind of thing that you can just let run, and kind of kick it, or scratch your head and ponder. Next thing you know, it's a $3K anchor.

Yeah, certainly not something you want to just run and see if it fixes itself. I think your idea of going to the mechanic is a good choice if you're not mechanically inclined. Hope it's a simple (cheap) fix.

The Quadfather wrote:

rcthepirate wrote:The impeller is probably broken. Don't run it anymore with no water flowing!!!! Take the lower unit off, disassemble the water pump, and you should know right away if something is amiss. I'm sure if you go to a merc dealer you can buy a water pump kit to replace the broken parts.

Thanks RCthepirate, I guess I did ask if there is anything I could do..?
I was thinking along the lines of gun the throttle to dislodge something, etc. I am not a mechanic of any means, and by choice. I leave that to the professionals.
BentRod, wow, that thread you linked is the exact same motor.. interesting find.

I think I will call my mechanic and ask him if there was any sort of check of the water pump/impellar function 3 weeks ago.
It's kind of a sticky situation. The link that said something about the outflow being sometimes intermittent? Mine has always been rock steady outflow. It's not the kind of thing that you can just let run, and kind of kick it, or scratch your head and ponder. Next thing you know, it's a $3K anchor.

I can guarantee the mechanic checked the impeller, and possibly replaced it. Pretty standard maintenance. And for that reason I am really puzzled as to why it wouldn't be working. Maybe when the saltwater dried in the water pump it left deposits that caused the impeller to stick and break. And good call on taking it in, if you don't feel comfortable working on it. These aren't the kind of things you want to learn about through trial and error.

I would have to agree that its the Impeller they can fail even if there new. If the housing there in is pitted or wore out. It could even suck a small rock sand or stick in it and ruin it. It has tight clearances. There is a kit for the whole thing housing and all. The best rule of thumb is to have it changed out every year. It is a very easy task to do but if your not comfortable I would ask the mechanic if you can watch it done. So you can see it and have confidence later down the road to save some money. I have done it several times.

Rather than use the muff (which I have), I use a large plastic garbage can. Put it under the motor then fill with water. Keep the hose in it and start the motor. You can now get more rpm's out of the motor as it will be able to suck up more water. Sounds like the impeller to me also.

You probably have salt encrustation in the telltale discharge tube since you put it away without flushing/running in fresh water. It's highly unlikely the impeller broke from salt water drying inside the pump housing. If the pump/impeller were replaced this season and you have never run the motor without it either being in the water or on muffs it is probably still fine. Having said that, an impeller can be destroyed in less than 30 seconds if you do run it dry, and knowing you, you've never done that.

Get some heavy fishing line (do NOT use wire) or weed whacker line and carefully push it through the telltale opening to dislodge any foreign material. Hook up your muffs, turn the water on, and fire it up. My bet is all will be as it was.

There are some Mercs that have little to no telltale discharge until the thermostats open, but I don't believe yours is one of those, especially if it never worked that way before. PM me with your motor's serial number and I can find out for certain.

Start with the simple stuff first before tearing into it.

Does this motor have a fitting to back flush the system? If so do that. Backflushing has to be done with the motor NOT running. And clean out the pee hole.

When running next time take the cowling off and feel the thermostat area to feel the motor warming up and any cold from the incoming water from the pump.

yeah I take the impeller off not a lot to it ...

hewesfisher wrote:You probably have salt encrustation in the telltale discharge tube since you put it away without flushing/running in fresh water. It's highly unlikely the impeller broke from salt water drying inside the pump housing. If the pump/impeller were replaced this season and you have never run the motor without it either being in the water or on muffs it is probably still fine. Having said that, an impeller can be destroyed in less than 30 seconds if you do run it dry, and knowing you, you've never done that.

Get some heavy fishing line (do NOT use wire) or weed whacker line and carefully push it through the telltale opening to dislodge any foreign material. Hook up your muffs, turn the water on, and fire it up. My bet is all will be as it was.

There are some Mercs that have little to no telltale discharge until the thermostats open, but I don't believe yours is one of those, especially if it never worked that way before. PM me with your motor's serial number and I can find out for certain.

Start with the simple stuff first before tearing into it.

A visual aid to what Hewe's is describing. Can be viewed here (only do not use a metal wire like in the vid. Instead, do as Hewe's suggested. Use something soft). I have seen mechanics use compressed air to unclog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66kfjGs-5AA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The key here is the sudden stop and the fact it wasn't flushed following a run in salt water. Not ruling impeller failure out, but a clogged telltale line is quite common. That's why I suggested starting with the obvious first.

I have a Honda and about twice a year I have this problem. The boat is covered but outside. I'm not sure what they are really called. I call them mud bees. They crawl into small holes and lay their eggs then plug it with mud. The mud hardens like concrete. I take the cowl off twist and massage the hose then use a piece of straw from a broom much like the wire in the video. Works great.

Yeah and before you start taking anything apart, put a piece of tubing that fits snug in the pee hole and blow it out. If it was working before you put it away, it's probably just fine, they don't just break siting there over night. Come on.... Really guys? Does it have a hose hook up or do you have to use the muffs? Probably a little piece of sea weed or something. It's not going to pee until it warms up and the thermostat opens anyways. If you 're worried about it getting too warm, just take the cover off and as long as you can touch it you're fine. Hewes, right on as usual

Well, just thought I'd pass on that everything turned out OK with the motor circulating cooling water.

As per Hewesfisher's comment, I ran a 20lb test piece of line into the outflow tube/hole, even just a little ways. Fired it up, and out came the water.
Nice to have it cost me anything. Woo Hoo!