1983 Evinrude V4 140 overheating alarm

[Scottimus]

Hey all, just have a general question, I hope. Boat ran fine last year, no issues. Finally was getting it ready to take out for this year, went and hooked it up to a double water muff, fired right up, water shooting out of the tell tale spout like normal. After a few minutes of letting it idle and warm up to make sure it was going to idle properly, the high temp alarm started going off. Any ideas what would cause that if the water seems to be coming out of the spout just fine?

Thanks in advance for your responses...

 

[James R]

The tell tale only shows that water is flowing but not to where. You are running on faucet pressure and does not show if the water pump is working. Is this motor used in salt water. Is the motor actually overheating. If you can hold your hand on different parts of the motor without screaming the motor should be cool enough. Screaming will definitely indicate pain and overheating. A non contact temp' gun would help. I like the motors to not exceed 140F and a little cooler when cruising. Running lean mixture fuel or not enough oil can also produce overheating. When were the carbs last rebuilt.

 

[emdsapmgr]

The telltale indicates that water is being pumped into the block. That does not indicate that it is circulating through the block and going out through the two thermostats. If one of the two stats is stuck shut, you will get a hot horn. Also, when you get into the thermostat housing, check out the plastic valve body. There should be two pinholes, one for each side of the block. If either is plugged the engine will overheat, even with new stats. So make sure you validate the stats and the two pinholes. A hot horn comes on at 212 degrees-way too hot. The horn will stop when the block temp gets back down to 175-still way to hot for that engine. You should see normal idle temps in the 143-155 range. ABout 20 degrees cooler when the boat is planning at higher speeds.

 

[Scottimus]

Thanks you two. I appreciate the responses.

The motor is not used in saltwater. The motor was last tuned up (they rebuilt the carbs as well) about 5 years ago, but I don't put a lot of hours on the boat in a typical season. I take it out about half a dozen times a season and generally for only a few hours each time. Probably due for a tuneup again...

Thanks for the info on the thermostat housing. I will take a look and see. Very well could be a plugged hole.

 

[Scottimus]

If you can hold your hand on different parts of the motor without screaming the motor should be cool enough. Screaming will definitely indicate pain and overheating.

hahaha, that cracked me up!