1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

[MAXXIE]

I had a new impeller installed last year & had no issues. This spring I fired the motor up & no water is flowing from the port/"tell tail". It only has a few hours on as I only ran it a few times last summer. What do I need to do now? I don't want to burn the engine or the impeller out & I did give it a few min's on run time to work the water up through the motor & out the port, but I got nothing. What should I do? I can't take it to a shop as I'm not working right now & don't have any extra cash. Any help would be great. Thanks, Maxxie

 

[Jiggz]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

First things first, remove the t-stat and try again. If problem persists, verify you have cooling water coming out of the exhaust snout. If none, then remove the LU and inspect the impeller. While there take a look on the water ports to make sure none is clogged. A brand new impeller from iboats will costs less than $15 just in case the old one is already destroyed. If the impeller looks good (make sure it is properly installed with the key in the shaft also). Flush the system by inserting a hose into the LU (midleg) water tube and you should see water at least come out of the exhaust snout.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

If everything with the impeller checks out, take a look at the water line for the tell tail and make sure a mud dauber wasp or something else hasn't decided to make a home and plugged it up.

 

[MickLovin]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

Jiggz already mentioned

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

You running it on a hose or a bucket?
The bucket needs to be DEEP!!!! It needs to go over the cavitation plate by at least 3-4in.
The hose needs a LOT of pressure.

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

I am running it off a hose with the "muffs", every other time I've done it this way it always took a few sec's for the water to get pumped out of the ports, but always worked. I have it hooked up to the truck right now & I'm heading to the launch & planning on just backing it in far enough to submerge the lower unit. In hope that "jerryjerry05" is correct. One other thing I did notice: While running the last time before calling it a night, last night, I pulled the hose off the top (that leads to the telltail) & it did seem to be pumping/pushing air from the impeller. This is why I'm headed to the lake this morning. Thanks for the advice. I'll report back, Be Cool!

 

[Jiggz]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

". . . it did seem to be pumping/pushing air from the impeller"

The impeller design on these motors are not positive displacement so there is no way they can pump air. The presence of air in the telltale is not a very good sign as it can indicate a blown head gasket. If you continue to see air coming out of the telltale, it is time to do a compression test.

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

Well, jerry nailed it. I backed the boat down the ramp on the trailer like I would do to launch, dropped the motor down & fired it up. Everything worked just fine, thank God! I just don't understand what the problem was with the muffs, it always had enough pressure before. Anyway, as far as pumping air, I may have over stated that a bit, a little seemed to be pushing out but not with any real pressure. I think it's going to be a good season & look forward to the first launch of the summer. Thanks for the comments guy's.

 

[Jiggz]

Re: 1985 Force 85 O/B, impeller question...

Great and have a nice fishing or boating season. It's almost here, well at least over here in the Pacific NW!