newtoboat101
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2015
- Messages
- 407
i have 1988 mercruiser 5.0 lx /alpha1 gen1 ,water is only picked up from outdrive (brand new sei 06/17)and pushed to motor , osco4354 risers/restricted riser gasket thermostat housing is only 4 outlets no check balls ,also thermostat housing looks to be the correct themostat housing (has only 1 plug opening )where bravo style has 2 plug openings. the water inlets on the risers from style of thermostat housing with check balls is plugged off (see pics) heres my question and problem first WHY a restricted (pencil hole style) gasket ,seems i have problem with getting enough water thru motor out the exhaust its either good flow on port side and little on starboard side or vice versa ,i can make the flow change sides by pinching off water , good flow side for a minute then flows other side ,then un pinch hose ,good flow doe n't comeback ,can i switch to open flow gasket and correct this problem or is it a vacuum issue ,if i turn off motor and start again sometimes it changes good flow side,took riser off and cleaned out ,put new gaskets on but same issue any ideas as always thanx p.s. do this style engine /outdrive come with water pumps?