1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

oregonboatnewb

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So This boat i got at the end of last summer... it Runs Great (now that i've had all 4 carbs rebuilt at the beginning of this season).

I've been going a couple times a week, and notice that the pee stream from it, doesn't resemble the power of stream that my johnson 15 does on my alum boat... On this evinrude, even under full power, the water is pushed out, but with no where neer the force of my little motor...


I'm wondering... Should this big v4 be peeing like a horse when the motor is running ? Previous owner stated he replaced impeller last summer, mid season... The water coming out is warm, but never really "hot". And i never get any alarms or anything like that... should i be concerned ?

IMG_6339.jpg

 

ondarvr

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

It should come out with more force than that...but it doesn't necessarily mean the impellor is bad. Try cleaning out the tube with a wire or compressed air, frequently bugs or gunk plug the outlet and there may be little or no stream.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

clogged hose or weak impeller. if you don't have any idea when the impeller was changed, it is good insurance to change it.
 

countvlad

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

thats actually normal..... my 1989 120 V4 Johnson has the same tee tale... unlike any other motors that have the stream coming out in an angle and with pressure behind it these motors dont... the only reasonn why they are there is to give you an idea that you have water going through the heads...

if you take the cowl and you look at the tee tale its made so the water goes straight down... plus the hole in the tale is at least 1/4" ....

you know how i know all this? i had the same questions you do.... i was also worried about the tale when eerybodys flow was to the side and had a pressure behind it.... you're fine...everything is normal :)

btw do you have a water pressure gauge?
if not it wouldnt be a bad idea especially now that you just changed the water pump..... my pressure at WOT is 20-21PSI idle 5

ohh forgot to mention... i tried to reduce the hose to a smaller diameter trying to get some of that pressure to increase , helped some...
 

ondarvr

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

thats actually normal..... my 1989 120 V4 Johnson has the same tee tale... unlike any other motors that have the stream coming out in an angle and with pressure behind it these motors dont... the only reasonn why they are there is to give you an idea that you have water going through the heads...

if you take the cowl and you look at the tee tale its made so the water goes straight down... plus the hole in the tale is at least 1/4" ....

you know how i know all this? i had the same questions you do.... i was also worried about the tale when eerybodys flow was to the side and had a pressure behind it.... you're fine...everything is normal :)

btw do you have a water pressure gauge?
if not it wouldnt be a bad idea especially now that you just changed the water pump..... my pressure at WOT is 20-21PSI idle 5

ohh forgot to mention... i tried to reduce the hose to a smaller diameter trying to get some of that pressure to increase , helped some...


cv

If that's what your tell tale looks like then its not correct, it should have much more force than that. I use several V4's, from the early years of tell tales to the last year they made a cross flow and none of them have that weak of a flow. As already said, it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the cooling system other than the low flow from the tube though, but I would look for a reason for it before telling someone things are OK.
 

oregonboatnewb

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

Anyone know a good how-to link to swapping impellers on this motor ? I did it on my last mercury 500 50hp, wasn't that hard (prob because the LU wasn't this heavy)
 

jesseoshea

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

I have to say I have a 1989 Johnson v4 120 Looper and my pee stream is exactly like yours. Mine has around 18psi at WOT and around 3-5 psi idling. It has a brand new impeller and I never get anywhere close to overheating. Just my $0.02. My 1991 v6 200 GT actually puts out only 16psi WOT but its pee stream is extremely strong even at idle. Way stronger than the 120 at WOT
 

oregonboatnewb

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

I checked all the lines, they are clear as day... I don't have a PSI gauge for water, but might look into that... I know the water coming out itself isnt' even hot, and i've had no such alarms... if its easy, i might just replace the impeller to be safe, gotta find a good link 1st, or get a service manual.
 

kenmyfam

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

My 140hp 1985 looper does not have the greatest tell tale either. However it cools just fine.
Does it increase significantly as you back off from WOT for a few seconds ??
 

countvlad

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

cv

If that's what your tell tale looks like then its not correct, it should have much more force than that. I use several V4's, from the early years of tell tales to the last year they made a cross flow and none of them have that weak of a flow. As already said, it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the cooling system other than the low flow from the tube though, but I would look for a reason for it before telling someone things are OK.

since 3 other people said thats normal i guess i was all wrong and had no clue what i was talking about....

a nyhow im taking the boat out tonight and i was thinking about trying something to get that flow/jet a little stronger and to the side/in an angle... ive done it before but the outlet was 1/4" and i got some 1/8" tubing this time... ill post some pics tomorrow
 

jesseoshea

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

Definitely look into a water pressure gauge. I bought mine off ebay brand new for 10 bucks and the same guy sold the "plumbing" kit for 2 bucks. All in all it was like $17 and there is no wiring except for the lighting for the gauge. The impeller job is really easy too unless you run in salt water. In that case the hardest part will be removing the bolts in the foot (corrosion). That and lining up the shift arm (need two people to make it easy). Takes less than an hour, especially after your first one!
 

ezeke

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

My 140 flows like your picture because of the ID size of the outflow fitting - it has a much larger opening than the elbow at the engine. It's been like that since new.

The crossflow V4's and smaller motors used a fitting at the lower cowl that has a similar ID to the ID of the elbow at the engine.
 

countvlad

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

since 3 other people said thats normal i guess i was all wrong and had no clue what i was talking about....

a nyhow im taking the boat out tonight and i was thinking about trying something to get that flow/jet a little stronger and to the side/in an angle... ive done it before but the outlet was 1/4" and i got some 1/8" tubing this time... ill post some pics tomorrow

it didnt work.... i tried to go from 1/4" on the tell tale outlet to 1/8" but the pressure gauge was reading a higher pressure... the only nice thing about it is that i had a nice jet coming out of it.... so if tell tale flows obstructed your gauge will read higher pressure... i guess because water that would've flowed through the tale now flows/goes through the block....
 

ondarvr

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

My 140 flows like your picture because of the ID size of the outflow fitting - it has a much larger opening than the elbow at the engine. It's been like that since new.

The crossflow V4's and smaller motors used a fitting at the lower cowl that has a similar ID to the ID of the elbow at the engine.




That makes sense, for some reason I was thinking C/Fs not loopers, The loopers I use aren't V4's.
 

oregonboatnewb

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

Ended up doing a brand new impeller kit / housing all today...

(Kind of the waste, the one that was in there looked brand new, but previous owner didnt know, so i figured why not)

OMG Lining up the exhaust housing was a PITA ! Took about 9 trys and an hour just to get that done while matching up the shift linkage...

Now tho, i disconnected the oil tank couple weeks ago when i pulled the motor, how do i reset the VRO pump ?
 

kenmyfam

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

Ended up doing a brand new impeller kit / housing all today...

(Kind of the waste, the one that was in there looked brand new, but previous owner didnt know, so i figured why not)

OMG Lining up the exhaust housing was a PITA ! Took about 9 trys and an hour just to get that done while matching up the shift linkage...

Now tho, i disconnected the oil tank couple weeks ago when i pulled the motor, how do i reset the VRO pump ?

Did you remove the motor to do the impeller ??
What do you mean by re-set ?? do you mean simply to re-connect and prime ??
This might help a little next time you are servicing the water pump.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=309188
 

oregonboatnewb

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Re: 1990 Evinrude V4 120hp Pee Stream.

I took the motor off when i rebuilt the transom, motor is back on now, and i did the impeller while motor was on the boat... i have not started motor since the transom rebuild...

and was told vro pumps need to be "primed" or something to get the bubble out of the line from the tank to the pump
 
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