'95 88SPL overheat warning in 2 minutes or less

[MAW31]

I have been in and out of the lower end 3 times in 2 days...functionally, i dont see anything wrong there, impeller looks almost new. Nothing missing as far as i can tell from the evinrude diagrams.

brief history. just replaced powerhead with used one same size. (compression 125-127)

i put the muffs on, supply water, start motor and pee hole shows a good stream of water.

2 min later or less, the console buzzer starts buzzing ...i put hand in the pee-stream and its going between luke warm to ouchie hot and back. (ok...so the thermostat is opening and closing..nothing new there...but is it normal to be so extreme? (and i'm assuming theres a thermostat in there since i didnt open it up to see yet) and also assuming its just not **** poor water pressure or blockage...

turn motor off and steam blew out the pee hole (once)...ok..that has me seriously concerned. the motor never got so hot that i couldnt put my hand on the heads. ok...it was hot, but i could take it.

what is my next step in diagnosis here?

remove/replace the thermostats? I've had several people say just remove the thermostat since I live in Fla, and super cool water will never be a prob.

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: '95 88SPL overheat warning in 2 minutes or less

I'd personally pull the lower off again, then pull the thermostat out and stick a hose in the opening and turn on the water. If anything is in there it should come out the midsection. Otherwise, if your motor has the rubber hoses in the head as water diverters, they may be collapsed or something, causing poor curculation around the cylinders. Thermostat could also just be sticking, so for the few bucks they cost, I'd get a new one and gasket to replace the old one with once I've checked it for blockages.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: '95 88SPL overheat warning in 2 minutes or less

There is another possibility. The valve body in the thermostat housing has one pinhole in it. (the earlier models have two) This pinhole bleeds hot water to the back of the thermostats, causing them to open. If this pinhole gets plugged with debris, the engine will overheat at idle.