Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

[Howard Sterndrive]

I thought I would start a new thread on this. I am chasing a high rpm overheating issue on my Mercruiser V6 mongrel;
(original thread here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=431646)

I pulled the water pump housing off my not-yet-broken-in SEI Gen II drive looking for the cause of my high rpm overheating.

Interesting to see SEI uses Sierra impellers...it looks fine though.

As soon as I lifted the housing I see this little piece of bullrush wood in the wee hole here. I tugged it up for the pic.

 

[dubs283]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

i doubt that would be the cuase of you overheat

at high rpms the number one cause of overheat is the water pump sucking in exhaust gasses

check the gasket under the plate of the water pump and reinstall with a new one and perfect seal

also may want to verify the passage hose in the bell hsg area isn't kinked and the water hose/cooler is free from obstuctions

 

[Don S]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

Nope, that is just a drain hole. Not your overheat.

Might want to read this bulletin though. http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/95/95_13.pdf

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

everything sure points to sucking exhaust.... the clear hose thing would've been neat to try, but I'll just follow that bulletin with new gaskets and sealer. I'll make a couple of alignment dowels.

My neighbour came over yesterday... just had his Gen 2 drive resealed and gone through and he's having the exact same issue. Looks like a finicky deal to get that pump sealed correctly.

I'll reserve judgement on SEI's ability to do it until I get it right.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

Sure looks like the plate is goo'd down well. The bead where the pump housing meets the plate isn't very wide...looks like it could have sucked around the housing to plate joint... dunno if I'll reseal the plate, or just try sealing that joint first.

Anyways... warning to Canadian buyers of SEI drives... this thing is 3 hours old and they don't cover the pump when it's international...

that's b.s. if you ask me...

If I was SEI, I'd be calling the Canadian's local Napa with a credit card to get him the pump.

"If you were in the US, we'd ship one to you" - SEI

kiss my asterisk SEI... I'll never buy or recommend one of these junkboxes.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

I whined on their forum and they're going to stick a couple of gaskets in an envelope and mail them.
Pretty cool they have an open forum, but sad they wouldn't instinctively mail out 2 gaskets. I just spent $1400

I already ordered the Sierra kit for $46 though... no one stocks individual gaskets.... I'll have a spare I guess.

 

[CV16]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

I'd order a QuickSilver kit. Both my dad and a buddy had overheating issues last year. We replaced with Sierra kits and still had the problem. We went over everything to find the problem. Finally ordered a kit from a Mercury dealer. Problem solved. Then, just to see, I put the Sierra impeller in my dads boat. It overheated again. From now on, only OE stuff goes in our boats for important things like that!

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

I re-gasketed and sealed the w/p Thursday- reused the impeller that was in it....just cleaned the plate both sides and the surface of the lower (looks like SEI used the brown permatex and it didn't really dry- still tacky), put new gaskets out of the Sierra kit and plenty of copper permatex and let it dry for 2 days.

I took no chances, used a mirror and a borescope to make sure the goofy plastic water tube mated perfectly top and bottom.

voila- cool as a cucumber... ran 155 at all rpm's today.

Came back and put the 140 T stat in - another spin around - runs at about 145 now. I'm leaving it at that...

 

[betayv]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

hey howard thanks fot the info I have the same issue, let me tell you a little bit I bought my SEI drive back on february, installed and about two wees ago I have a bad noise on the outdrive call SEI drive I shipped back the outdrive they complete fixed the outdrive new upper gears, bearing, new water pump, my shop installed the outdrive back last week, I took the boat for the last 3 ours break process, and the end of the day and after 8 hours of going slow, I gave some throttle up to 3100-3200 rpm temp went up if I throttle down to to 2500 temp go down, I bringing the boat back to the shop today thanks and good luck.....

 

[KWG]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

Howard,
On the gasket that goes under your baseplate, did you paint the entire gasket or just the edges with the Permatex Copper sealer?
Is this sealer better then the recommended Perfect seal?
Thanks
Kirk

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

I coated the bottom side of the base gasket, and the top surface of the top gasket. Then I lightly coated the bolt threads. torqued evenly to spec., then plastered a layer of sealant around the mating surface and over the bolt heads.

I have always had success with Permatex copper. I find it sets up nicer than other sealants. Once cured, it seems "tough", not slimy.

I use it on engine gaskets, but also used it on my OMC stringer transom where the transom seal mates to it , and the edge of the boot still has a tidy orange line... still hard and pliable after being in the lake 5 seasons..

 

[KWG]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

So you added sealant around the edges of where the housing and base plate meet in addition to the sealer on the gaskets? That would kind of ensure no way of leakage in that area wouldn't it? Thanks
I will use that sealer when I go back in and redo that.

Kirk

 

[KWG]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

I wonder if Permatex Ultra Black RTV would work just as well.
I have used this in the manifold joints and on the intake manifolds and it does great there. I already have a large tube of this and I thought it might work as well.
Any thoughts?

I know the time prior to this (about 2 weeks ago) I used Perfect Seal and you can see where that got me. I coated the gaskets real good with Perfect Seal too and it didn't seal.
Check out the pics I took when I removed the pump yesterday ... where I am pointing with the screwdriver is where I suspect it was leaking. When I pulled the housing the gasket wasn't even sticking where I folded it down for the photo. The little orange bead of sealer they put on the gasket doesn't do anything for sealing evidently. I KNOW I coated that area with Perfect Seal too so I have to wonder about how well Perfect seal is.

I am going to be very liberal with the sealer this time around.
I'm just wondering if Permatex Ultra Black would work as well.
Just want to make sure I don't end up going back in.

Kirk

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Aww c'mon...can this actually cause overheating? Alpha 1 Gen II

my new best friend...

had it wound up to 4700 rpm last night - 48 mph.... she was cool as a cucumber and I was smiling...

I personally have NO love for black permatex RTV....but given enough drying time to cure it would probably be fine.