Can't suck water since winterizing

[sbbamafan]

I apologize in advance but this will be long. At the end of last year a few things happened - my age old mechanic closed his shop before winterizing and I knew I was also needing almost due a carburetor. My boat is old but very dear to me and fanatically maintained and touched by very few hands. It is a 1991 Chaparral 2000SL with a VP DP 570. I looked around for a somewhat reputable place to winterize - thinking to some degree - how hard can this be? I had it done. Fast forward to about a five weeks ago. I started the preseason prep with my son - the oil change. We found a screw driver in the bilge - not one of mine. Figured the winterizing crew got careless but did not think much more of it. The next week we put the boat in the water - fought with a stubborn (not working) choke to get it started. It sounded really weird and different than ever. I got it out of the 'no-wake' zone and hammered it thinking I needed to get the cobwebs out of it. It would not even plane. I went less than 100 yards and decided instantly for the carb rebuild but I could not get over this sound. I opened the hatch and looked inside the engine compartment. The winterizing gurus not only left a screwdriver in the bilge, they left a hose disconnected that was supposed to connect to the exhaust manifold on the port side. The stainless steel clamp was nowhere to be found so I bought one and reinstalled the hose. I removed the carburetor and had it rebuilt (by known experts (Carburetor Specialists in Alpharetta, GA - Awesome guys!!!). I reinstalled the carb. I put in the water today. Started right up. Could tell it wanted to run. Started running hot while at the dock. I pulled it back out. I checked the impeller. It is perfect (just replaced it last year). Obviously no water is getting to the impeller or air is getting sucked in from somewhere and there is a weird sound. Engine is definitely running dry. How do I get it primed. This has NEVER happened before!! I can only figure it HAS to be something resulting from the winterization. I absolutely do not want the winterizing guys touching my boat again. I appreciate the help in advance and again - sorry for the long post.

 

[alldodge]

What's with the Blue type

The boat was out the first time and hose was off but no mention of over heat, or was that also happening?

Follow the hoses and check connections and if the hose clamps are tight. Might be others which were removed to drain and not tightened

 

[Scott Danforth]

agreed, stop messing with fonts and colors

your AQ drive will need to have the water inlet casting looked at. they last about 2-3 years, maybe 4-5 in fresh water

start there. that would be the first place to loose incoming water.
next - pull the PS cooler or back-flush it


the water path on your VP 570 is simple and effective

water from the outdrive pickups goes up the swivel shaft. there is an o-ring on lower ends of this swivel shaft. it should be replaced about once every 10 years. from the swivel shaft, the water enters the water inlet casting (known to corrode) to the inlet hose, which is held to the transom shield by the power steering cooler (first place to plug in the system). from there, the hose moves forward to the raw water pump. from the raw water pump, the hose goes up to the thermostat housing. there is the large circulating hose, and then the two hoses that go off to the exhaust manifolds.

there are 6 hoses total
drive to transom shield
PS cooler to raw water pump
raw water pump to T-stat housing
large circulation hose between circulation pump and T-stat housing
two exhaust manifold hoses.

 

[sbbamafan]

First - sorry about the font/color. I posted on two sites and did not want to type all. I copied and pasted and did not realize the way it came out.

As for the meat of this - Alldodge - It did not run long enough the first time out or it certainly would have overheated then too. Due to the bad carb, I killed it sooner and went ahead and did the carb. This time thinking I was 'lucky' enough to find the disconnected hose the first time out and the carb was replaced, I thought all would have been good.

On the plus side, I never ran it hard - never got away from the dock when the over heat started. Again the 'luck' of dealing with my wife, daughter and an 18 week old puppy before we could leave. Also running it on the trailer for a few and checking for fuel leaks, etc. before unhooking. Wanted to be safe. I then idled to the dock and that is when it overheated. I checked the other hoses last week and all seem to be tight.

Can somebody please show me where the the water inlet casting and power steering cooler is and what it looks like?? Maybe that will point me in the right direction.

I may be wrong but I am still thinking this is something that was created by a screwy error in the winterization process since there was never a problem before and I have found other careless errors.

 

[sbbamafan]

I also ordered a new thermostat today. Could this in any way be the culprit?

 

[alldodge]

Don't see the thermostat being why its not pumping water

Look at the hose routing on the raw water pump. Motor turns clockwise facing it.

If hoses come in from starboard side the intake is on top

If hoses come in from port side the intake hose is on the bottom

 

[sbbamafan]

I went back to the boat last night and found the problem. The 'winterizers' left another hose disconnected. Fortunately I found it quickly. I am really not even certain they needed to disconnect this particular hose. It is the hose that leads from the impeller/pump to the transom - at the transom area. It was easy to see - not so easy to reconnect around the manifolds, steering linkage, etc. but I got it done. I guess it was more difficult for me since I had shoulder surgery 13 weeks ago. It would seem that hose would have drained fine from the once the impeller end was loose - but I dont claim to be an expert. I would say the people that did it were not either.

Now I am just concerned over any potential damage or long term damage. I know the rubber exhaust hose has some internal damage from the heat. How can I tell if these are just a 'little' burned versus DAMAGED short of removing them and replacing them. I know replacing them is a pain and requires removal of the manifolds. I also will do a compression check to make sure there is no engine damage from the heat. Is there anything else I can/should do? I checked impeller and it is fine. I keep a spare just in case.

 

[alldodge]

Push in on the hoses, if they feel soft, might want to look closer.
The intake water house feeds water to the pump, without water the pump impeller burns