Exhaust Port Plate Removal

[kwk]

I've got a 1989 125 HP Force and have been having intermittent cooling problems. I've changed the T-stat and water pump, but still get the overheat alarm too often. I'm thinking of pulling off the exhuast port plate to see if my cooling passages are blocked in some way. Does anyone have any advice for this procedure? It doesn't look too hard by the manual, but how much trouble might I have?

 

[turtle1173]

Re: Exhaust Port Plate Removal

The biggest problem you are likely to run into is the exhaust bolts being hard to get out (corrosion, salt, scale, etc). I took the exhaust plate off of my 55HP earlier this year and 2 bolts busted. The good news is that the plate is not threaded so if the bolt breaks, you can still take the plate off and then just deal with the bolt in the head. Both of mine that broke were sticking out of the head once I got the exhaust plate off, so it wasn't a huge task getting them out.<br /><br /> You can try some penetrating fluid and/or heat but since the plate is not threaded it is a long way to go through to get to the threads on the head.<br /><br /> Anyway, for what it's worth... <br /><br />Shane

 

[kwk]

Re: Exhaust Port Plate Removal

I tried turning a couple and they broke free pretty easily. The biggest problem is accessing the very bottom bolt in the middle. It is kind of recessed so I can't get a box end wrench on it and there isn't enough room between the cover plate and the engine housing to get the socket over top. How do I get to it?