F4 No tell tale!

[andymach23]

Hi

This was the kicker that came with my new boat. It's year 1998 with very little use. It fires right up but I can only feel air coming out of the tell tale. If I hold my hand under it it gets wet but no water is visible from the hole.

I have pushed a paper clip up the hole as far as it can go and there is no obstruction. The inlet on the leg appears clear.

I am likely going to sell this motor on my old smaller boat (17ft) and keep my current 5hp 2 stroke as the kicker for my new larger boat (20 ft). I therefore would like to get it running right without having to invest in a manual or leave it in to my local dealer. I'm pretty sure it's something simple.

Can anyone advise me on this? Where are the bolts for releasing the lower leg to get at the water pump?

Anything else I can try?

Cheers

Andy

 

[TheFin]

Re: F4 No tell tale!

On the early F4 engines the water doesn't come from the tell tale before the thermostat opens.

On newer models the water comes always from the tell tale when the engine is running.

Can't remember the year when they changed it.

 

[andymach23]

Re: F4 No tell tale!

Thats interesting! I shut the motor off as I did not want to make it overheat.

I can feel air pulsing out of the tell-tale hole which I took to be air from the water pump spinning.

I'll have a look in the manual or maybe someone else can hep out.

Cheers for the reply.

Andy

 

[TheFin]

Re: F4 No tell tale!

Take the thermostat cover and thermostat away, and look if there comes some water when the engine is running. Easy to check.

 

[andymach23]

Re: F4 No tell tale!

Yes, good idea. I will try that later. Thanks for the tip.

Cheers

Andy

 

[andymach23]

Give that man a cigar!

Give that man a cigar!

Take the thermostat cover and thermostat away, and look if there comes some water when the engine is running. Easy to check.

Much obliged Sir!

You were dead right. The motor is pumping water no problem with the thermostat out. You have saved me a pile of work as I was planning to start stripping the motor down.

Many thanks

Andy