Ran Force 70 without water running

[Rich P]

I ran my Force 70 for about 15 Seconds before realising the ear muffs had fallen off and no water was running through................ does anyone know if this will cause damage please, im a bit worried!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Ran Force 70 without water running

If they had fell off at idle for a few, don't worry about it..pump was still wet..stick it in the water..still get a good blast out the back, go boating. If you aint replaced the impeller in a few years, do it now though

 

[roscoe]

Re: Ran Force 70 without water running

Welcome to iboats Rich.

Likely no damage to the engine.

But the impeller life was shortened.
Is it still pumping water?

When was the last impeller change?

If you don't know, it is time to change it.
If it is older than 3 years old, it is time to change it.

 

[Rich P]

Re: Ran Force 70 without water running

Many thanks

Yes water still runs through.

Dont know when impeller was last changed!

Is changing impeller a large jog?

Should i look into it before i take boat out again. as i say there was water running out when i attatched muffs again.

 

[artic-z]

Re: Ran Force 70 without water running

changing the impeller is super easy, on my 88' Force 85 it was 6 bolts, 1 allen bolt inside exhaust with 1 bolt inside exhaust and 1 hold the directional fin on.

pull the whole lower unit down and with the shaft keep it easy and nice and slow, take the 4 bolts off the impeller's box and change it be carefull of the direct you put the new one back in. and slide it all back together and bolt it up.

took me about 15-20 minutes to change mine.

the best thing anyone can ever do for an outboard motor is stick a water pressure guage in it... at idle it should read atleast 5-8psi of water pressure at WOT it should read atleast 9-28 psi if its only 1-4 psi at idle you might need to change your impeller and only 5-10 @ WOT. pressure guage will pay it's self off easily over the years, i picked one up locally for $54.00 and installed ontop of my power head by the theromostat in less then 10 min. had to run lines to my dash also...

 

[walk-on]

Re: Ran Force 70 without water running

Rich - I changed my impeller last year at the advice of fellas on this board. My advice is to get a manual if you don't have one and follow the directions in it. I didn't know anything about outboards, but I learn a little at a time. I have a Seloc manual, but others may recommend another. I feel pretty confident that I can do many jobs on my outboard as long as I can use my manual.