smoking tattle-tale

[Mlitt12345]

My 1979 merc 150hp has some exhaust smoke coming out of the pee-hose, water pressure seems ok and it is not overheating but the pee-stream is not as strong as it use to be, impeller was replaced about a month ago. I read somewhere but cant find the post that when this happens that a gasket is leaking under the powerhead, does that sound right? Which gasket do I need to replace? Thanks....Mike

 

[corm]

Re: smoking tattle-tale

Hi,

It could be a powerhead support gasket but I think it depends on how deep in the water your engine sits. If it sits deep the exhaust has less volume in the lowerunit so it may back pressure your water system before the pump can fill the powerhead and then on startup you could see exhaust come out of the tell-tale. If you are getting water and exhaust you will need some gaskets.

 

[Mlitt12345]

Re: smoking tattle-tale

Thanks for the reply, I'm in the middle of changing out the 2 gaskets under the powerhead, powerhead to driveshaft housing and adapter plate. Couldn't tell if they were leaking but both gaskets were in rough shape, hopefully this fixes it Thanks......Mike

 

[corm]

Re: smoking tattle-tale

Hi,

Looks like that was a good idea. I would polish up the gasket surface with a gray / maroon or finer scotch-brite pad.