Water exit port question

N

newcomlr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
125
May sound like a dumb question, but this is my first year of boat ownership (Toon). I have a 2003 Mercury 60HP Bigfoot two stroke.

I noticed almost all other outboards on the lake (even similar Merc's) have a pretty strong water stream exiting the engine. Mine always has water exiting but it's not that strong, straight stream...regardless of RPM or displayed water pressure. I have the boat off the lake and winterizing. I looked closely at the exit port and was surprised to see the opening is pretty small...essentially the inside diameter of the internal tube.,,not much larger than 1/8". I checked to make sure the opening is not blocked, pinched, etc.

The motor appears to run fine. I don't think there is a water pump issue since I get good pressure readings (couple of pounds at idle...up to 14 pounds at higher RPMs). It almost seems to me that the water exit tube inside diameter is too small. I don't have any history on the motor so I don't know if the tube was replace or if it's original. But I'm assuming it's stock.

Could this be evidence of a problem with the water pump, etc.? Or am I worrying about nothing? Please...no Urology jokes about "stream envy". :facepalm:
 
M

Maxz695

Guest
Re: Water exit port question

Does the pisser stay warm but not hotter than you can hold your hand under after warm up for more than a few minutes? You should be able at idol to keep your hand there for ten minutes without a burning feeling. The water that comes out the rear ports on most 2 strokes should be cool and the water coming out of the prop should be hot as expected from exhaust. If the pisser is hot it may be water pump related as today I found my problem that was driving me crazy. The housing cup less than a year old and the impellor plate where warped due to over torque and the pressure was low and the pisser was hotter than I cared for to the point of steam. also the water tube was out of round at the powerhead side so I replaced it with known good one and wala good as new.
 
Texasmark

Texasmark

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
14,778
Re: Water exit port question

The 60 is probably plumbed like my 90; tell tale comes off the exhaust water jacket cover. No biggie, just follow the pee hose back to the origin. Exhaust water jacket is the big flat plate on the left (port) side of the engine block when looking from the rear. There will be a 1/8" pipe plug/hose barb right angle attached.

There is no stat there to delay any tell tale output as a function of engine temp and if your pump is putting out, you will have water pressure there 30 seconds or so after starting the engine. My 90 at idle, on my conventional hull boat will push water 1 to 2" into the water you are running your boat in with my boat at rest. At WOT it is like a fire hose. If your engine is low enough in the water to cover your water pump which is just above the AV plate which is that horizontal plate just above the prop, and you have a clean internal water cavity, you should have a similar condition. If, being a Toon, the water pump may be high in the water do to the design of the boat and you may have a weaker stream.

If not, then an impeller change may be in order. Toons, unlike conventional boats, don't run like them and as a result a weak stream at idle may be normal. At higher speeds, on that engine there is some ram water pressure that will help to fulfill the cooling requirements of the engine. Surely a toon person will chime in to this thread and they should know what to expect.

On the bright side, that engine has an overtemp alarm and if you hear a solid horn, usually coming from your control box, you are in trouble with not enough cooling. If not, don't worry about it and go have fun.

My 2c,
Mark
 
O

oldman570

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
1,615
Re: Water exit port question

As Max an Mark state you are probbly good to go. You can use weed eater string an check to see if any blockages are in the tell tail tube. Just push the string in the tube while the motor is running and it should lossen any thing blocking the water flow. Bugs have away of getting into the tube while the boat is stored over time.JMO
Oldman570
 
N

newcomlr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
125
Re: Water exit port question

Thanks for the input! I never felt the temp of the exit water. I've already winterized the motor, so can't check that now. I ran some electrical wire up the tube and seems to be unobstructed.

I think next spring I'll have the local shop give the motor a once over and have them check the impeller and exit tube.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top