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White smoke/steam, loss of power

If the plugs look fine, as well as the manifold, and the oil looks ok, then I assume this is why you guys are assuming either an ignition or water flow problem. I'll test for spark at each cylinder, and check the impeller for where. If jazzy lets me know how to back flush the system, I'll do that too. At least thus far this doesn't appear to be going in a an ugly direction....but then again it's not done yet. ;)
 
It's real easy when you have your sea water pump apart, find the hose that runs under your motor from the sea pump and follow it up to your first cooler, pop it off there and back flush towards the sea water pump. The coolers have metal grates inside them to catch the crap in the water that runs through them so if you had an impeller go bad that's usually where everything settles but I've also personally had good size chunks stuck in the water passages of the intake manifold and thermostat housing. If you feel like pulling the thermostat housing out to go fishing just make sure you get the merc gasket it has little brass grommets on it I forget why but they're important maybe for water temp sending unit
 
I'll take a look at the impeller and complete the backflush. To get my understanding correct, a bad impeller shouldn't cause the stumbling issue I had, but would cause the hot exhaust and hot manifolds?? The stumbling would then be either an ignition or fuel issue correct?
 
A bad water impeller can cause all that, if the engine got hot then it will burn the fuel to quick and cause it to stumble. If your going to check the impeller replace it, do not stick the old one back in. And when you stick the new one in do not run it in a tub of water like you did before. Any few seconds of dry starts mess's the impeller up.

I replace mine every year, book claims every 2. But the number one cause of engine death comes from a bad impeller and thats the cheapest part on a boat.
 
With those compression numbers I dobut you have internal damage. It's gotta be something stupid, Impeller, water pump, gaskets, manifolds. The rust you mentioned dosent sound good. When it comes to boats I mess with outboards, but try giving the guys at Taylor Marine a call and pick their brain. If that dosent help, try Belleville Powersports. Thos are the only two places I would go around here
 
ajexpress said:
By tub of water do you mean on the muffs?
Click to expand...

Muffs are fine, I might have confused you with another member. You dont want to rev the engine much on muffs it will suck water faster than a hose can put out. Also check your T-stat and make sure its not stuck closed
 
Another thing that you should look for next time it's in the water is your water intake hose from the transom in they wear out as well and the suction from the pump can cause them to collapse enough to restrict water flow


Nobody's asked this yet but is your temp gauge working
 
Big Red said:
Muffs are fine, I might have confused you with another member. You dont want to rev the engine much on muffs it will suck water faster than a hose can put out. Also check your T-stat and make sure its not stuck closed
Click to expand...

Muffs work but a good winter project to think about is some sort of freshwater flush setup they sell kits or you can make one pretty easy you just need to tee into the intake line before the impeller and run a hose up with a shutoff valve and a female garden hose fitting at least then you get gravity working on your side instead of making the pump pull the water up
 
I don't rev on the muffs, in fact nothing above 1000 rpm. The temp gage is working fine, I've kept my eye on it ever since I noticed the steam out the exhaust. I've never seen the temp above 160F. I'll check the t-stat, but if this were stuck closed wouldn't I see higher numbers on the temp gage? There's pretty good water flow out the tips, and while I understand that's not a scientific approach, I would have thought if there was a water flow problem I'd see a reduction in the water exiting. That said I've only owned the boat for a couple months....so maybe my comparisons are off.
 
Just throwning this into the discussion. I see that the compression numbers look good, but what did the number 4 plug look like. Could there be a breach in the head gasket of the head for that matter that is allowing the cylinder to suck water when the engine warms up? The engine will heat up and the crack will expand to allow the water intrusion. When the engine cools down. the crack closes up. Might that explain number 4 showing 135 when tested cold. I am guessing that the compression check was done with a cool engine.
 
Usually if you have a crack it will expand and seal better when hot. The contraction happens when cooling
 
no significant updates, been busy. I took a look at taking off the water pump...gets tight down there. actually I think I can get the impeller out without removing the pump...but not sure it's a good idea. The more I think about it I think I have two issues not one...the hot manifolds, which indicate manfolds, impeller, or blockage in cooling line.........and the stumble issue last time out which could be anything from carb to fuel pump, to ignition. since the compression numbers look good, the spark plugs don't look steam cleaned, and the oil fine, I assume there was no water intrusion. I'll get a pic of the exhaust ports.
 
I just did my impellor. It was tight but i got it. Pull the hoses making sure you dont get them mixed up and then the 5 bolts. A tip is lay a rag under it your probaly gonna drop the nuts. You will know a little more by the way the impellor looks.
 
Did you do it without removing the whole pulley/pump assembly? I tried...and things were going fine until I tried to take the bottom hose off. I couldn't get that sucker off for anything. I could even twist it...so it was loose, but try as I might ...while standing on my head...I couldn't get that hose off. I pried with a flathead, pulled with both hands while resting my shoulder on the top of the valve cover, twisted while pulling, etc....she won't budge. :brickwall:
 
Try using a angled pic tool inserted in the hose to try to free it from the pump. This will usually brake the bond better than a screwdriver. Be carefull not no puncture the hose.
 
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