[mbarth]

I just launched my boat for the season. On my way across the bay in clean deep water my engine alarm sounded. I immediately shut the engine off and checked the intake for obstructions and also the oil level. Every thing seemed OK so I restarted the engine and since the alarm was no longer sounding I continued on my way slowly. I have a 150 hp Mercury OB. I installed a new water pump at the beginning of last year and put less than 50 hours on it. I guess my question is was the alarm just a fluke or do I have a problem. I have never had the alarm go off since I purchased the boat new in 2000. When I shut the engine off and let the water drain out it takes about 20 seconds before I can see the water coming out of the indicator on restarting. I do not know if this is normal since I never really paid that much attention to how long it takes to see water coming out. The water temperature coming out is approximately 130* F. Any suggestions on how to tell whether the water pump is working properly would be appreciated. Also if I need to have it checked out by a proffesional can anyone recommend one in the Ocean City area?
Thanks in advance!

 

[mbarth]

I took the boat over to the Bahia Marina this morning and Eric their mechanic was nice enough to take a quick look at it. He said it was deffinately running hot and pulled both tstats and ran the engine without them. Running without the thermostats didn't seem to help so it looks like he will be putting a new pump and thermostats in for me. Bummer!!! Well at least the problem didn't happen 10 miles off shore. I like to make the simple repairs myself but when you live 300 miles away the last thing you want to do when you come down for the weekend is fix your boat when you should be out fishing.

 

[mbarth]

[excited] The engine has been repaired!! The Bahia Marina was very reasonable I thought. The total bill to replace the pump and thermostats was $229.00. I can live with that!! The mechanic told me that it looked like the engine had been run without water because the rubber impeller was melted to the plastic housing. I then recalled having run the engine for about one minute last fall so I could fog the engine. Whoops, my bad. Hope to get out on the water next weekend and do some fishing finally.[smile]