86 40 VRO Cooling Question

[TheBronze]

Hi all, new to the forum although I have used it as a resource in the past.

I have a general cooling question for the experts:

I have an 86 40 horse VRO that runs great. It provided a full summer of entertainment on my '61 glasspar. It has been mostly sitting since about November, but I did take it out on Thanksgiving weekend and ran it this weekend with muffs on (started right up and ran great).

We have had some cold weather up here, in the teens and 20s for around a week or so. I run in salt water exclusively. When done running, I typically flush with freshwater and drain the head/lower unit as much as it wants to in both the up and down position. When I ran it this weekend, it peed great and water was coming out of the prop exhaust. One place that I noticed water coming out of besides those two places is below and to the rear of the exhaust ports on the lower unit (the two little slits - cant remember their proper name). I honestly can't remember if I saw this behaviour before or if it is a new thing. I'm concerned that maybe the cold weather might have caused some freezing water to break through a gasket or something in the lower unit.

Or is this normal behviour?

Thanks!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 86 40 VRO Cooling Question

normal. when thru running. raise engine and lower it twice. this will break up any air lock in the cooling system, and allow all water to drain. store motor in down position.

 

[TheBronze]

Re: 86 40 VRO Cooling Question

Excellent! Thanks for the rapid response.

I do store the motor in the down position, but I would imagine air is getting in there during transport from the dock.