alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief ports.

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

The outdrive is something that should be removed yearly. That is the only way you can grease the coupler splines and check the alignment. You can also grease the ujoints if you have zirks on them, grease the gimbal bearing and clean up the excess grease, and check the bellows for water intrusion.
The drive is only a 10 minute job, put the shifter in forward, pull the trim cylinders off the drive, remove 6 mounting nuts and pull the drive off. It will also take a $5-$10 gasket kit.
It's just yearly maintenance.

you must be loving this mass snow as much as i am.

I'm in Washington state, no snow, just rain.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

thanks dons. i looked at you're location quickly and apparently after plowing for 9 hours WA turns into MA......

im going to order a new gimbal bearing, bellows, and a new shift cable " mine shifts from forward to reverse hard, not tripping the shift interupt switch. if i shift to nuetral then bump the key of then on so the motor cuts out for a split second it will shift to neutral just fine. tried adjesting, but im very very close to the end of the threads on adjuster cable.

if my log style manifolds and elbos are holding pressure, would it be worth while to just replace them while i have them off? as my local dealer sais... or should i just put them back on..

im going to pull the outdrive this week if the weather breaks.

thanks again for youre time.

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

and a new shift cable " mine shifts from forward to reverse hard, not tripping the shift interupt switch. if i shift to nuetral then bump the key of then on so the motor cuts out for a split second it will shift to neutral just fine. tried adjesting, but im very very close to the end of the threads on adjuster cable.

Activate the shift interrupt lever by hand with the engine running and see if the engine dies. If the switch is bad or not wired right, it won't work.

if my log style manifolds and elbos are holding pressure, would it be worth while to just replace them while i have them off?

Holding pressure has nothing to do with them being blocked. If water won't flow through them, you aren't going to get anything out the back. ALL of the water from the impeller pump must go out the back of the boat through the manfolds and elbows.
Do you boat in salt water at all?

Since you do have log manifolds, post a picture of your engine so we can see all the cooling hoses and where they attach. I've seen too many newer engines on this forum, that were plumbed wrong causing the problem.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Activate the shift interrupt lever by hand with the engine running and see if the engine dies. If the switch is bad or not wired right, it won't work.

if i activate the switch by hand engine shuts off.





Holding pressure has nothing to do with them being blocked. If water won't flow through them, you aren't going to get anything out the back. ALL of the water from the impeller pump must go out the back of the boat through the manfolds and elbows.
Do you boat in salt water at all?

yes i boat in salt+brackish water. 100% of the time.


i do not have the ablity to take pictures of it right now as its under 8 inches of snow, and coverd. i will next week when the snow is cleared, but i will tell you that my manifolds hold pressure and flow water. elbos also hold pressure and flow water. they are not restricted,

Since you do have log manifolds, post a picture of your engine so we can see all the cooling hoses and where they attach. I've seen too many newer engines on this forum, that were plumbed wrong causing the problem.

i have a few pictures of my set up on my computer how do i post a picture? when i click on the insert picture button and then from computer, i cant go any further...

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po



this is my cooling set up, with log style manifolds.

( not my first post my engine is not the original engine )

thank you dons

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Something doesn't sound right with your setup, not sure where, or what. May be a combination of things.
I can't see the Y pipe being plugged up because you would also have serious running problems as the water and exhaust backed up in the Y pipe. You may be getting air into the cooling system from a melted/warped water pocket cover in the upper part of the drive.
You did ask where the shutters are, this should help.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

and it all makes sence why i couldnt get the snake through the y pipe. flappers are at the bottom not the top like my local mechanic told me.....


dons- i actually do have some running problems. if i go on plane sometimes the engine will cutout, if i pull back on the throttle fast enough it will recover and continue running. if not it will stall out and be a little difficult to start. usually starts within a second of cranking or less. if i dont pull back and it stalls, it may take 3-5 seconds to start. and once i actually had to spray some gas into the throat of the carb to get it to start " the gf was driving and when it started cutting out she had no idea to pull back on the throttle...... are you thinking this could be caused because of the cooling flow problem?

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

I have a funny feeling the flappers are in backwards, if possible? I haven't even seen one of those in over 15 years.

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

I guess I should explain a bit more on why you have overheat and running problems.
Running problems are due to back pressure building up in the exhaust, a plugged exhaust slows the engine, vacuum drops, less fuel drawn in, see where this is going?

Overheat, well, the exhaust is water cooled, you may have 10psi of water pressure pushing cooling water throught the engine and exhaust. With the exhaust plugged up quite a bit, you end up with maybe 15 or 20 psi exhaust pressure building up at the top of the Y pipes. Thus stopping the flow of water. No water flow, you get overheat.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

dons- this is very helpful information, as the boat was acting almost like it was fuel starved when up on plane sometimes.

when you say you havnt seen one of these in 15 years are you refering to my ypipe set up? or the log style manifolds ect ect.....

my engine is a L033402. i have a feeling that the PO just swapped his manifolds ect ect onto the boat.

would it be feasible to just install the cooling system that was intended for my mercury marine L033402 engine? i can find manifolds & riser kits from a few different places for 329.00-499.00. i have no preference on thru hull out the prop ect ect.

what would be the best most inexpensive way for me to update this system......as i believe it is the root of all my problems.

block off plate on y pipe, new manifold&elbo kit and just go through the hull? what are youre thoughts.

thank you very much for youre time dons. i plan on keeping this boat for maybe 2 more seasons then i can finally get my new boat.
new boat in 2015.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

i have a feeling the PO just swapped his old equipment, manifolds, quadrajet carb, elbos, y pipe ect, onto the new L033402 engine.

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

when you say you havnt seen one of these in 15 years are you refering to my ypipe set up? or the log style manifolds ect ect.....

I haven't seen inside one of the old style Y pipes in that long. So other than pictures, I can't say for sure if it's possible to get backwards or not, but with enough will power to do something wrong, Previous owners have been known to do some strange things. And they NEVER tell you the full story or the truth. PO's are like that.

what would be the best most inexpensive way for me to update this system......as i believe it is the root of all my problems.

Without actually knowing what your problem is just yet, it's hardly the time to say what the cheapest way to fix it is. And just randomly changing parts because you assume they are causing your problem is the most expensive way to fix it.
Find out what the problem is first, then lets figure out how to fix it.

block off plate on y pipe, new manifold&elbo kit and just go through the hull? what are youre thoughts.

Sounds like you want to spend a lot of money for no reason. :facepalm:

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

dons- you're right. this week i will pull the drive and just look into the y-pipe instead of guessing what and wear my problem is. now a question. while its off ill go through it in the garage and make it like new.

will leaving the outdrive off for the winter damage anything?

the motor was fogged, block drained ( lots of junk in it, had to poke it with a 4 inch nail to start draining out the drain bolts.) and winterized.

 

[Don S]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Leaving the drive off won't hurt a thing. Just cover the bellhousing (what the drive was mounted to) so no water gets in the bellows and into the gimbal bearing while the drive is off.
As far as the flappers go, you may have to pull the Y pipe extensions off to see the flappers. That could include pulling the engine out of the boat depending on the access to the lower section of the Y pipe. It's all under and behind the engine.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

well i had some practice standing on my head this summer when i replaced the starter, i think i should have enough room the get the y pipe out without removing the engine, assuming the Allen screws on the bottom connecting the exhaust runs to the t are not frozen or stripped. thanks for youre time dons. ill post back when i get the drive off, and the y pipe out.

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

well i had some practice standing on my head this summer when i replaced the starter, i think i should have enough room the get the y pipe out without removing the engine, assuming the Allen screws on the bottom connecting the exhaust runs to the t are not frozen or stripped. thanks for youre time dons. ill post back when i get the drive off, and the y pipe out.

sorry for the delay, but the weather in mass has been rough to say the least. i got the out drive off and took a look around. im going to replace the gimble + bellows while i have it apart, ( im having a hard time finding the correct kit/ parts ) as for the original over heat problem,

with the out drive removed i poored 3 gallons of water down each exhaust port at the top of the y pipe and looked off the stern of the boat, it all came flushing out the bottom of the y pipe, correct me if im wrong, but this leads me to beleive that my y pipe is not obstructed, and that my obstruction is up stream of the y pipe, and down stream of the water inlet hose comming from the out drive through the transom. i mentiond earlyer in the posting that when i replaced my impeller that it was missing all but 1 fin, and that i found little bits and peices, but not all of them " or at least im fairly confident in saying not all of them " is it possible that these peices are stuck some wear obstructing the water flow so much that nearly no water exits the system?

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Leaving the drive off won't hurt a thing. Just cover the bellhousing (what the drive was mounted to) so no water gets in the bellows and into the gimbal bearing while the drive is off.
As far as the flappers go, you may have to pull the Y pipe extensions off to see the flappers. That could include pulling the engine out of the boat depending on the access to the lower section of the Y pipe. It's all under and behind the engine.

what service manual should i be using for my mercruiser? iv looked and looked and i just cant seem to match it up correctly.

L033402 is the mercury marine tag number on the rear of the starbrd side of the block.

thanks guys, just trying to plug away at this before the spring gets hear. thanks for the input so far from everyone.

 

[Bondo]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

sorry for the delay, but the weather in mass has been rough to say the least. i got the out drive off and took a look around. im going to replace the gimble + bellows while i have it apart, ( im having a hard time finding the correct kit/ parts ) as for the original over heat problem,

with the out drive removed i poored 3 gallons of water down each exhaust port at the top of the y pipe and looked off the stern of the boat, it all came flushing out the bottom of the y pipe, correct me if im wrong, but this leads me to beleive that my y pipe is not obstructed, and that my obstruction is up stream of the y pipe, and down stream of the water inlet hose comming from the out drive through the transom. i mentiond earlyer in the posting that when i replaced my impeller that it was missing all but 1 fin, and that i found little bits and peices, but not all of them " or at least im fairly confident in saying not all of them " is it possible that these peices are stuck some wear obstructing the water flow so much that nearly no water exits the system?

Ayuh,.... I haven't read the whole thread, but,....

Yer diagnoses, So far, has narrowed it down to nearly the entire coolin' system...

The water comes in through the transom, down under yer motor, to possibly a P/S Cooler, then up to the T-stat housin'....
Odds are, any ole impeller debris is in that neighborhood...

From the t-stat housin' it goes to the motor, 'n manifolds...
Another choke point is where the manifolds empty into the risers,... Pullin' the risers allows inspection...

 

[Bass2mouth]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Ayuh,.... I haven't read the whole thread, but,....

Yer diagnoses, So far, has narrowed it down to nearly the entire coolin' system...

The water comes in through the transom, down under yer motor, to possibly a P/S Cooler, then up to the T-stat housin'....
Odds are, any ole impeller debris is in that neighborhood...

From the t-stat housin' it goes to the motor, 'n manifolds...
Another choke point is where the manifolds empty into the risers,... Pullin' the risers allows inspection...

the problem is boat over heats when on plane or under throttle with a load. cools right back down when idling or putting along at 1000 or so rpm.

what i have noticed so far=

very very little if any water exiting the relief ports or through prop exhaust passage.

replaced the impeller in the out drive. the old impeller had 1 fin left on it. the rest were missing. i found a few small peices in the thermostat housing " there was no thermostat in the housing" pulled hose off the thermostat housing water comes rushing out. pulled the supple line of coming from the lower unit through the transom at the thermostat housing flows lots of water.

removed the manifolds, risers, and elbows - the gaskets from the manifold to the riser had 2 ports and a very small pin hole on the other passages, as apposed to being open.

removed some scale and sand and rust debris from the manifolds and risors, also the same from the block drains on either side of the lower block, poked around with a wire and it poored out with the water in the block.


i am getting water to the thermostat housing.
i do not know if i am getting water flow through the block
i do not know if i am getting water flow through the intake manifold.
i am not getting water flow out the exaust/overboard.
i am getting water flow to the exhaust manifolds.

i am planning on doing some inspecting tomorrow all day. what should i be looking for maybe the water circulating pump on the engine?

my plan is to inspect every hose, and item in the cooling system starting with the water supply on the in side of the transom.

 

[Speakrdude]

Re: alpha one no or very very little water exiting through prop or exhaust relief po

Also check for sand and scale in the lower portions of the block..