Cooling system clogged with sand - 115hp/4 stroke outboard

[JaffeJoffer]

I hit a sand bar last night. I cleared it then ran about 5 miles across the bay with no problems. When I got the boat back to the driveway and hooked up the hose to flush the motor, I noticed I wasn't getting any water out the prop as per usual. There was water flow out the intakes.

Is there any trick to clearing out the sand that I presume is clogging half my cooling system?

Regards,

 

[emckelvy]

Re: Cooling system clogged with sand - 115hp/4 stroke outboard

You can try pulling the thermostat for inspection and then check to see if you're getting water up into the powerhead.

You may need to pull the lower unit and blow air up the copper water supply tube. Or adapt a source of water to the tube and use for flushing/flow verification.

If you sucked up enough sand to cause water flow issues, you probably oughta inspect the water pump for damage. Sand running around inside the pump could have damaged the impeller or the pump insert/plate.

You should be able to pull up a parts breakdown for your motor at this site, just have your motor's Serial # handy:

http://www.mercruiserparts.com/SelectModelType3.asp?class_id=2

HTH.............ed