Length of water intake hose

[TheRussian]

Hello,

​I have another question regarding the transom service on my Gen II.

According to sterndrives.com the length of the water intake hose must be cut to exactly 13" or the hose will kink preventing any water flow. The hose that was included with my OEM kit is approx. 14" and the one that I have already removed is even longer - pushing 15-16".

Do I really need to cut a hose that the manufacturer has provided?

Thanks!

 

[alldodge]

Lets bring in some of the experts, achris Bt Doctur Bondo

 

[Bt Doctur]

13 -7/8 ths 32-32461 5/8
32-4172533 3/4

 

[Newbie@boats]

13 7/8....

 

[TheRussian]

So just to confirm... NO need to cut the hose? I have read an old post of someone that was claiming that they were unable to fit the hose without kinking it and had to shorten it by an inch. I cannot imagine how a bend or a slight kink could occlude the hose of such thickness.

 

[Bt Doctur]

It`s because most try to use auto heater hose that is single wall.

 

[bbook83]

Yesterday, I installed a hose, Mercruiser part #32-32461 (selected by the Mercury Parts man across the counter) on my 1974 140 Mercruiser. It is 5/8" ID hose, 13 7/8" long. I believe it is properly installed, but it kinked. I think it is a shade too long, or perhaps I have a twist in it. The Mercury parts lookup for my serial number shows #32-4762 for the hose. It appears from internet parts house listings that such hose is sold in 49" lengths, presumable so it can be cut to length. I'm not trying to hijack The Russian's post, but the point is, you can buy OEM double wall hose as selected by the parts man and still have kinks.

 

[Fun Times]

Most of this has to do with ensuring that the hose is properly fitted (slid all the way up/on) onto the two fitting connectors while finding the right angle of the routing around the U-joint bellows to where it rests closer to the gimbal assemblies vs the u-joint bellows but yes unfortunately the new ones (depending on brand) were know to come to long so that a kink was easily formed no matter what way you twisted/adjusted the hose which of course you don't want to happen in order to get best water flow. Trimming the hose was needed to help remove the kinks. I don't recall going as short as 13 inches but 13 3/4" seemed more like the size to me.

There are also a couple of call-out's by other marine dealers selling theses hoses at 13 3/4" too as you'll notice below.

32-47642 MerCruiser Quicksilver hose 5/8" ID Original piece is 49" these are 24" each. Requires 13 3/4" for job?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/32-47642-MerCruiser-Quicksilver-hose-5-8-ID-24-long-piece-/181412362255

IMPORTANT: Your new water hose must be 13-3/4" long.
They often come from the factory too long.
If you install a water hose that is too long it will kink and cause overheating.
Measure and cut the new hose to a length of 13-3/4"
Make sure to use the correct hose for your application.
Older units used the smaller 5/8" ID water hose.
Newer units use the 3/4" ID water hose.
It must be cut to 13-3/4" long before installation.

http://www.sterndrivetools.com/Replace your R, MR or Alpha One Gimbal Ring.html

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...-water-inlet-tube-alpha-1-the-fight-continues
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...292723-alpha-1-bell-housing-water-hose-length

bbook83, looking up your Merc OEM part number 32-32461 you provided looks like it would/may have come 13 3/4" to where if it was aftermarket sierra it could have been 13 7/8" as seen from these many different sellers descriptions, http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=32-32461+&_sacat=0

 

[bbook83]

Fun Times has provided the best analysis of the situation I have found on this. The Mercruiser part # 32-32461 may have been 13 3/4" long, as my measurements weren't precise and I may have been influenced by the research that said they were 13 7/8". The valuable information is that the length is critical and it will kink if it isn't just right. Insuring that the hose is fully on the bell housing end is easy because it stops at the hex head end of the fitting. At the gimbal housing there isn't a prominent stop, but it appears that you must push it all the way to the bend in the copper tube. Perhaps that was where I went wrong. I'll check.

Just for the heck of it, I tried a fix suggested in another thread on this forum that will drive the professional mechanics crazy, which was to put a hose clamp on the kink to open it up some, but not so tight as to make the kink worse. In looking at it, I believe the fix did open the hose some. One key is to position the clamp so it doesn't rub on the bellows or contact the gimbal housing during turns or tilts. I was thinking of running water from a garden hose through it with the fix in place to try to determine if there is restriction. I think the trick there will be to try to duplicate the pressure of the outdrive water pump.

My information isn't intended as a thread hijack. I hope this information is valuable to TheRussian as op and others who have struggled with this problem.

 

[TheRussian]

It does appear that my original hose had a slight kink in it, but as I have explained in the original post it was significantly longer than the replacement in my OEM kit. I have not had any problems with the boat overheating and have always had water expelled from the transom when running on muffs. The reason that I went with the OEM kit is to minimize the screwing around with adjustments that I would have to do with aftermarket parts.

At this point I am not planning on cutting the hose. I think that a slight kink (maybe we'll call it a "sharp bend") will still let sufficient volume of water into the cooling system.

I really hope that I am right... or at least not too wrong.