Orange Water coming out of engine

[NatedoggAZ]

Yesterday when I changed my oil - I was running it on the muffs while warming up the oil. I put a cat litter pan underneath the outdrive to catch any oil just in case it came out the drain. I forgot it there when I turned on the water and engine - and it just filed up with water from the outdrive exhaust... I figured I'd just dump the water out after I shut off the water and engine....

When it did fill up though - it had a rusty orange color to the water - almost like iBOATS orange...

I dumped the pan out a few times over the next 15 or so minutes - still had an orange tint but was getting a little clearer each time.

After the oil change was done - I ran it again for a few minutes on the muffs - and the water was mostly clear

...anyone have any idea where that "orange" came from or what might have caused that?

Thanks!

ND

 

[GA_Boater]

Plain, old rust. Just surface rust from the water passages.

Has the boat been sitting a while since it was last used? Winterized in AZ?

 

[thumpar]

It would take a while for the block to fully flush out any rust since the thermostat will be closed until it warms up.

 

[NatedoggAZ]

OK cool - sounds like nothing to worry about...

We don't winterize in AZ - I live in the Phoenix area - it just does not get cold enough to get to that freezing level usually. If it does touch freezing (32 degrees) its rare and only for a short time. That's just the air temperature though which is insufficient to freeze any leftover water in the engine block...

Weird thing is - I ran the engine a few weeks ago. I ran it a bit longer this time to warm up the engine for the oil change. Maybe that was the difference though - that the thermostat was warm enough to open this time while running it..

Before the past 2 times when I ran it though - it was sitting for about a year or so.

ND