porta-flush advice

[reyb]

I was thinking of getting something like a 10 gallon container for water and hooking up a hose to it so that I could flush my outboard at the boat launch. This way when I go home at 1am or so I don't have to flush the motor and wake up the neighborhood. I don't think I need a pump since the outboard pull in water by itself. However, a couple of questions I have are:<br /><br />1. Do you think 10 gallons is enough? Since the engine is warm(i.e. thermostat open), most of the 10 gallons should be actually flushing the engine.<br /><br />2. I'm not sure about not pumping the water to the outboard. What do you think?<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Rey

 

[Silvertip]

Re: porta-flush advice

What kind of engine are we talking about? The lower unit needs to be in the water to draw it into the engine. If you planned to use muffs and "draw" water from the container, you need to rethink the plan. The water pump in the engine will not likely work unless you have it primed and the bucket is above the level of the pump. If there is any air leak, the pump won't prime. You could pump water into the muffs from the bucket but it would need to be a relatively good 12V pump and depending on the size of the engine, one with fairly high volume. If the engine has an external flush port, you need to pump water through the system.

 

[reyb]

Re: porta-flush advice

The motor I have is a '89(?) Mercury 150 V6. I would have the setup where the water would flow to the ear muffs, whether it's by gravity(container would be basically above the engine) or pumped through a bait type pump. I know when I flush my engine when I get home, the engine is cold, so it takes a few minutes before it's peeing. I guess<br />the unknown about this is what kind of water flow(gph) do I need to set something like this up.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: porta-flush advice

Your idea has merit,and I think 10 gallons and gravity feed will work.And it should help.Anything does,including keeping the boat in saltwater.It's letting air get at it that does the worst corrosion.<br /><br />If I could,I'd take the boat to fresh water the next day (a river or lake) and play at speed for 20 minutes at least.This will flush the engine and probably rinse everything else that got salt sprayed.<br /><br />DHP