Tell tale pressure issue on 15hp Evinrude.

[V3n0m]

Bought this fully serviced 1977 Evinrude 15hp early last week and finally got around to putting it in the river last Saturday. The motor did great but we did have a little boo boo. After I put the boat in I was very easy at first of course since it was new to me and really just wanted to see how it was going to perform and if any issues would arise. The motor did great, until I got on a sand bar. This motor had a very strong pee stream every time Ive ran it and did so up until that sand...while trying to get out of there I noticed the pee stream STOPPED. I immediately shot the boat over on the bank maybe 25 yards away shut it down. I waited about 30 minutes for everything to cool then briefly started it again after clearing the screens on the lower unit from debri...I did this maybe 3 times never running the engine for more than maybe 30-45 seconds and finally got the pee stream back on the last try after running a piece of wire through the exit point of the tell tale hole. I then went straight back to the boat ramp maybe 3/4 of a mile away. On the way back I of course payed extra special attention to the stream and it was noticeably weaker than before. I'm going to try and get a video of the stream now and post here and see if that's what you would consider acceptable but in the meantime, is there anything I can do to improve this? Or did that sand eat up my impeller? I've thought about running something farther up the line to see if there were possibly any blockages especially at the 90 were it goes back into the engine (seems like a good place accumulate junk) but wanted to check here first. First time in the river and I mess something up, just my luck...Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ondarvr]

It's not uncommon for them to plug up, especially after running through some sand or debri, the best way to clean it out is to blow some air through the pee tube. The pee tube doesn't need to work for the motor to be cooling, it's just an indicator, it doesn't mean anything else, so the cooling system can be working perfectly and there could be no flow out of the tube.

If after cleaning out the pee tube there still doesn't seem to be a good flow you could put a new impeller in it.

 

[V3n0m]

So take the circular plastic stream tube exit piece off and shoot air through it? No problem, I'll try that. How much pressure should I use. The compressor on my shop keeps house pressure at 150psi. Is that too much or should I rig up something with a ball valve for example to regulate pressure and start slow? Also, where will this pressure go? Out of the water intake on the lower unit? Is there any seals or anything between those two points where the air could cause damage?

 

[ondarvr]

I don't remove anything, just stick the air nozzle up to the tube. You don't need to give it full pressure, but the worst that can happen is the little tube will blow off the fitting. It just takes a quick blast to blow the junk out.

 

[V3n0m]

I'll give that a shot. Thanks man!

 

[V3n0m]

Before I hit it with air I decided to remove the Lil circular clip piece the hose is attached to and clean it out. Turns out, there was quite a bit of sand in there. I hooked up the muffs and started it up and ran a piece of wire in and out of the hose, cleared it right up! Pressure is back to normal. Thanks so much for the help!