Water stopped while running on earmuffs

[GlasV162]

Hi,
We looked at a 1992 115 Merc last night; the seller hooked it up to the earmuffs, turned on the water, and the motor started right up. Good strong flow out of the "pee hole" but then as it continued to idle I noticed it stopped pumping. It ran that way at idle for probably a minute or 2 before he shut the motor off. For some reason the spigot that the hose was hooked up to stopped working. He hooked it up to another spigot that worked, restarted the motor, and it pumped as normal. We then took the boat to the lake for a test run, and it ran fine--we were on the water for 15-20 minutes with no problems and a strong flow of water out of the pee hole. My question is this: is it safe to continue running it, knowing that it ran a minute or 2 without water?
Thanks,
John

 

[Dave1027]

Re: Water stopped while running on earmuffs

Should be fine.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Water stopped while running on earmuffs

Even if the spigot stopped working, the impeller probably remained submerged in whatever water was retained in the hose/muffs...but if you bought the motor, you ought to replace the impeller and LU lube anyway, if only because that's pretty much the first thing you do with a used motor--even if the seller swears up and down it's just been done .

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Water stopped while running on earmuffs

If its pumping its working, but as aj stated you should change the impeller and LU lube anyway. A small price for no grief later.