Running without water

[DeltaDan]

So I get the Bonehead award here. I was changing the oil yesterday and and had the fake-a-lake hooked up. Well, I am not sure what happened, but it shifted and there was no water going to the engine. I didn't notice it, but cut the engine when it got to 160 deg. I started to drain the oil, but it was not very warm so I started the boat back up, still, without my knowledge, with no water going into the engine. I walked away for a few moments and when I returned it looked like steam coming out of the back. When went to turn it off the engine was at 203 deg.

I finished changing the oil, the engine was at around 140 when I finished, I fired it back up (this time with water) and it slowly started to overheat again. I am hoping that is was still just hot form the original overheating. I am letting it sit overnight and will fire it back up when I get home. The impeller had the tip of one fin sheared.

Any thoughts on how much damage I could have done. I don't think it was over 200 degrees for more that a minute or two.

[Shine]

I dont know where the line on too hot without damage is but I hope you have no issues!

[dhcomp]

After the original overheat, 95% chance you cooked your impeller. So even after you put water to it the next time, it was unable to pump. Open up the impeller housing, i bet its trashed. Replace it, and you should be good to go as long as the broken pieces didnt' clog something else up. Good luck!

[Bill_AirJunky]

The impeller had the tip of one fin sheared.

So you looked at the impeller? I would have thought it would be melted. Maybe the rubber part has spun on the metal shaft?

The 200 degrees is no big deal..... unless there is no water either. THAT is what cooked the impeller.

And that is why I made that hose adapter instead of using a fake-a-lake. It works way better & I'm positive there is water going in.

[martinarcher]

Agreed. 203 is no big deal to an automotive head so you should be fine. Where is the temp sensor on the new boats. I know mine is in the coolant passages and does not register temperature at all if there is not water flowing through the boat. Not cool.

[mlange]

Replace impeller and clean out the filter on the trans cooler and you should be fine.

[DeltaDan]

The impeller had the tip of one fin sheared.

So you looked at the impeller? I would have thought it would be melted. Maybe the rubber part has spun on the metal shaft?

The 200 degrees is no big deal..... unless there is no water either. THAT is what cooked the impeller.

And that is why I made that hose adapter instead of using a fake-a-lake. It works way better & I'm positive there is water going in.

I looked at it bu did not pull it out, I cranked the engine with the housing cover off and it turned - I guess I will just replace it to be safe - I will pull it tonight or tomorrow

[dhcomp]

When they burn up, the little flaps on it break up. If you stick your finger in it you can tell they are missing. Definitely replace it, even if it loosk good it is probably overcooked and will fail soon.

[Kingazjay]

203 is not that big of a deal, was over that last year when we lost the impeller across Lake Mohave, had to drive it back, through white caps, without a bilge... good engine flush to clean out all the junk. No major engine damage, still runs great. I'm sure you won't have a problem. (on a side note, why hasn't anyone designed an inter-cooler for these dam things yet!?!?!)

[Sunsetter95]

Do you want to be sure? Perform a compression test. A head gasket should be the first thing to go. At least it was in mine. Although my overheat alarm went off before I got it back in to the ramp too .

Replace the impellar for sure. I found that the water connection on the fake a lake needs to point directly at the front of the pickup screen on the hull. Had that issue also after installing a new Jabsco brass pump to get rid of that plastic housing.

[electricjohn]

The problem I have with the Fake A Lake is that the water pressure from your house moves the plunger on the bottom of your boat, breaking the seal between the plunger and the boat. I have to keep fixing the seal till I get the water flow from my house to match what the engine will take in. I still keep a constant eye on it till done.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Do yourself a favor & do the Home Depot hose adapter. You will feel a lot better about how much water you have going in there.

You will have to remove a hose rather than slide under the trailer 4 times. Makes life a lot easier.

[dhcomp]

Do yourself a favor & do the Home Depot hose adapter. You will feel a lot better about how much water you have going in there.

You will have to remove a hose rather than slide under the trailer 4 times. Makes life a lot easier.

Or for rare occasions, pull raw water intake hose, stuff garden hose in, tape or clamp. As long as it doesn't fall out, it doesn't matter if it leaks.

[martinarcher]

Do yourself a favor & do the Home Depot hose adapter. You will feel a lot better about how much water you have going in there.

You will have to remove a hose rather than slide under the trailer 4 times. Makes life a lot easier.

Any pics of this install? I had it pictured as a Y stuffed between the brass skimmer and the raw water pump, with a garden hose thread on the T. I'm just confused how water doesn't go rolling out the bottom of the boat onto the driveway.

Also, will it work on my DD or is this a V-Drive deal only. Thanks Bill!

[gmoneycrf450]

So I get the Bonehead award here. I was changing the oil yesterday and and had the fake-a-lake hooked up. Well, I am not sure what happened, but it shifted and there was no water going to the engine. I didn't notice it, but cut the engine when it got to 160 deg. I started to drain the oil, but it was not very warm so I started the boat back up, still, without my knowledge, with no water going into the engine. I walked away for a few moments and when I returned it looked like steam coming out of the back. When went to turn it off the engine was at 203 deg.

I finished changing the oil, the engine was at around 140 when I finished, I fired it back up (this time with water) and it slowly started to overheat again. I am hoping that is was still just hot form the original overheating. I am letting it sit overnight and will fire it back up when I get home. The impeller had the tip of one fin sheared.

Any thoughts on how much damage I could have done. I don't think it was over 200 degrees for more that a minute or two.

You're probably okay if you immediately shut it down....depending on how bad your oil was that you were changing could come into play because that is what takes the heat out of the engine and if your oil hadn't been changed in a while then it doesn't lubricate as well, but again....if you shut it down right when you noticed it you should be okay.

I would definitely change your impeller though with any sign of wear on it.

Hope that helps

[DeltaDan]

So I get the Bonehead award here. I was changing the oil yesterday and and had the fake-a-lake hooked up. Well, I am not sure what happened, but it shifted and there was no water going to the engine. I didn't notice it, but cut the engine when it got to 160 deg. I started to drain the oil, but it was not very warm so I started the boat back up, still, without my knowledge, with no water going into the engine. I walked away for a few moments and when I returned it looked like steam coming out of the back. When went to turn it off the engine was at 203 deg.

I finished changing the oil, the engine was at around 140 when I finished, I fired it back up (this time with water) and it slowly started to overheat again. I am hoping that is was still just hot form the original overheating. I am letting it sit overnight and will fire it back up when I get home. The impeller had the tip of one fin sheared.

Any thoughts on how much damage I could have done. I don't think it was over 200 degrees for more that a minute or two.

You're probably okay if you immediately shut it down....depending on how bad your oil was that you were changing could come into play because that is what takes the heat out of the engine and if your oil hadn't been changed in a while then it doesn't lubricate as well, but again....if you shut it down right when you noticed it you should be okay.

I would definitely change your impeller though with any sign of wear on it.

Hope that helps

Last oil change was 9 months and 30 hrs ago - I replaced the impeller 2 months and 3 hours ago - oh well - a new $40 impeller is cheaper than a new engine.

Thanks for all the responses - my mind is a little more at ease...

[Bill_AirJunky]

Do yourself a favor & do the Home Depot hose adapter. You will feel a lot better about how much water you have going in there.

You will have to remove a hose rather than slide under the trailer 4 times. Makes life a lot easier.

Any pics of this install? I had it pictured as a Y stuffed between the brass skimmer and the raw water pump, with a garden hose thread on the T. I'm just confused how water doesn't go rolling out the bottom of the boat onto the driveway.

Also, will it work on my DD or is this a V-Drive deal only. Thanks Bill!

This is the one I made.

I believe I saw one last year one on this site some time ago but don't recall who's it was.

This one is for my Vride. What you need to do to make it work on your boat is to follow the raw water intake up to it's first junction.

In my Vride's case, thats the intake on the v-drive - driver's side, just under the back seat, right on top. I unhook that hose from the v-drive, and hook up this adapter with the valve closed, along with the garden hose on the other end. Turn on the hose, jump in the boat, open the valve on the hose adapter, wait for the water to start coming out the exhaust, start the engine. If there is any problem, I can just shut the valve off, resolve the problem, then try again.

No climbing around under the trailer..... I like that part a lot.

Here it is hooked up.

It's too easy to do it this way. Maybe one of you real mechanics can tell me why we monkey around with fake-a-lakes instead of doing this.

Edited May 14, 2009 by Bill_AirJunky

[martinarcher]

Do yourself a favor & do the Home Depot hose adapter. You will feel a lot better about how much water you have going in there.

You will have to remove a hose rather than slide under the trailer 4 times. Makes life a lot easier.

Any pics of this install? I had it pictured as a Y stuffed between the brass skimmer and the raw water pump, with a garden hose thread on the T. I'm just confused how water doesn't go rolling out the bottom of the boat onto the driveway.

Also, will it work on my DD or is this a V-Drive deal only. Thanks Bill!

This is the one I made.

I believe I saw one last year one on this site some time ago but don't recall who's it was.

This one is for my Vride. What you need to do to make it work on your boat is to follow the raw water intake up to it's first junction.

In my Vride's case, thats the intake on the v-drive - driver's side, just under the back seat, right on top. I unhook that hose from the v-drive, and hook up this adapter with the valve closed, along with the garden hose on the other end. Turn on the hose, jump in the boat, open the valve on the hose adapter, wait for the water to start coming out the exhaust, start the engine. If there is any problem, I can just shut the valve off, resolve the problem, then try again.

No climbing around under the trailer..... I like that part a lot.

Sorry to be so thick. So this injects water after the raw water pump? Wouldn't the impeller starve of water? I think I'm misunderstanding what the V-drive is. I know it takes an input shaft form the motor and turns it around to drive the prop shaft under the motor, but I'm picturing it taking water similar to my tranny cooler. Just to clarify, my boat goes from the hull scoop fitting, to the raw water pump intake, pump outlet to tranny cooler, then to the block via the engines water pump and finally out the headers and exhaust.

[Bill_AirJunky]

No problem at all.

In the case of this boat, the only thing I'm bypassing is the valve & the intake grate. The raw water pump is after the v-drive...... sucking water in & thru the v-drive & pumping it into the engine.

I had an MC 205 before this boat. I had the adapter on it too. I pulled the hose after the raw water pump & put it there, using the pressure from the hose instead of the raw water pump. It wasn't quite as easy as the v-drive but still close to the top, by the stringer & the engine cover prop rod.

I don't think it's necessary to use the raw water pump's pressure when your on the driveway. In fact the garden hose pressure might even damage it if it was too strong.

Edited May 14, 2009 by Bill_AirJunky

[martinarcher]

No problem at all.

In the case of this boat, the only thing I'm bypassing is the valve & the intake grate. The raw water pump is after the v-drive...... sucking water in & thru the v-drive & pumping it into the engine.

I had an MC 205 before this boat. I had the adapter on it too. I pulled the hose after the raw water pump & put it there, using the pressure from the hose instead of the raw water pump. It wasn't quite as easy as the v-drive but still close to the top, by the stringer & the engine cover prop rod.

I don't think it's necessary to use the raw water pump's pressure when your on the driveway. In fact the garden hose pressure might even damage it if it was too strong.

Ah - the pump pulling water through the v-drive is what hosed me. No pun intended.

Have you ever had trouble burning up impellers running this way on your 205 since you weren't feeding the pump water?

[Bill_AirJunky]

Ah - the pump pulling water through the v-drive is what hosed me. No pun intended.

Have you ever had trouble burning up impellers running this way on your 205 since you weren't feeding the pump water?

Had that boat for 7 years & over 600 hrs & replaced the impeller 2 or 3 times. We ran in the winter a lot too so I winterized it dozens of times.

Same principal as the Flush Pro. I just don't leave it installed when I'm done. Heres a good Flush Pro install how-to.

Remember too.... the engine's water pump (where the impeller is located) is NOT the raw water pump. Two different pumps. The raw water pump is electric & probably very close to the intake grate. When we talk about installing the Heatercraft Y adapter for heat at idle, that pump is what I'm referring to. If it's a concern, you could easily hook your garden hose adapter before it so it had water when running on the driveway too.

Edited May 14, 2009 by Bill_AirJunky

[Sunsetter95]

Yea, this won't work on my DD. The larg hose goes right from the pickup to the pump.

A large and very stiff hose Really it is! What???

[martinarcher]

Yea, this won't work on my DD. The larg hose goes right from the pickup to the pump.

A large and very stiff hose Really it is! What???

I hear ya, my hose is really stiff too! Mine is exactly like your pic. It is really thick walled hard to work with stuff..

[Sunsetter95]

Yea, this won't work on my DD. The larg hose goes right from the pickup to the pump.

A large and very stiff hose Really it is! What???

I hear ya, my hose is really stiff too! Mine is exactly like your pic. It is really thick walled hard to work with stuff..

Don't tell anybody, but I bought it at a MC dealer. The Bu dealer was out. I saw some at Ace also. I wanted to check the numbers but I never did. It is that thich stiff stuff too.

[martinarcher]

Your secret is safe. I never thought of the hardware store for that tubing. That could come in handy.