Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Transom Motor Flush


wakeparadise

Recommended Posts

Hi again All,

I'm wondering if someone could explain the purpose of having a transom motor flush when it's not a closed loop cooling system? What is the purpose of flushing out the cooling system? Is it for winterization purposes?


Thanks!


Ryan

Link to comment

It's basically used to be able to run your boat on a hose when it's not in the water. In some instances, people that use their boats in salt water or brackish water can flush the system after use to clean out all the salt water and leave fresh water in the cooling system. And yes it can also be used for winterization purposes. Perko makes the Flushpro kit which is what the transom hook up leads too. Just makes things a little easier than putting the plunger type on the bottom of the boat, on the pickup.

Link to comment

I would use it to flush the system after running in brackish water.

This. I run on an alkaline lake sometimes and it's awesome to pull up to the house, put the boat on the hose and not have to screw around with a fake a lake.

Link to comment

Ok so essentially it's just a port that leads into the cooling system, and If I'm imagining it right the water would then flow through the system and come out the intake?

Link to comment

It flows through all the normal water passages on the the engine when it's running. It's just simply the easiest way to run your boat on the trailer.

Great for maintenance and MUCH less hassle than a fake a lake.

Link to comment

Awesome! I can't wait to try it out! So if it comes with the transom motor flush that's all I would need then, I dont need to add anything to get the flush to work?

Link to comment

You may need to close off the raw water intake via a valve. Otherwise, I would think that feeding water into the transom will just let if flow right out the raw water intake.

Link to comment

There is a check valve in the flush system so you don't have to do anything but hook up the water and turn it on. No hassles with valves or anything else. It's made by Perko, called a flush pro, and goes inline on the raw water pick up hose. The description of being through hull it strictly an optional hose and through hull fitting that adds to the convenience of using the flush pro itself. You could drag a water hose over the side of the boat and hook it to the flush but the through hull is A LOT cleaner set up.

Link to comment

The water would come out exhaust just like normal, not the raw water intake. Your's may have a valve lever to throw, or it may have an automatic ball valve?

Verify before trying, and always watch your water temp, and look for water out the exhaust.

Steve B.

Link to comment

The Flush Pro used in conjunction with a thru-the-hull water hose fitting is a really nice setup. I currently have this on my V-Ride. Farely easy to install....I used the transom drain hole for the water hose fitting. Just remove the plug and fitting from the hole in the transom center (near bottom), bore the hole out a bit to get clearance to mate a hose onto the barbed fitting inside, cleanup, then seal the fitting with some RTV or 3M 5200 sealant. You can use screws if you want to but if you allow the sealant to cure before trying to push the hose on from the other side the screws will not be necessary. All parts are available from Discount Inboard Marine. You can also get the male and female hose fittings from any hardware or garden shop.

Link to comment

There is a check valve in the flush system so you don't have to do anything but hook up the water and turn it on. No hassles with valves or anything else. It's made by Perko, called a flush pro, and goes inline on the raw water pick up hose. The description of being through hull it strictly an optional hose and through hull fitting that adds to the convenience of using the flush pro itself. You could drag a water hose over the side of the boat and hook it to the flush but the through hull is A LOT cleaner set up.

I ride in salt water and have the perko set up, I even went as far as having a quick connect hose connection added so I back in my drive, flip up the rear seat, click the hose in, flip a ball valve and I am away....

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

Hey Guys,

Is there anyway I could have damaged the impeller of my raw water pump by running the motor flush with the ball valve for the raw water intake closed? I'm having an overheating issue that I'm trying to diagnose here... I had the engine hooked up to the motor flush today and the temperature went past 180 so I shut it down... I had the raw water intake valve closed so the water wouldn't drain out of there.. I'm a little hazy as to where the motor flush goes to exactly with respect to the raw water intake and why it'd all of a sudden be overheating.

Also, is there an easy way to tell if the thermostat is operating properly ? I assume I would just check if some lines are hot and others are cold? (meaning that it hadn't opened when it was supposed to)

Thanks

Ryan

Link to comment

Think of it like this:

1) Normal operation: The engine sucks lake water up through the bottom of the boat, it then runs through the "cooling" system and out the exhaust.

2) Using your transom fitting hooked to a hose: You feed water through your garden hose into the same hose that runs down to the raw water pick up. It then gets pulled into the normal cycle by the raw water pump. If you're feeding water into the system via a hose, you must shut off the raw water intake thru hull otherwise the hose water just runs out the bottom of the boat.

SO, you NEED to have that raw water pickup valve shut off to run your boat on a hose. If you're having an over heating issue... I'd start at the raw water intake and work my way towards the pump. Make sure all the hoses are clear and not kinked. Then I'd check the trans cooler screen. Then I'd pull the impeller.

Link to comment

Levi900R,

Nor sure of your setup, but with my transom flush when I connect the hose, the water pressure flips a valve near the fresh water intake. I do NOT need to shut off the raw water intake valve.

Edit: This was the factory installed flush kit, so nothing special added.

Edited by CedarLakeSkier
Link to comment
Think of it like this:

1) Normal operation: The engine sucks lake water up through the bottom of the boat, it then runs through the "cooling" system and out the exhaust.

2) Using your transom fitting hooked to a hose: You feed water through your garden hose into the same hose that runs down to the raw water pick up. It then gets pulled into the normal cycle by the raw water pump. If you're feeding water into the system via a hose, you must shut off the raw water intake thru hull otherwise the hose water just runs out the bottom of the boat.

SO, you NEED to have that raw water pickup valve shut off to run your boat on a hose. If you're having an over heating issue... I'd start at the raw water intake and work my way towards the pump. Make sure all the hoses are clear and not kinked. Then I'd check the trans cooler screen. Then I'd pull the impeller.

I'm having a hard time here with this boat... Here's the story:

I took it out for it's first run a few days ago and didn't know that my father had shut off the raw water intake, so naturally the boat got hot and I shut it off around 200F. I got to shore and changed the impeller. The impeller was badly damaged and most of the pieces from it were missing in action. I put the new impeller in and everything seemed to work fine the engine stabilized at 160F and I thought that was the end of it. I hooked it up at home via my perko motor flush and ran the engine at idle. The temperature got hot again and was unable to maintain at 160 (I shut it off at 190). I pulled the impeller out , it was fine , but when it was pulled some of the debris from the wrecked impeller came through and onto the floor. I thought I had solved the problem. I replaced the impeller and ran it again, and still overheating. I then took the tstat out and tested it in water in the house, operates normally. I bought a replacement anyways and it still overheats.

Now I'm at a loss... Other than checking the transmission screen which was just mentioned I don't know what else to check.. Any ideas would greatly be appreciated. How do I even check the transmission screen?

Thanks.

Ryan

Link to comment

Did you take the hose off the bottom side of the transmission cooler? As mentioned above that is where the blown up impeller parts are usually found. Look there all the way back to where the impeller is located.

Link to comment
Is the factory flush kit just a Flush Pro with the transom mounted intake?

It came with the boat new and it is transom mounted and runs into the sea water intake immediately downstream of the ball valve shutoff .

Link to comment
I'm guessing you'll find something like this in your trans cooler screen...

63c87ec1d664c16cf0b44bb1488acc37.jpg

I'll be home in ten minutes and I'm getting in there with a flashlight and checking that. Riddle me this... How do I check this "screen" on the tranny cooler? Any help would be appreciated and a complimentary pull if you're in my neck of the woods!

Link to comment

remove raw water hose from "beer can" looking thing that's between impeller and engine. Root around with fingers. Remove debris. Pat self on back. Reinstall raw water hose. done.

Link to comment

I took off the bottom side of the transmission cooler and did find a fair amount of debris from the impeller against the screen. I took off the line right to the pump and made sure there was nothing left.... The engine now still overheats, although it doesn't "shoot up" fast to overheat rather it takes it time.. it simply just doesn't stop at 160 it keeps climbing.

Now that I've cleared the debris I've noticed something different happening, on the manifold that all 6 hoses go into (where the thermostat is located) all hoses seem "cold".. is this normal? Does this indicate a thermostat malfunction of any sorts? Which lines should be "hot" if any?

I thought for SURE clearing the debris would solve the overheating problem...Is it possible the impeller debris has also gone elsewhere? Would would the next logical place to check be? It couldn't have made it past the transmission cooler "screen" and there's nothing between the screen and the pump... Now I'm leaning towards a thermostat problem perhaps; but I just installed a new thermostat tonight...

Any ideas?

Link to comment

Questions that come to mind (maybe too many):

Is it still overheating on the water, or have you only tried it on the hose?

When on the hose, do you have the hose wide open so you get lots of flow?

Is your hose a mile long with lots of kinks in it?

When you found debris in the raw water pump, did you remove all of it?

How long does it take to overheat now?

How hot is the water coming out of the exhaust flappers?

The raw water pump is capable of moving about 60 GPM when the engine is running fast, so you can see how it could starve if you have poor flow from your hose. I think that may be a contributor at this point.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...