1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

[Porto]

My 1972 Chrysler 45 hp is not cooling and is pumping very little water at idle and none at high speed. No water is visible in the clear tube at any time. The thermostat is new (old stock) so I don't think that is the problem. I took the plug out of the top of the water jacket and started it up. Alot of steam was pumping out of the hole but no water. The guy who sold me the motor told me he replaced the impeller every other season and he gave me a box of spare parts including several old impellers (and a few new) leading me to beleive he was telling the truth. Despite this, I'm thinking impeller is the next step and I'm a little nervous about pulling the lower unit but I know it must be done. I have a service manual for this motor with step by step instructions, but this manual has very little illistration to help me with this process. So, my question is, if you guys think impeller is the problem, what do I need to do this job? I have the new impeller, but what do I need as far as special tools, gaskets, lube, ect.? Also, what is anti-seize? , my manual says to apply this to driveshaft splines. Thanks guys.......

 

[scotiany]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Yes, IMHO the impeller is the problem or at least a good place to start. I got a '70 55hp so, I think the units are similar. Sounds like the LU has been off before so removing it should be easy. I didn't use any special tools either. How does the gear lube look? If it's milky, you might want to change the shifter seal, drive shaft seal and the prop shaft seal( although this would require further disassembly). On reinstallation, make sure water tube aligns into water pump outlet. You can get antisieze at NAPA or Autozone etc. I'd also get a Seloc manual for Chrysler. It has good instructions and lots of illustrations. Make a note or pic of the shift rod coupling nut threads on each end . That will give you a starting point getting fwd, rev and neutral positions again.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

The shift rod coupling nut is a wierd thing. It has reverse threads on one side and forward threads on the other side. When inserting the impeller the best way is to put the impeller on to the driveshaft (make sure impeller key is in the hole on drive shaft). Then push the water pump down onto the impeller while turning the drive shaft clock wise while looking down on it. Put a little vasoline or lower unit lube on the vanes of the impeller first. It will make the job easier and it will help lube it on the first startup.<br /><br />Also put some blocks of wood under the skeg so that you can slowly lower the unit as you unscrew the threads to the linkgage. To start with leave one bolt out of the four holding the lower unit in place with a couple of threads on the nut. This will help you so you can concentrate on loosening the shift linkage.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Thanks guys, A few more questions:<br />Can this be performed with the motor on the boat (out of the water, of course)? Also, My new impeller looks like it can only go on one way, meaning I can't put it on backwards, is this true? My motor doesn't always have nuetral without fiddling with the shifter control. When in nuetral and spinning the prop by hand, I don't hear clicking in either direction. Is this a shifterr rod adjustment or a control cable adjustment? Thanks....

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

The motor can stay on the boat to change the impeller. The impeller can only go on one way because on the bottom there is a slot for a pin called a key. This key goes into a hole drilled into the drive shaft. The 1 inch hex nut that you have to remove will be used to adjust the neutral. When you get it all put back together again you put it in neutral and adjust the adjusting nut till you can turn the prop in both directions without hearing any clicking. This nut is located behind the motor covers between the powerhead and the lower unit. There should be nuts and bolts holding these covers in. <br /><br />When I have it all assembled I like to have someone slowly move throttle to forward and neutral and reverse to verify I have the nut adjusted correctly. When you do there is a small nut that tightens against the the adjusting nut so it dont spin. Do as scotiany says and get some anti sieze compound for the splines going to the power head. I doubt you have an autozone or a NAPA where you are but this compound is essential otherwise the drive shaft can stick to the power head and you will never get it off.<br /><br />When you have the lower unit off use a flashlight and look up to where the water tube connects. There is a grommet that the tube connects to and you need to make sure you connect the tube into this grommet. On my 45 I could not get the lower unit on unless it was in the hole. Also if the lower unit will not go up the last half inch when you are trying to get it back on turn the flywheel a little clockwise so the splines on the driveshaft and the splines on the powerhead line up. (DISCONNECT SPARK PLUG WIRES AS A SAFETY PRECAUTION)<br /><br />There are a lot of instructions here but it is a pretty straight forward task. If you have any problems just post them<br /><br />Good Luck

 

[scotiany]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

One other thing, after you're done, DO NOT run motor out of water. You'll ruin your new impeller in 5 seconds. I use a garbage can under the engine filled with water and a garden hose to replenish it. Just keep level at or above the water intake. That way you can run it all day. Just don't put it in gear. And also put some vasoline on the inside surface of the water pump housing before you put the impeller in. I'm sure there's a NAPA in Auburn, Ithaca, Seneca Falls etc. Last thing, don't worry too much about not seeing a lot of water coming out at cruise speed. Most of the water and exhaust are exiting via the motor leg under water. You should have a small amount out the peehole though but not like it is at idle.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

I changed the impeller (thanks guys) and I still have the same problem. A little water sputters out at idle and thats it. I noticed the "tail pipe", where the water comes out, leaks some water and the gasket seems to be missing in places. Could this be related to my problem? The old impeller was all intact but the rubber was seperating from the hard plastic center, it did need to be changed anyway. Also, the motor doesn't run with the power a 45 hp should so I took a look at the plugs. The top plug looked fine but the bottom plug was very wet, I couldn't tell if it was wet from gas or water . I also noticed when I docked the boat and cut the motor there was alot of unburned fuel coming out of the underwater exhaust and rising to the surface in the form of little white balls. I didn't have a chance to check for spark on the bottom cylinder but I will. What do you guys think? Are these problems related? Blown head gasket? Worse? Thanks......

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

The gas coming from the exhaust ports is normal. I would test for spark first. Then try reversing the plugs. Put the clean one in the dirty cylinder and the dirty one in the clean cylinder. See if the dirty one gets clean. If you can test compression you may want to do that first. My 45 hardly puts any water out and I have had the middle of my impeller separate like yours. Basically the center just spins on the driveshaft and the fins dont move. When you overheated you may have blown a head gasket.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Thanks euro, I will run some diagnostics tomorrow. I never overheated the motor but the guy who owned it before me may have. I didn't run it long enough, I only goosed it for a second. The rest of the time I was just above idle speed.<br /><br />Oh, we do have a Napa and Auto Zone, ect. around here. CNY isn't that far removed from normal society.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Sorry about that I had you confused with another Iboater in England. Good luck on the diagnostics

 

[scotiany]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Porto, it sounds like you may have a clogged puddle valve screen. The same thing happened to me many moons ago. The lower plug would foul out constantly. It would run on one cylinder and sometimes the lower would cut in but not always. Drove me nuts(still am). Do a search here at iboats for it. I've posted lots on it. Did you run a wire or coathangar up the water tube to check for obstructions. Also take off the screen or grate behind the prop and check up there . That's the water intake. BTW, the first water my brand new boat saw was Owasco Lake in April '70.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

I didn't run anything up the tube but I did blow air in it and it seemed clear. I took the screen off the water intake, that was also clear. If I did blow a head gasket or if I have a clogged puddle valve screen, would this be related to the water pump problem? I'm starting to wonder how much time, money and effort I should put into this motor. I just ordered the seloc manual (off this site), I hope that will help me.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Compression was 125 on each cylinder. Yes, both plugs are sparking great. Now what?

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Edited by eurolarva. I removed pics to reduce bandwidth

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

I'm not sure what the plugs are, I will make sure they are the right ones tomorrow. The guy who sold me the motor told me he just changed them so I assumed they were fine. Thanks for the pics of the puddle valve. I can't tell where it is located on the block, can you help me with that.<br /><br />P.S. you guys have been great for helping me like this. I probably would have scrapped this motor by now (and I've only had it for a couple weeks) if not for this site.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Porto. I am not sure where the puddle valve is myself. Email me if you have not figured it out. I have a document that Scotiany sent me and it looks like crap when I post it on the site I post photos. It might help explain where this puddle valve is. <br />ralgoetz@comcast.net

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Thanks euro, I found the puddle valve but didn't get a chance to disassemble it yet. I'm assuming these problems (the poor running and not cooling) aren't related, so let me ask you this: Could my pump be insatalled 180 degrees backwards? Or does it only install in one direction? Thanks......

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

By pump I assume you mean the water pump. It can be installed backwards but I dont think it would fit very well and I doubt you could get the water tube to line up with the grommet in the powerhead. The part on the water pump where the water tube connects should be on the opposite side of the shift linkage on the lower unit. If the water tube is next to the shift linkage it is backwards. Also the stainless steel plate that the impeller sits on needs to be installed correctly. My manual calls for a gasket that goes between the lower unit and the stainless steel plate but neither of my lower units have one and I have never had a problem with this. I usually use a little permatex 2 under the stainless steel plate however I dont think you even need this.<br /><br />Is the impeller you installed a 6 blade or a 12 blade one? I have been using the 12 blade one which I believe is recommended for the 45s now.

 

[Porto]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Gotcha, your right, it can't be installed backwards (without doing it on purpose). The impeller was a 6 blade one. All the impellers the previous owner had used were 6 blade. I'm going to pull the lower unit again tomorrow and try flushing some water through the tubes, ect to see what I can find.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: 1972 Chrysler 45 hp not cooling.

Make sure the key is in the drive shaft for the impeller. I forgot to put that in once. Also if the impeller has a brass type hex nut in the middle and rubber around it make sure the rubber has not separated from the brass. I have had this happen. The brass fitting spins on the drive shaft and the impeller fins do not move,