Re: Honda water pump
No on the thermostat needing to come up to temp. It will pee regardless.
Make sure the muffs are positioned properly on the intake ports of the lower unit.
Lots of water shooting out between the muffs and casing are normal, but at times, there is not sufficient water going thru to make it pee......or it's just a weak pee stream.
Gotta get that stream going good....enough to blow dirt off your driveway where it hits.
It is amazing how quickly that pee water will get hot when the flow is not adequate.
Put your hand under the pee stream and feel how warm it is. A good strong flow should be only warm, whereas a weaker stream will be almost hot and you will see puffs of steam.
If you see puffs of steam and the pee water is hot, shut it down. Heat is the dreaded enemy.
I have a 25HP and I am sure it's the same setup as yours.
More often than not, I have to "press" the muffs against the casing to get a good seal so adequate water gets in and up to the water pump/impeller.
Sometimes it pees fine when I release the pressure and sometimes it falls off to a weak stream.
I know it's not a impeller issue because this anomoly happens on a new or used impeller.
I ended up using a muff intended for a Volvo Penta I/O, as it fits tighter and seems to get more water into the inlets, instead of on the ground.
A wild guess would be your muffs are not sealing enough under hose pressure.
