1978 Evinrude 35hp Intermittent water from tell tale

ScottDC989

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Picked up an Evinrude 35hp at a yard sale last weekend for 20$ Mice at some wiring and it needed a new power pack. Not too big of a deal. Pulled the lower unit while waiting for the pack to arrive, Water pump looks good, no tears, no missing pieces, nice and soft. No gouges in the impeller housing. Part came in, go to fire it up, and there appeared to be exhaust coming out of the tell tale hole. Got on here, read about some other instances of this, figured it was either a head gasket or the exhaust gaskets. Ordered those plus a t-stat, t-stat washer seal, t-stat water jacket housing cover thing gasket. new plugs. Still not peeing like it should. Still steamy. compression is 124 on top and 125 psi on the bottom. Ive blown air through everywhere i cn think of while it was apart. No deposits anywhere. tell tale hose is new and clear of junk. Its been on the back of my boat in a big rubber maid garbage can, so just to see if opening it up would clear some junk out we took it out to a lake. Still the same, Does seem to come back of i shut it down and restart. which would lead me to believe it was just a chunk of something getting stuck, then falling away once water pressure is gone. But maybe you guys have some other ideas? ser # 35853R remote steer long shaft. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
 

Bosunsmate

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Does it happen when using muffs?
Sometimes worn seals between waterpump and powerhead can allow exhaust gas to escape through problems in the cooling system when there is back pressure on exhaust outlets
Id drop the LU, hook a hose up to the water intake pipe and run the hose on moderate pressure. Start the engine and see if the same occurs, that can help narrow it down to waterpump or in engine.
 

ScottDC989

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The muffs I have don't fit well, that's why I was using the can. I'll go out tomorrow and buy new muffs. That makes sense though. Exhaust pressure getting in through the rubber ends on the copper pipe or something. Thanks for the advice bosunsmate. I'll post results tomorrow.
 

oldboat1

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Is the operating temp OK? Heavy water spray coming out of the port on the leg?
 

ScottDC989

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The operating temp stays about 150ish while the water is flowing. As it slows down a little it gets in the low 170's. Not sure if I'm measuring it right. But I just use a digital meat thermometer and touch areas around the head and exhaust side areas. The water out of the leg is also a bit intermittent. Gets better with higher rpm of course. But pretty much follows the same problem as the tell tale.

Dropped the l/u last night. Adapted the copper pipe to fit on the garden hose. Going to eat some breakfast and then go give that a try
 

ScottDC989

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Runs great on the hose hooked up to the copper tube. Temp holds around 135-140. No hiccups in the water at all. Nice flow out of tell tale. Nice spit coming out of the two holes in the back with exhaust.

The water pump that is in it looks to be new. Could someone installing the impeller wrong make it pump not so great? I know you have to have the fins bent in the correct way when you install it.
 

ScottDC989

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Oh and forgot what could be a good piece of info. With the l/u on, it would sometimes blow little air bubbles. I always thought it was exhaust getting trapped under the cav plate or somewhere.
 

ScottDC989

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Ordered a new water pump kit just to eliminate the pump as a possibility. Hopefully it does the trick. Trying to have it ready for next weekend.
 

Bosunsmate

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Fin direction doent matter, just lube them up with a bit of dishwashing liquid and turn the flywheel slowly clockwise after install, that will put them in right direction.
Thats good hose thing worked. In my experience if its something major such as a crack in exhaust manifold or crack in cylinder jacket then the hose thing will still show a problem.
It doesnt however eliminate the possibiity of a worn seal from water tube inlet to powerhead.
check state of water tube too, look for any signs of cracks while you have the lu off
 

ScottDC989

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The upper seal on the water tube seemed to fit nice and tight. But it doesn't look like it would be fun to replace. The water tube checks out good. I went over it with a scotch brite pad. No pitting or cracks. That was my fear, that there was a crack somewhere. At first glance the motor looks like it's been overheated because the paint is gone. But it's only gone where the mouse nest was on top. So I suspect that the mouse urine must have ate the paint off. It was quite stinky in there. Took many vinegar washes and baking soda to get rid of the smell.
 

oldboat1

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ScottDC989

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Do I have to pull the powerhead to change that upper water tube seal? Any tricks? I kinda just want to replace it now.
 

ScottDC989

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Is it the same grommet as the bottom of the tube where it seals into the water pump housing? I'm having a heck of a time finding it in a parts diagram. Doesn't show how the upper part of the tube comes into the powerhead.
 

ScottDC989

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Looks like one part of it is obsolete. And one part isn't. 114 and 115 on the exhaust housing list. The grommet is 302497. 114 isn't listed. Other sites read NLA
 

ScottDC989

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Not sure if this is normal. But when I put the garden hose on the copper water tube, water comes out of the tell tale, and also comes out a little bit from the area where the copper tube fits into the powerhead. Does t look like it's leaking from the actual tube or grommet. But that's what got me wanting to replace the grommet.
 

oldboat1

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Trick with flushing with a hose is not to overpressure (may have no issue at the powerhead fitting).
 

ScottDC989

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Thought it might just be the extra pressure venting off. The exhaust on ebay looks as if it may have a pee hole right next to where the water inlet is, but i cant see it on mine.
 
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