isaacs
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2013
- Messages
- 153
I recently winterized my daughter's boat for her. It's a 5L V8 Mercruiser Alpha1 Gen2, 2006(?).
When I was warming the engine up with the muffs on, I noticed steam coming out of the port exhaust hole, very little water. The muffs were supplying plenty of water as it was squirting out around them. I shut the engine down and felt the risers--port side was hotter, there was no smell of anything burning so I don't think I did any damage. I have almost the exact same boat and it has always run hotter on the port side but I don't get steam. I finished up my oil change and winterizing chores and put her boat to bed for the season.
I'm thinking the first thing I should do for her in the spring is change the water pump. She bought it used a couple of years ago and it has seen very little use since she got it, don't know when the pump was last changed. I did change the circulation pump on the engine last summer--it was either leaking or making noise, don't remember which. The boat has been bottom painted and shows signs of having lived in the water; fresh water I presume but you never know. When I drained it, there was rust or debris at the drains that had to be poked at with a small screwdriver in order to get all the water out. This seems a bit odd to me because my boat is older and has never had anything clogging the drains. Maybe it was sand?
Is it possible that this is nothing more than a weak water pump? If a riser or manifold is plugged, can it be blown out or anything? How hard is it to remove them? I have visions of the bolts being rusted on and the heads breaking off!
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you people might have, Bob
When I was warming the engine up with the muffs on, I noticed steam coming out of the port exhaust hole, very little water. The muffs were supplying plenty of water as it was squirting out around them. I shut the engine down and felt the risers--port side was hotter, there was no smell of anything burning so I don't think I did any damage. I have almost the exact same boat and it has always run hotter on the port side but I don't get steam. I finished up my oil change and winterizing chores and put her boat to bed for the season.
I'm thinking the first thing I should do for her in the spring is change the water pump. She bought it used a couple of years ago and it has seen very little use since she got it, don't know when the pump was last changed. I did change the circulation pump on the engine last summer--it was either leaking or making noise, don't remember which. The boat has been bottom painted and shows signs of having lived in the water; fresh water I presume but you never know. When I drained it, there was rust or debris at the drains that had to be poked at with a small screwdriver in order to get all the water out. This seems a bit odd to me because my boat is older and has never had anything clogging the drains. Maybe it was sand?
Is it possible that this is nothing more than a weak water pump? If a riser or manifold is plugged, can it be blown out or anything? How hard is it to remove them? I have visions of the bolts being rusted on and the heads breaking off!
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you people might have, Bob
