running motor with water hose

VISH136

Cadet
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
20
Hi Guys i wanted to know how long can i run my boat motor with just the garden hose attached to the inlet on the back of the boat? Is it safe? My buddy has a system that he dissconnects the input to the thermostat and hooks up this hose system that he made up which connects to a regular hose and he says it works fine. any suggestions. Its a Jet drive is there a impeller in the jet drive housing? will that be damage if run without water too.
 

cr2k

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
3,730
Re: running motor with water hose

Depends on your drive. An Alpha or pre alpha unit or Cobra you need to run on muffs to keep water to the impeller or you will have to replace the whole pump assy in the drive just under $200 not counting labor.

A Bravo, Volve or SX you can hook a hose to the intake side of the raw water pump mounted to the engine and run.

As long as you supply water to the water pump (not the circulation pump on engine that would be called a water pump in a car) you can run for quite some time, keeping an eye on the temp gauge. However I would not leave it unsupervised.

Just so you know, an impeller is a rubber piece usually turning inside a Stainless cup. You know what happens when rubber is rubbed against metal with no lubrication (water). Things get hot and melt.
 

Camo Joe

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
103
Re: running motor with water hose

Get a barrel or trash can ........slide it up under .......fill it with water............pour in a bottle of dishwashing soap........start the engine....put it in gear........ and clean up the whole neighborhood...................
 

trucktramp

Cadet
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
24
Re: running motor with water hose

Get a barrel or trash can ........slide it up under .......fill it with water............pour in a bottle of dishwashing soap........start the engine....put it in gear........ and clean up the whole neighborhood...................

Great idea but I use laundry soap and throw in a few clothes. It works great...just can't figure out why some of the clothes get shredded:D:D
 

PiratePast40

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 21, 2009
Messages
1,734
Re: running motor with water hose

Get a barrel or trash can ........slide it up under .......fill it with water............pour in a bottle of dishwashing soap........start the engine....put it in gear........ and clean up the whole neighborhood...................

That sounds suspiciously like a variation of a Texas bubblebath except without the beans :D:D
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: running motor with water hose

Hi Guys i wanted to know how long can i run my boat motor with just the garden hose attached to the inlet on the back of the boat? Is it safe?

Yes, it's safe if done correctly. Generally, that means drive down, speed below 1500 rpm. It can run as long as you want it with water to. Either muffs or in a tub of some sort.
There are different setups for different types of engines/drives.
Knowing what you have would be helpful if you want an accurate answer.

My buddy has a system that he dissconnects the input to the thermostat and hooks up this hose system that he made up which connects to a regular hose and he says it works fine. any suggestions

Not sure that's possible on any engine without destroying the raw water pump.
 

VISH136

Cadet
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
20
Re: running motor with water hose

its a jet drive PJX no foot is there and impeller that feeds water up to the circulation pump
 

bigskiohio

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
882
Re: running motor with water hose

that is why you need to state what you are working on on your first post.
 

duke3478

Seaman
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
58
Re: running motor with water hose

Seems like it's just as easy to use a $3 pair of muffs as it would be to hook up a hose to some kind of inlet... Maybe 3-4 seconds extra to bend down and put them on.
 
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