86 Mercury 50 HP cooling system problem?

[gpfishingdude]

When the motor wouldn't pee this spring I figured that it was probably the water pump impeller so I took the lower unit apart and the impeller is intact. I have run water back up the water tube and down through the weep hole but nothing came out. I took the coil pack out of my way and pulled the hose up and removed the weep end boot. I tried blowing up through the hose that goes up to the top of the motor from the weep hole. No air would go through. Is there a thermostat that is in the closed position or something? I never had any problems with water coming out the pee hole with muffs on before and all it did was to sit for the winter. Don't know what to do next?

 

[jimmbo]

There is no thermostat in these engines. Take a length of 'weed-eater' string and push it through the pee hole, it should dislodge the bug that crawled up there and diied

 

[gpfishingdude]

Thanks! I will try a longer piece of weed eater cord now that I have the end loose that comes out of the cowling and I have the necked down part off of that. I googled the problem and have a few ideas now. One is to blow compressed air back through the line. Another is that the more water that I back flow through it the better the chance that mud and sand might break loose. Knowing that there is not a thermostat in the engine gives me some confidence that it is clogged up and needs to be unclogged somehow. What ever it is it must be stuck very tight because I couldn't blow through the line by mouth and makes me think that it will have to be poked until it breaks up what ever it is.

 

[gpfishingdude]

I poked it with the weed eater cord a lot today and it opened enough that I could just barely blow through it. It is basically still blocked. I drilled a hole in a plastic pop bottle and stuck the hose into it. I was unable to force any water through the system. I am about ready to try to figure out how to take the water jacket apart to get this clog out. The motor is of no use to me as it is.

 

[racerone]

The motor will run all day long with the pee hole blocked.------Is your motor overheating , yes or no ?----Can you hold your hand on the exhaust cover when it is running ?

 

[gpfishingdude]

I didn't run it long enough to tell if it would overheat. I shut it down as soon as I saw that it wouldn't pee. From what I could tell it didn't get real hot that time. I will install the new water pump kit and put it back together and try it again. The weed whacker cord goes all the way through the pee hose and into the casting just a little before it hits something pretty solid. Thinking about taking the hose off the top end too and using something like a dental pick to see if I can get anything out first.

 

[gpfishingdude]

IT"S OPEN NOW YEAH!!! I went out this morning and pulled the hose off of the fitting at the top and ran the weed whacker cord in to see how far in it was blocked. For some reason I put the hose back on and tried to blow through it again. I was able to blow through like there never was an obstruction. I ran water through it for a while and it came out the water pipe at the bottom. All I can figure is that the water that I ran into it last night softened the obstruction and it just came out easy this morning. Thank you so much for the advice it keeps me going when I get discouraged. When I get stumped the advice you give me helps me to start thinking right again. GREAT GUYS IN MY BOOK. I'm ready to install the water pump kit and get out on the water.