Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

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vparker2424

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Apr 1, 2010
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I had my boat in for the first time this Spring today. I bought it this past winter. There is no water coming out of the "pee hole", after talking to the boats previous owner he claims that it has never "peed" since he bought it new in 2000. I hooked it up to water muffs and there is water coming out through the propeller area when the boat is running and the previous owner claims that's how it's supposed to be. I find that hard to believe. Any ideas? Is this correct? This is my first outboard so I have no clue.
 

ChrisfromVT

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Pee hole's there for 1 reason.....to pee. I'd pull LU and inspect impellar for wear or possibly non-existence.
What;s the serial #?
 

Mercury60

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Pee hole discharge? Sure you don't want to see a doctor? Sorry...I had to. :cool:

I've dealt with and am dealing with this right now. Chances are your impeller is toast or there is an obstruction somewhere. Having a water pressure and temp gauge will help tell you exactly whats going on.

Also, if you can do it.... put the motor in clean trash barrel instead of the muffs. You will then be able to simulate real world conditions and water pressures.
 

vparker2424

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

It's a 2000 Merc 60hp 2-stroke. From pretty much everything I've read, this is not normal. The weird part is the guy I bought it from claims it has never "peed" he may just be mistaken, or lying, but I believe him.


And you don't have to see a doctor til it burns right?......
 

narvlebenoit

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Nov 22, 2009
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

As Chirs says i would drop L.U. and check the impeller it should pee the only motor I seen that dont pee is those little air cool ones.
 

Mercury60

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

The weird part is the guy I bought it from claims it has never "peed" he may just be mistaken, or lying, but I believe him.

Well the only function of the pee hole, otherwise known as a "tell-tale" or "tattle-tale" stream, is to give you an indication of water flow. Thats its only purpose. Your engine could be flowing water just fine and be operating perfectly and just have a clogged telltale. Or it could be much worse.

Its good maintenence to change the impeller every year anyways if you boat alot or have never changed it...so it is probably worth it to do so. You'll be able to get a better feel for the condition of your cooling system. At the same time you should take the tubes that come from your engine and lead to the telltale off and clean them out.

It should be pissing....thats its job. If no water comes out, thats an alarm to tell you to stop running the engine and figure out whats wrong. In the event an impeller burns up...you could cook the engine real quick.
 

ChrisfromVT

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Chances are this guy is lying to you. My bet would be that the impellar burned up fairly recently. The motor wouldn;t last long at all with no cooling capabilities (ie;toasted impellar). A motor with no impellar could burn up in just seconds at WOT.
Let's keep fingers crossed that all you're dealing with is a clogged discharge hose. If you don;t find any sign of cloggage, check the compression (also with fingers crossed) and pray that the needle points anywhere from the low 100's to about 150'ish with little variation between cylinders.
If compression is good, pull the LU and get that water pump serviced. As previously mentioned, it's good to replace the impellar and inspect all the LU seals prior to running the motor again.
By all means, DON'T run the motor until you get this figured out.
good luck!
 

orangeboat

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Mar 31, 2010
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

I just replaced my impeller last night. After I got everything back together and fired it up there was water coming out of the exhaust but not out of the tell tale. Once I pulled it back off I realized I had not got the water tube lined up right and it was not in the port to send water through the block. Once I got it lined up right it worked great. My point is it sounds like the pump may be working if there is water flowing, it just isn't flowing where it is supposed to.
 

rosser1

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

A man will lie to you to make a buck$$ But an outboard not peeing will not lie.. That is not normal for the heck of it drop lower unit and see for your self. more than likely your propeller is toast and its cheaper and easier to replace propeller than an a outboard.
 

craigman

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jun 14, 2009
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Just a thought,
i had my water pump replaced and it wouldn't pee. Took it back to the guy and turned out their was an obstruction. It was a little piece from the broken water pump impeller. Just a quick blow with the air compressor and it came right out. Pumps like a charm now!

Good luck!
Craig
 

Marty Niner

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Aug 6, 2009
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

I have noticed that Mercs "pee" alot less than say Johnsons or Evinrudes (better bladder control I guess :) ), but if there is water coming out of the prop hub (exhaust) would it not mean that water is flowing throught the block? My Merc barely pees when it is idling on the muffs too, but water does come out of the prob hub....??
 

rsimmons42

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 25, 2008
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Do as the guys have mentioned before and check for obstruction in the pee-hole. Also when you have had the engine running, how hot is it getting. All of my engines get warm but you can leave your hand on them, and all of my Mercs. pee. and so should yours.

Do not run the boat for more than a couple of minutes without seeing the peehole.

Your pump may be working correctly, but we need to see it coming out of the pee hole to know that it is pumping and that it is geting enough pressure.

Goodluck
 

Marty Niner

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Aug 6, 2009
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

...what if you have very poor water pressure, like where I live, I need a pressure washer to wash my car, water just kinda dribbles out of the hose... how much do you need to safely run an outboard on the muffs...?
 

Mercury60

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Apr 1, 2010
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

I hate the muffs. I much prefer using a big clean trash barrel. If in doubt just find a trash barrel big enough for your motor to fit in and fill it up. This gives you a much more realistic environment for your engine to run it. Just don't put it in gear.
 

Surfer Dave

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

here is what I have done with all my merc engines, I take the "pee" fitting off the crowling and drill the hole out enough so the hose that went to the "pee" fitting sticks out of the crowling, since I've been doing this I've never had anything clog up the small "pee" fitting. I also install a water pressure gauge so I know that water is going thru the engine.
 

Marty Niner

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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

where do you tie in the water pressure gauge? Is it a panel mounted gauge? Sounds like a good idea anyway.
 

Paradise David

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Apr 4, 2010
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

I had the same trouble. I just purchase the exact same Merc. Before purchasing, the seller took me for a ride so I know it right correctly. Installed it on the boat, put muff on and started it up, run, worked and pee'ed like it should.
Put it in the water next day, had a good time. Got it home, put the muffs on to wash it out and no pee!.
I came across this post and read though it.
I removed the pee hose completely and I could see crap all built up at the end.
Clean the inside all up. I took the advise Surfer Dave and drilled out bottom of the cowling and put the hose through it. I also put a zip tie on the end of the hose to keep it from moving back into the cowling, and zip tied it down inside the cowling. This idea worked out great and it pisses hard now!.. Thanks for the idea Surfer Dave and to all the other here in this post. It worked out for me.
 

BullyARed

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Jun 3, 2010
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Now we can call Surfer Dave a marine outboard urologist.
 

projecthog

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Apr 20, 2008
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Re: Mercury Outboard no pee hole discharge

Not sure, but I believe the "pee" hole discharge system, was partially meant to allow the water to fill an area which the impeller system wasn't reaching, or water to be routed to an area where there could be a natural "airlock".

The tapped hole on the cooling jacket is usually in a spot that seems to be in a most remote place or in a place that looks like it could be an airlock area.

This is just my thinking, because it makes sense to relieve any areas that may have caused hot spots in the past, rather then to redesign the same block.
Who needs an extra flow indicator (pee hole) if you can tell tat the circulation is ok by checking the exhaust flow? well, those who had a problem with airlocks.

As for the problem you describe of not seeing it work, (which you have fixed at this point,) I would start with the simplest remedy first, and that would be the cleaning of the hose and fittings from the water jacket to the last place where the water should come out.

If your exhaust produces water, your impeller is producing water flow, but how much is anyones guess.
I have no idea how much pressure the impeller system should produce, but can imagine that it should be at least a few pounds to allow flow though the system.

Hope that gives a bit of peace, take care,
John.
 
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