Has anyone changed this while in the water?

[SeaEsta-12]

I have a VP 5.7L GXi and currently its in the water. this engine has the flush water kit for a hose hook up in the engine compartment.
I noticed that the 2' hose which is connected to the T fitting of the inline hose has a small burn mark from being too close to the manifold, so I purchased a new hose to replace it. My questions is this: Can I just remove that hose from the T fitting, and install the new one? Or will water start rushing in as soon as I take the hose off?
Thanks in advance!

 

[alldodge]

If the Tee comes off, your going to sink. Only do it on the hard

The hose should not be burned because the manifold is water cooled. So if its actually burned, then there has been other issues

 

[dypcdiver]

How low in the water does your boat sit? You might be able to remove the inlet hose at the transom shield if it is above the waterline, thus breaking the syphon action. As it might be just at the waterline you might want to get a bung ready, cork or rubber might just work stuffed up into the elbow. Your choice.

 

[Lou C]

That's risky but if I had to do it, here's a thought. If you have a good set of water muffs that fit really tightly on the drive, put your water muffs with a hose connected on the outdrive, and make sure that hose is up out of the water above the water line secured up on the stern of the boat. Cap off the hose just to be on the safe side. This will keep most of the water from pushing into the raw water intake hose. However, if this is the hose that snakes all the way back to the P/S cooler, you are not changing it unless you take off the starboard side exhaust hoses.

 

[dypcdiver]

Thought about that too, tilt the leg up and the inlets are only a foot under water, that's only 1/2 a psi. not a lot to hold back with a bung.

 

[SeaEsta-12]

Ok, you guys all have great ideas and I may just be trying them if this next one is ridiculous. You tell me.......
What if I get a C-Clamp and clamp the rubber hose just before the T and then quickly swap out the top hose?
It shouldn't take me more than a couple min to unscrew the hose and put on the new one. right?

 

[dypcdiver]

Clamp the hose between 2 blocks of wood, go for it!!

 

[Lou C]

Clamp the hose and put the muffs on the drive with the hose capped off. Belts & suspenders, in case clamp slips, it takes longer than you thought, etc. MAKE SURE TO REMOVE MUFFS before starting engine in the water.

​BTW, on my OMC Cobra (not the same but similar) I have routinely replaced the thermostat with the boat on a mooring. What I did was take that hose that goes from the transom mount to the thermo housing on the OMC (on the Volvo it would go to the impeller housing) stick a wood plug in it and clamp it. Never had a problem doing it this way and this includes scraping the old gasket material off the intake manifold and the thermo housing which takes maybe 1/2 hr to do it right. If this hose drops below the water line and is not securely plugged water will flow in so be careful!

 

[SeaEsta-12]

Ok. So this is new.
Go outside to change the hose, and notice that it goes from the T to each side of the block. It doesn't go to the transom. So does this only flush out the block, manifold and riser?
Plus, it's on there with snap clamps and not reg hose clamps. How do you get those off?

 

[SeaEsta-12]

Just a quick update.
I ended up changing this while in the water, and had ZERO water coming in.
I think the reason being, is that this flush kit, only pushes water in from the hose near the fuel pump, and pushes it out the side exhaust.
So, if anyone else has this problem, rest assured, you can do it in the water.

 

[dypcdiver]

You have me well confused, the only thing I can think is that you have had a nutra salt system on the boat at some time, because the normal flushing connection is plumbed into the supply hose that comes from the transom to the lower connection on the raw water pump.
But if it works I'm glad you are happy.

 

[harojs]

Harbor Freight Tools has coolant hose clamps in different sizes that don't cost much and work great in tight spaces. This post prompts me to buy couple more to keep on the boat full time just for emergency.