putting boat in these waters? harmful?

boatman37

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May 14, 2015
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i am thinking of putting my boat in tomorrow and finally tying it up to our dock for the season. not looking to cruise around yet until the river clears up. i stopped by the dock today and talked to a guy there that said he won't even start his boat in these waters so not to suck dirty water into his engine. is this a concern? i would be dropping in about a mile up river from the dock. its a smaller river that is all no wake area. our marina is right at the end where it dumps into the ohio river. so i'm not too concerned with debris as it is all no-wake through there but will the dirty water hurt the engine?
 

MTboatguy

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I have been in back water sloughs, brackish water, just about any kind of mud you can think of, and never had any problems, I do have to change water pumps every once in a while, but in many of the places I have lived, If I would have waited for the water to clear up, I would have never went boating!
 

boatman37

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thanks. that was my thoughts. with this rain it might not clear up till november...lol. i just had the outdrive gone through with bellows, impeller, bearing, etc. i will be tying to the dock and just hanging at the marina on nice days till the water clears up. i'm a rookie so no hurry to go out with all this debris floating around. BTW-its a 5.7 merc I/O alpha1 gen1 open system if any of that matters
 

Ned L

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Sep 17, 2008
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Short answer,... No it won't hurt.
I suppose if the water were miserably silty it ..may... Cause a bit of extra wear on the water pump impeller after a good long while, but that's probably stretching things.
 

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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I would go for it, but also make sure you keep the pickup sections on the engine clean at all times...
 

smokeonthewater

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Muddy water is no concern at all BUT debri in the ohio river IS.

You could easily destroy a prop or strip the hub even at idle speed and then be dead in the water... A good anchor system and a reliable way to call for help are MUST have items.
 

GA_Boater

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I wouldn't worry like your slip neighbor. The water is stained with sediment, it isn't mud. Debris like logs and lumber, with the occasional Buick floating downstream are you biggest concerns. Go boating this week end. If you want to and can, flush at the end of the day or weekend. It sounds like you may have the loneliest 4th of July on the water ever. Heaven. :D
 

Bonus Check

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Apr 19, 2015
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All water has sediment in it unless you heavily filter it for consumption. Debris is more of a concern than dirty looking water. Get on the water and enjoy it but always be on the lookout for floating debris. Flush the engine as often as you can to wash the sediments out of the engine. Even at the slip you could slip on the muffs if you have a fresh water supply to flush it whil still in the river. This would prevent to some degree, the caking of sediment inside the cooling system.
 

boatman37

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thanks guys. the boat is in and at the marina. all went well. we brought the trailer back home and will be heading back to the boat soon. not sure if we will go out on the river or not but at least hang out at the dock and chat with our new neighbors and maybe learn more about our boat. its a 1986 Sea Ray Sundancer 250. quite a bit to learn here.
 

boatman37

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also, cruising through the no wake zone i noticed the temp at 220. bumped the throttle up to 1200 rpm and it dropped to 150*. i guess whatever rpm i was at earlier was too low? the impeller was just replaced. hope i didn't damage it? even at 1200 rpm there was no wake
 

Bondo

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Apr 17, 2002
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70,468
the impeller was just replaced.

Ayuh,...... At 220?,... There's a Problem,.....

Either the impeller replacement went badly, or something else, but ya gotta diagnose, 'n fix it,.....

Not something to put off til fall,...

Come on down to the Merc I/O forum, start a thread, 'n We'll talk 'bout what needs doin',...
 
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