[napicker]

I recently bought a 1987 Boat with a Mercury 150 outboard. The boat runs great on the water no troubles. I have had it out over a dozen times. However the tell tale has never worked. I haven't noticed any problems but I am not sure if this is supposed to be working for engine cooling. I just checked the tubing and there was a small rubber peice that I removed.Can someone let me know if this should be fixed before taking on the water again. Thanks.

[fishingdan]

These 150s had a poor design for the tell-tale port. No real stream of water will come out of the tell-tale until the t-stats are wide open. If you boat in colder water, I have noticed that this may infrequently happen. If it does, it is only for a short period of time.

Do you have an engine temp gauge? You need one for these engines.

[Silvertip]

Push a piece of string trimmer line into the line to make sure its not clogged with debris or sand.

[drewmitch44]

silver does that work? How far will it push in? Will it go all the way through the cooling passages? Just curious.

[fishingdan]

If you want to make sure the tell-tale line is clear, it is easy to open the engine cowling and run air or water through from the thermostat exits (top of the head with hose connected to it). While you are there, check your thermostats.

I did the same thing you are doing. At one time, I removed the t-stats just to prove that the tell-tale was clear. It pumped a strong steady stream at idle when that occurs (as it should). Don't operate the boat on the water without t-stats