Re: Mercury 50 hp cooling question
When asking questions about your engine you should indicate what year, make and model it is. There about a gazillion 50 HP Mercs. Depending on the year, there are at least two indicators for overheat conditions. 1) the tell tale stream. If the tell tale shows a good stream of water, even at idle, that indicates the water pump is working but is no gurantee that the engine is not overheating. 2) the engine typically has an overheat horn or alarm that beeps steady upon overheat. Look for a tan wire exiting the head. Disconnect that wire and ground the end of it with the key on. The alarm should sound.
Water pressure and temperature gauges are not "useless" instruments but rather very helpful tools on keeping tabs on engine health. If they give abnormally high temp or abnormally low water pressure readings, something is wrong. Without a temp gauge, periodic replacement of the thermostat, bypass valve, and water pump is the only preventive measure one can take to ensure the cooling system is relatively safe.