outboardnoob
Recruit
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Hello all, first time poster, thanks in advance for any help. I've checked out the engine faq and done a couple forum searches but did not really find any information regarding my possible problem. Please feel free to direct me to anything as I wont be surprised if I overlooked a post. I'm not familiar with all of the technical vocabulary so I'm sorry in advanced.
As the title says, I have a 1978 70873 Evinrude 70hp outboard engine that I've own for ~2 years. I do not know much on its maintenance history so I'm starting to try and become more knowledgable on required upkeep. I recently started it via water muffs for the first time this year and am concerned that I may have a cooling issue (I have no idea if the engine overheating warning horn is operational). I believe I have what is known as a tell tale on the motor. It is a small tube that is connected to the engine block, and with the motor running it ejects a small stream of water.
With the water muffs connected, I started the engine fine but did not notice water streaming out from my tell tale, I heard a strange gurgling noise in the hose. I ran the engine for about 30 seconds before shutting down. After several several short periods of runtime and shutdowns I noticed that the tell tale was finally streaming warm water at a consistent state. I don't remember a time when the tell tale never streamed water so this is what sparked my worrying. I assume that if my tell tale is streaming water then that means that the water pump is working correctly and supply cooling water to the motor?
Along with this, while the motor is running at idle/low RPMs, the water discharge vents discharge little to no water. Is this normal? After seeing this and doing researh I've read that this appears to be normal, as these vents do not open until the motor temperature reaches a certain point to where the thermostat will open the discharge valve, and this will typically occur only at high RPMs. Am I correct?
With the engine running, all of the small holes on the sides and back of the lower unit seem to be discharging water as I remember from past seasons with one exception. Above the water discharge vents on both sides of the motor there are two cover plates that are bolted on. Underneath these cover plates seem to be some type of rubber seal. I am unsure what these cover plates and seals are for. If you look at the following link http://www.boats.net/parts/search/B...978/EXHAUST HOUSING - 20'' TRANSOM/parts.html the cover plates I am refering too are listed as #10 on the diagram. With the motor running I have observed a small amount of water leaking out from beneath these cover plates and do not know if this is normal or not.
With the engine running and the motor cover off, the engine block does heat up, but not to the point where I feel like my finger is burning off. I have not ran the motor for long durations yet due to being afraid of causing internal damage. I have access to a I/R Temperature Gun, does anyone know the temperature range this motor safely operates at? I'm thinking that if I know the temperature range I can use the temp gun to hopefully provide a quick check to see if the cooling system is operating correctly without doing more indepth diagnosis.
Sorry for the wall of text but with my limited knowledge I am unsure of how to describe my issues (if I even have any) without explaining in detail. Any help with my questions or just affirming that my logic is sound would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
As the title says, I have a 1978 70873 Evinrude 70hp outboard engine that I've own for ~2 years. I do not know much on its maintenance history so I'm starting to try and become more knowledgable on required upkeep. I recently started it via water muffs for the first time this year and am concerned that I may have a cooling issue (I have no idea if the engine overheating warning horn is operational). I believe I have what is known as a tell tale on the motor. It is a small tube that is connected to the engine block, and with the motor running it ejects a small stream of water.
With the water muffs connected, I started the engine fine but did not notice water streaming out from my tell tale, I heard a strange gurgling noise in the hose. I ran the engine for about 30 seconds before shutting down. After several several short periods of runtime and shutdowns I noticed that the tell tale was finally streaming warm water at a consistent state. I don't remember a time when the tell tale never streamed water so this is what sparked my worrying. I assume that if my tell tale is streaming water then that means that the water pump is working correctly and supply cooling water to the motor?
Along with this, while the motor is running at idle/low RPMs, the water discharge vents discharge little to no water. Is this normal? After seeing this and doing researh I've read that this appears to be normal, as these vents do not open until the motor temperature reaches a certain point to where the thermostat will open the discharge valve, and this will typically occur only at high RPMs. Am I correct?
With the engine running, all of the small holes on the sides and back of the lower unit seem to be discharging water as I remember from past seasons with one exception. Above the water discharge vents on both sides of the motor there are two cover plates that are bolted on. Underneath these cover plates seem to be some type of rubber seal. I am unsure what these cover plates and seals are for. If you look at the following link http://www.boats.net/parts/search/B...978/EXHAUST HOUSING - 20'' TRANSOM/parts.html the cover plates I am refering too are listed as #10 on the diagram. With the motor running I have observed a small amount of water leaking out from beneath these cover plates and do not know if this is normal or not.
With the engine running and the motor cover off, the engine block does heat up, but not to the point where I feel like my finger is burning off. I have not ran the motor for long durations yet due to being afraid of causing internal damage. I have access to a I/R Temperature Gun, does anyone know the temperature range this motor safely operates at? I'm thinking that if I know the temperature range I can use the temp gun to hopefully provide a quick check to see if the cooling system is operating correctly without doing more indepth diagnosis.
Sorry for the wall of text but with my limited knowledge I am unsure of how to describe my issues (if I even have any) without explaining in detail. Any help with my questions or just affirming that my logic is sound would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
