Driveway testing session before water

Ok, working on a new to me boat, Wellcraft 210 with 5.7 Merc, 260, Alpha 1. Put the muffs on, ran the motor for 15-20 min on the hose, checking for impellor flow. Good water coming from the ports at the gimble mount area. Good oil pressure, temp. hovering at 200-210, rpm from idle to 3500. Motor sounds good, no oil smoke. Now Im thinking too much, is the pressure from the house hose providing the flow, or am I seeing the impellor pumping. How about the high temp on the gauge? Dont want to hit the water and find out no impellor flow. Should I put the drive into a barrel of water and let it draw its own water without the hose pressure to test the impellor?
Also, going into reverse, slight chatter/ticking, then bumping the idle a little it falls into gear, maybe a cable adjustment? It is a 1988 boat, but in real nice condition. Just dont want to be looking like a stooge being stranded on the lake....
Comments from the gallery please....

Re: Driveway testing session before water

I am assuming that the engine is raw water cooled: your temps are too high, you should be running from about 145 to 175 F. First thing to check is the water pump impeller.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

The temp is much too high; check the impeller. Your lower shift cable may be out of adjustment or may have to be replaced. Get a manual for your engine and your drive so you can check and replace as needed. They are available as free downloads on a few sites. Hy

Re: Driveway testing session before water

If you don't know when the impeller was last replaced, just replace it.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

If you don't know when the impeller was last replaced, just replace it.

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yep. especially if yer impeller is in the drive (not belt driven sea water pump) a good impeller is most important to keeping your engine cool. so far. i've been replacing mine yearly.

your temp is way to high. especially for running on muffs.

is the pressure from the house hose providing the flow

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perhaps some. but when ya turn on the water, you'll note that the water comes squishing out from around the muffs. when ya start it. the water won't come squishing out the muffs. it'll be sucked up by the impeller and sent off to cool your engine.

granted, mine is a mc-1. but yours should be similar. this is what i think proper water flow should look like when on the muffs. note, water coming out prop hub, idle relief ports + the pee hole in ft. of the bullet. note, lack of flow coming out the edges of the muffs.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

mohead1 said:

Good water coming from the ports at the gimble mount area. Good oil pressure, temp. hovering at 200-210, rpm from idle to 3500.

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Isn't this too high of an rpm to be running on muffs?

Re: Driveway testing session before water

Thanks for all the answers, not sure about the rpm limit, didnt stay there long, just increased slowly to make sure no miss, then backed right off to idle. I thought the temp was too high, dammit! I didnt have much coming out of the prop hub, so I suspected that the impellor wasnt driving the water through.....well, I wanna put some synthetic lube in it anyway, so I will drain, change the impellor, and get er done......thanks to good info on here, the cable adjustment isnt a big deal. Anyone recommend a good synthetic lower unit lube? I was gonna look at Amsoil since I use it in just about everything else.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

dont forget the o-ring (quad-ring) that seals the oil passage from lower to upper gearcase. I use Amsoil in all my stuff as well- in fact the Amsoil Synthetic Marine lube is a bargain compared to almost all other drive lubes.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

Thanks for the pic Ziggy, I only had water at the idle ports, very little out of the hub, and none that I remember from the pee holes.....I even increased the water pressure from the hose until it was gushing out of the sides of the muffs......
I never had a chance to test the boat in the water, I had a local boat mechanic look at it and do a compression test and check for water flow which he said was flowing good.....live and learn....otherwise the motor is good, no oil leaks, all the aux. systems work fine, just the dang friggin impellor apparently.....I love turning wrenchs so as soon as I get the parts we be tearing into it.....

Re: Driveway testing session before water

With the temp concern taken of, I just want to ask what position the drive was in when you put it in gear? Also since you have an Alpha 1 did you slowly just put it in gear? If you did then you will ratchet the gears all the time. Don't be afraid to put it in gear, but if you had the drive up the u-joint will not like you and shake the lower unit, well the whole boat for that matter.

Personaly I have the same set up as you, and I do not go over 1500 rpm on the muffs, my temps do not go over 140 although the starboard exhaust manifold will be warmer than the other. On the water all is good.

With the impeller, just buy the kit.......around 50 bucks in my neck of the woods. Takes less than an hour to do.

Re: Driveway testing session before water

I had the drive down in normal operation position....