No water blues

LAndrus · Aug 6, 2013

Once again I must bow to the wisdom of the forum.

1986 Force 50 HP

Had a broken water tube, replaced.
Replaced the entire water pump with a brand new one, housing, impeller, the whole works.

Motor isn't pumping water into the motor.
Checked everything before coming online here.
Pulled the pump, made sure the stainless washer(?) was on correctly. found out it only goes on one way. Ensured the impeller was engaged with the drive shaft.
I'm thinking it may be water tube alignment, but this last time, I did my best to make sure the tube was in line with the pump before bolting it down tight.

Still no water coming from the exhaust or my tell tale.

Could the water tube be jumping out of alignment at the last second? Not a lot of room to work in there.

wickware · Aug 6, 2013

Re: No water blues

What is your source of water for your testing (muffs, deep barrel, Lake Etc)? Deep in a barrel seems to emulate the lake the best.

LAndrus · Aug 6, 2013

Re: No water blues

I use a 33 gal barrel...muffs don't work on my year Force

wickware · Aug 6, 2013

Re: No water blues

The 33 should work for you now if it worked before. I use a 55 gal and 2?higher stored on jack stand I did not get my instant water until I moved down. If you can get deeper, get as deep as you can.

On my 1970 35hp Chrysler, I feel I can verify tube?s alignment from the two pics attached (at the L/U joint closing and from the bottom of the L/U).

Good Luck!

LAndrus · Aug 7, 2013

Re: No water blues

update to keep the thread alive in the hopes that someone will have an answer for me.
Wickware, thanks for your responses. I tried to look up my exhaust port as in your picture, but my tube must be slightly higher up inside the motor leg because I couldn't quite see the bottom of the tube.

Took the water pump apart again. made sure that the housing was flat by sanding down the bottom surface, did the same for the stainless washer. Applied a thin coat of RTV along all sealing surfaces and reinstalled the pump. I then placed it in a tub of water and spun the driveshaft until water appeared in the pump outlet. Apparently the new pump does what it should. Reinstalled the LU and did my best to make sure the water inlet tube was seated in the pump.

Fired it up.....NO WATER.....I'm at a loss. I've done everything I can think about to solve this problem with absolutely no success. Add that to the fact that when I place the thing in gear, the throttle isn't going back far enough for the unit to fully shift into neutral. All but ready to drop it off the nearest cliff.

wickware · Aug 7, 2013

Re: No water blues

If you are near a ramp where you can back the motor in deeper (w/o unloading), Try It! I feel there is some water pressure from volume in this equation.

LAndrus · Aug 7, 2013

Re: No water blues

I did jack up the front end driving the LU deeper into the bucket. I'll drain the barrel and place it on some 2x4s to see if that will help.
the barrel I'm using has worked in the past. I also put it in gear and hand turned the motor just to ensure that everything was in place. Prop turned so I'm thinking that the impeller is also spinning since it drew water when I spun it by hand.

ferdly1 · Aug 7, 2013

Re: No water blues

I believe there is a key between impeller and shaft make sure its there. You could also take garden hose to the water tube and see if water comes out the telltale. Hope that helps.

LAndrus · Aug 8, 2013

Re: No water blues

backflushed the entire system. Water shoots out the exhaust and the tell tale when I put the hose to the water tube. I'm assuming that the tube is firmly connected to the motor since I get water with a hose. And since I got water to flow when I turned the pump by hand I'm sure the impeller is being spun.

DAN M VAGOS · Aug 8, 2013

Re: No water blues

I have a 89 force 50 and my water tube came out with the pump so I know its junk and the end is stuck in the head but I sliped a pice of rubber over the tube and siliconed it in place and now it pumps water not a lot but from what I see the force engines don't pump a lot of water. So if your tube is stilll in the head then its aligned right. And as for the muffs your right my motor wont spit with the muffs on it needs to be in water. Did you check your thermo ?

LAndrus · Aug 8, 2013

Re: No water blues

actually pulled the thermostat to see if that was the issue.....that isn't the problem......I'm really at a loss. Today I filled my bucket and had the water level half way up the motor leg....a good 6-7 inches above the cavitation plate...figured that much water should fill the pump...but no.

On a positive note...got the shift and throttle linkages working correctly. Now if I could only resolve the cooling issue

ferdly1 · Aug 8, 2013

Re: No water blues

I see you did the hose test. Not being there, that would tell me everything is good from hose up. That would also indicate no water to pump. Something slipping -perhaps impeller. see if impeller turns on shaft without the shaft moving. something could be leaking or sucking air. Make sure seals and gaskets are good. Or something is stopped up. I went to motor engines .com and did a parts breakdown of your engine. It seems there is a water inlet screen inside foot. part number 44. If that is stopped up no water in. Here in florida dirt dobbers get into the strangest places. Once again without being there . Hope this helps.

LAndrus · Aug 9, 2013

Re: No water blues

hmmmm, I've never seen that screen.....perhaps my foot is an older model....I have an inlet screen just behind the prop, which appears to be clean....the screen leads to a tube which goes up inside the foot directly to the water pump....I've tried spraying water through the screen into the tube...it appears to be clean....."appears" to be clean but the screw holding the screen in place is corroded into place and I can't remove the screen. I guess I could grind it off and just drill and retap it to remove the screen so I can tell for sure if the water tube is clear.

Oh and then yesterday it blew out the top motor gasket.....now I have to remove the entire powerhead...again

procraftguy · Aug 12, 2013

Re: No water blues

My 50 did that then i pulled thermo started it in high idle and water spit 3 feet slow it down just a mist all is new also been like that all summer

SCARPS · Aug 16, 2013

Re: No water blues

Hello all - I am new to boating and this forum. I am reading LAndrus's thread with interest. I also have a 1988 50 hp force. We haven't been out on the water yet for the first time and I am nervous about the water pump function also. When I connect the muffs it pretty much only spits or sprays out the back. Is this normal for a Force motor? Do I need to start doing the same things LAndrus is doing?

SCARPS

NYBo · Aug 16, 2013

Re: No water blues

Welcome to iboats!:welcome:

Force outboards of this vintage don't have traditional tell-tales with a steady stream of water. It is normal for water to kind of sputter out of the exhaust snout and the two exhaust relief holes up near the powerhead.

That being said, if you don't know if the impeller has been replaced in the past couple of years, you should change it.

SCARPS · Aug 16, 2013

Re: No water blues

Thanks NYBo

LAndrus · Aug 18, 2013

Re: No water blues

Also, the older Force motors should be immersed in a deep tank of water. Muffs really don't work so well with them.

SCARPS · Aug 18, 2013

Re: No water blues

Thanks

No water blues

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