1980 80 Merc wont pee. :S

[Chevyboy454]

Hey all, Usually Im pretty good at figuring stuff out on my own but this one has me scratching my head . I fix cars for a living and have very little knowledge of boat motors. Here's the story. My 85 left me and the wife stranded in the middle of the lake last Wednesday. It was a long paddle to the dock. I purchased a second hand 80 merc last year as I needed a CDI and got the whole thing for the price of a CDI. It had no foot on it, nor carbs but it was supposed to be a good runner. So as chance would happen number 2 rod let go in my 85, So I transferred the carbs CDI and all the other little goodies the 80 was missing and planted it on the back of my boat. 4 primes of the ball and she started up like a dream! Purrs real good, forward and reverse work fine. Had the muffs on just so I could run it but no water came out the pee hole . So thinking must be the water pump, I took the foot back off. I blew compressed air into the pee hole and got air out from the cooper pipe where the water pump hooks up (looking for possible critter nest or what have you) Then I blew air up the copper pipe and it came out the pee hole. So I wanted to hear this motor some more as I cant run her long with no water. I stuck the garden hose on the end of the cooper pipe and low and behold no water came out pee hole ?? It comes right back out beside the cooper pipe. I took the copper pipe off to look for a split but nothing. Looked up the lower section of the engine and I can see where it goes in and looks like there is a black rubber seal in there and it appears to be fine. Hooked it up again and still wont pee?? My question is is there a seal or something higher up on the block or possibly a crack in the block?? It runs on all 4 real good with the water on but again I cant run it for long. I'm hoping it's a seal. I haven't the first clue how to even get it apart to look at it. Any advice would be helpful. I'm kind of hoping someone else has had this issue and has a rough idea where to go next.

Sorry for the book, I like to give as much info as possible .

Cheers Rick.

 

[Chevyboy454]

Re: 1980 80 Merc wont pee. :S

I'm a little impatient and pulled the power head off the lower unit. Water goes up into the cavity and I dont see any cracks in the lower section. With the power head upside down I filled the block with water through the tele-tale water climbs up on the input side and the output side did not leak down so I suspect no cracks in block. Is there a bypass valve somewhere I don't know about. I quickly looked through the manual and didnt see anything. There were no visual spots on the gasket where it would have leaked into the shaft side. So the only thing I can think of is the water is bypassing the tele-tale and going straight into the lower dump cavity.

Any advice would be appreciated.