My first outboard; how much flow from pee hole?

[badllama]

This is my first outboard. It's a 1974 Merc 500. When I first brought it home and fired it up there was no water coming out the pee hole (garden hose and muffs used to supply water).

I dropped the lower and inspected the impeller. Sure enough the impeller vanes were fragged. Just finished reassembling with a new impeller (and fresh oil in the lower). Fired it up and I get water out the pee hole, but not what I'd say is alot. At idle it just kinda dribbles. At mid-throttle it's a constant steady stream but not really shooting out with any pressure. At WOT it flows only slightly stronger than mid-throttle. Back to idle and again, just a dribble from the hole.

Is this what I should expect, or is this pointing to another problem elsewhere in the system?

 

[huntin dawg]

Re: My first outboard; how much flow from pee hole?

Check the cylinder cover gasket and any other water line connections under the cowl. It may be leaking under the cowl.

I am rehabing a 1973 Merc 75. My impeller was totally shot. After replacing it I found water leaking out around the spark plugs and also from the elbow on the side cover.

HD

 

[Sean-Nos]

Re: My first outboard; how much flow from pee hole?

Sometimes when the impeller breaks up bits can block the pee hole I use a bit of steel wire in a drill to clean it out and then force water down the pee hole with a syringe.Saying that the water flow on my old 50hp merc is not very strong but works fine,Just keep running your hand under it and as long as its not to hot just lukewarm you should be fine.

 

[badllama]

Re: My first outboard; how much flow from pee hole?

Is the pee hole the only place where pumped water exits the system? Or is the pee hole a "monitor" of sorts and the remainder of the water flows out somewhere else?

 

[izoomie]

Re: My first outboard; how much flow from pee hole?

I hope you're not using WOT with a garden hose for water supply. That won't cut it!

 

[badllama]

Updated info on Merc 500 water circulation plus WOT...

Updated info on Merc 500 water circulation plus WOT...

izoomie: Yes, I revved to WOT for about half a second to see if the water flow from the pee hole increased much. Definitely not running at WOT for any period of time.

I removed the brass drain plug from the cylinder head/cover and checked water flow. Getting a goodly amount of water there so I'd say the pump is probably circulating fine.

Before I removed the drain plug I noticed a couple small drops of water collected under the number 3 cylinder spark plug. I'm guessing this indicates a head gasket problem? Or is there a water jacket problem in the head? After studying an exploded diagram of the head assembly I couldn't tell if the head has a water jacket or circulation veins or what.

After idling and stopping/starting engine a few times over about 30 minutes the amount of water collected there didn't seem to increase greatly, but it's definitely weeping from around there somewhere.

What's your wisdom gents?