1983 9.9 Evinrude mud/debris clogged intake, proper procedure

[Chitownvet]

Yesterday my brother and I accidentally powered through some mud and plant debris. All seemed okay, until a minute later when we revved up to get across the lake. The engine lost power, we noticed no water from the telltale and we hit stop immediately. When we made it back to the launch using the trolling motor I noticed the intake was totally clogged with debris.

Back home I cleaned the screens and hosed it down good, and I ran a piece of wire into the telltale to loosen up anything that might have been stuck there. I also ran water into the exhaust hole at the top of the exhaust housing. I then proceeded to try and start the engine. It would not start after several attempts, and this motor always starts first pull nearly every time. After going to check online for solutions, I again tried to start it for the heck of it. It did start up and ran a little rough, but then settled down and was emitting water from the telltale. I shut it down after five minutes and again tried to start it. It fired up just fine.

Now the question is should I be worried that there could still be a clog somewhere in the system? What about the thermostat, should I be worried about that? Is it hard to check inside to to see the water pump and possibly clean out the other parts of the water system?

thanks

 

[gm280]

Chitownvet, :welcome: to iboats...

Sounds like you successfully cleaned it out already. Unless you see signs of over heating or the pee tell is not peeing as before, I'd say you are okay and good to go. But that is only my uneducated guess now being there and seeing everything. If you still are concerned, you could remove the thermostat and run clear water through it with a hose and that should flush it all out. Make sure the thermostat is good before reinstalling. JMHO

 

[oldboat1]

I would pull the lower unit and do the flushing gm280 describes. Really clean out the lower unit, and push water up the water tube with the hose (maybe half pressure). Rig some kind of connection to step down the diameter to that of the tube. Good to keep the t.stat out, and work top to bottom as well. Sand will do nasty things to a water pump impeller, so may be a good time to go ahead and replace it.

 

[jakedaawg]

I would suggest pulling lower as described above. Back flush through tstat opening. Replace impeller as it most likely got hot when the intake was plugged.

 

[Chitownvet]

I did as you guys suggested. All seems well in the water flow department (thank you!), but now I have another issue related to doing the procedure that is infuriating me. I reconnected the lower unit and it ran flawlessly in every way, except for the shifting. I cannot get the linkage connected correctly for the life of me! Every time that I reconnect the unit and test it via the shift lever it is not lined up right. It cannot really get into forward and lock, but neutral on the shift lever is actually forward now, with reverse representing neutral. With the small gap that exists to tighten the screw when you are putting it together the screw is in position when the lever is in neutral. I thought that I was connecting it just as it was before, but apparently not. Is there some trick that I am unable to see or guess? I don't want to continue with trial and error with this as at some point I'll need another water pump or worse as I fumble around with this.

 

[jakedaawg]

Dont keep trying to run it without it working right or you will ruin the dog.

These can be a bit of a pain.

I put them in forward i think, and the lower in forward also, and then tighten the lottle link thingy. Someone else who actually has seen one of these old ones in the last ten years will chime in. gm280

 

[thumbnut]

I put the shift lever in fwd, pull up on the shift rod and spin prop to engage rev. This will expose the most rod to work with. Spread apart slightly the coupler, and I mean slightly. I've done mine a dozen times or so this way.

Oh, make sure the bolt passes by the groove on the shift rods. That is where it went wrong...

 

[scout-j-m]

What are the odds that the water tube grommets in the exhaust tube melted to a degree when it overheated? Just throwing it out there because even if it is pumping water good I'd try to be very aware of the block temperature for the first few trips back out. They may have constricted some.

 

[flyingscott]

I just did my 77. Make sure the lower shift rod is turned all the way tight. Then back it off just enough to have the angle line up with the upper shift rod usually about a 1/4 turn. Now put the lower unit in reverse by pulling up on the shift rod until it goes into gear. When you put it back together use the shifting lever to bring the upper shift rod as low as possible. This will give you the biggest gap to put the bolt in the coupler. If the lower unit keeps dropping into neutral during assembly you can use a screwdriver in the coupler to hold it in place. Put the screwdriver in the slot of the coupler to hold it. This will also give you enough room so you don't have to line water tube right away. Then push everything together.

 

[AlTn]

+1 with reinstalling the lower unit...once you have the upper and lower shift rods connected...lower unit in reverse, shift handle in fwd...you can use the shift handle to shift into reverse and it will bring the lower unit up to the exhaust housing in a cam like motion...have a screw ready to attach the lu and all should go smoothly...it helps if your engine is already at an angle < say the low water setting > or horizontal with something bracing the exhaust housing..a little skim of grease on the water tube and the inside diameter of the water pump grommet helps them mate as well

 

[Chitownvet]

Okay, I got it to work. Thanks to all of you guys for sharing your wisdom. It is most appreciated.