1985 3.0L overheating

[Mandjpierce]

1985 OMC 3.0L Sterndrive 302FTHRCOM I was cruising along last week, maintaing 180* Temps.....i noticed it quickly rose to max indicated without any other symptoms.....i shut her down and got a tow in.....i have since replaced the outdrive water pump....i referenced the forums for troubleshooting and cannot figure out what is wrong....water will flow freely from the trunions through the transom and throughout the system if i stick a hose in directly at the trunion joint......if i put muffs on,,,,,i can get water to flow out the trunions ( obviously with the caps removed) however even with muffs and hose on full, i cant get a drop to make it up through the transom to thenthermostat.......engine running or not....same results in a body of water....not a drop of water making it up through the transom......today i took the water pump back out and inspected everything,,,,,cant see where i did anything wrong....any suggestions on what to check would be greatly appreciated....thanks...Jason

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard.

The Stringer Sterndrive is a little goofy in that it doesn't do well pushing water up from the impeller. The drive is really supposed to be submerged in order to move water right. When you've got the hose hooked to the trunion joint, does it hold temp properly? If so, I'd give it a water test at the lake and see if it holds.

 

[Mandjpierce]

Thank You!......and yes...with hose hooked up to trunion it holds temp.I put it in the river yesterday and it doesn't push a drop through the transom....I replaced all the rubber hoses in the boat, removed and cleaned the elbow...etc....just cant get the water to go up to my shiny new cooling equipment. is there anything I could have done wrong installing the new impeller? is it possible that there is a block in the system before the impeller? the teeth on all the drive gears looked in good shape.

 

[Mandjpierce]

Some photos for reference

 

[southkogs]

Is the little half-moon "key" in that impeller? (for a simple solution)

 

[Mandjpierce]

The round piece that goes inbetween the impeller and the shaft is installed.....if you are talking about the little thing that rocks back and is seated in the shaft itself....no....that was not present when I removed the impeller.......is it that critical? what function does it serve?

 

[southkogs]

The key I'm talking about is the one I circled in this breakout:

 

[Mandjpierce]

Ok....Yuppers....that is the piece that was missing....I found it in the grass after much looking! Took the impeller back out this morning.....the water pump kit came with two little o rings that were not originaly on the water pump I took out....I have no idea where these go.....I have attached pictures of everything......Please advise if I have things in the right order......mainly the two o rings....thanks!

 

[southkogs]

I don't remember getting those O rings with mine, but it's been a little bit since I've had it open. Someone else may have to chime in on those. Where ya' put 'em may be fine, but they may not be critical either.

 

[vinnie1234]

I am sure one of the O-rings goes between the water pump drive shaft and the lower gearcase. There is a recess inside the female end of the water pump drive shaft. Pretty sure it is the thinner of the two shown in your picture. Not sure about the other one......

 

[Mandjpierce]

Ok...Thank You......I found a youtube video on installing a kit on the omc but they did not use those o rings? couple other questions.....seloc manual says to install the impeller by spinning it clockwise....youtube video shows it going counter clockwise...which one is correct..? Also, when i relized i needed to pull the housing for the waterpump to properly install it....when i did that,,,i relized the housing that the water pump housing slides into is cracked......i assume that is causing a lot of the problem.....how do i remove the gears from that housing? and put them back in the new one? i removed the large nut on the top of it but it seems like it is pretty set on staying in there,

 

[southkogs]

Turn the impeller clockwise on the shaft until it seats in place.

I've not cracked open an upper gear case, so I'm not going to be a lot of help there. You may want to go to a factory manual vs. Seloc for that sort of project.

 

[Mandjpierce]

Roger that....I just ordered the new housings ...$$$.ouch :/ ......Thank you for all your help and quick replies.....

 

[southkogs]

No sweat. Owning a Stringer is sort of like being part of a support group.

 

[vinnie1234]

That gearcase is not easy to take apart/rebuild. If you are not experienced, then you certainly made the right decision in buying a new one. What will you be doing with the scrap case?

 

[vinnie1234]

More to the point, if you are in Canada and want to sell it for a decent price I may be interested.

 

[Mandjpierce]

Hey, I appreciate the offer.....however I just ordered the new gear housing case and new seals/lock nut......taking it apart was a PITA....probably would have been easy with an arbor press and plate puller....I looked em up at the plate puller is $100....too rich for my blood...... I used a 1/2" socket extension and a sledge hammer did the trick.....when the new housing and parts come in I am going to take them to a local shop to have the housing put back together with more....shall we say..delicacy! I found the new gear housing on ebay....used...for 35$...not a bad way to go.