1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

[hawk232]

First off let me say that I am posting this in the merc section since i figure the motor was built by merc, so i assume this to be a better fit than the "force/chrysler" section. if i am wrong, please feel free to move it!

I have a buddy with a 99 force 50. He was fishing this weekend and got into some shallow water and the motor stopped peeing. He cleaned the grates to the best of his ability, still no dice.

Fast forward to today. We pull the lower unit, because I assume something is clogging the water pump or something. Water pump had some debris but not much at all. Impeller was still very flexible and in good shape.

At this point we move up to the hoses on the motor. I pulled the hose off the tell tale and couldnt blow in or suck out, seemed clogged. At this point i took the hose and back flushed it through that hose. afterwards we could blow in and suck air out. hooked it up to the hose and still no water out of the tell tale. any other ideas?

also, while the lu was off we hooked up the muffs and flushed it all out to make sure nothing was clogged...

 

[79Merc80]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

Just because Mercury built it, doesn't make it a Mercury. It is still a Force and nothing is going to change that, so it does belong in the Force/Chrysler forum


******MODS, please put this in the correct area*******

 

[Happy Camper IV]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

There is crud in there somewhere. Pull the hose off and check the tell tale again. More crap could have found it's way right back in there. If it's clear, pull the fitting out of the water jacket casting on the other end of the hose. This will leave you a bigger hole to pass the crud out of. I think they are threaded in there, should screw right out if I remember correctly. Have a look in there with a flashlight, if there is junk in there, pick it out with a dental pick or something. Clamp on the muffs and start it up to see if water comes shooting out of there. If not, try rigging up a fitting/adapter/duct tape/garden hose rig to shoot water into this hole in the casting to attempt to dislodge the crud. Start it and try again. If that doesn't work, you are going to have to start dis-assembling things. Hope this helps,
Good luck,
Scotty

 

[hawk232]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

the only thing that you mention that we didnt already try was rigging something up to backflow directly into the engine. we did unscrew the fitting and didnt see anything obvious blocking it...

i suppose we will try backflushing it some more and see if somehow we can get it out.

what needs to be disassembled to get further in, if back flushing doesnt work?

 

[Happy Camper IV]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

Not sure, I have not had one that I couldn't clear up with these tricks. Maybe someone else will know.
Sorry

 

[hawk232]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

Scotty,

No need to be sorry!! I am merely preparing myself for the worst case scenario! Hopefully some more backflushing will clear it out!

I just dont understand how something can get through the grills but still be enough to clog it!! Guess its just one of those things...

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

There is a tube that goes from the leg up into the engine. If not careful it can be reassembled improperly when the leg is installed back onto the motor and leek. It may also be damaged. Is there water spitting out the exhaust or is the engine over heat alarm going off.

 

[hawk232]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

i did not notice water spitting out of the exhaust, but i wasnt looking for it either. The alarm deffinatly did not go off, but we didnt run it very long, so I wouldnt have expected it to.

Are you talking about the ~3" rubber hose that links the water pump and the main hard tube running up the leg? I am pretty comfortable that it was installed correctly, but it is easy enough to pull it off and check again.

for what its worth, there is a rubber plug on the back of the leg right where the lower unit meets, where the nut holding the lower unit can be seen, if the plug is removed. we left this off to crank it after pulling the lu back on, i noticed a pretty significant stream of water shooting out of this hole when water was turned on. Should that be occuring?

 

[roscoe]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

Remove the thermostat and use a garden hose to backflush into the motor.

 

[hawk232]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

good advice! i assume that the thermostat is on the head like on a v6 merc? if not, where is it??


thanks!

 

[emoney]

Re: 1999 force (merc) 50, no water out the tell tale

On the 80s model 50hp the thermostat is mounted right above the
top cylinder. Should be three screws holding it in (assuming it's a
similar setup)