76 sea ray srv195 help

[#1colt]

im new to this site and its been most helpful thru my whole process.i bought this boat with the intentions of going completely through it.new motor ,drive and interior .my question is this last year i took it out to break it in and it would idle fine but as soon as you were under way it get hot fast i never let it overheat but it was to close for comfort.i took it to get winterized and the mechanic said it was probably plugged risers.so this spring i took the manifolds and risers off and apart(they were the only thing i reused)and had them pressure tested and they checked out good.but when i pulled the risers off the manifolds the spacers that were in there were solid.now iv read in mutiple forums that the mercruiser 888 (ford 302)wich i have uses pass thru spacers with the three slots.i just dont understand why it has solid spacers when both the manifolds and risers have the slots for pass thru. it always seemed like when youd up the rpms the water passages filled up with an exhaust bubble or something.am i correct in my thinking here.it has a rebuilt circulation pump and the lower unit is brand new.so i wouldnt think feed would be a problem i took the hose off the water pump put the lower unit in a 55 gal drum and started it the water stood at like2-3 inches at idlany help would be awesome.i just dont want to order the wrong gasket and spacers.once again great site . thanks mike

 

[Bondo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

Welcome aboard Mike,.......

You use some spaces in your sentences,+ paragraphs,.....
I Might be able to Help you......... If I could Read your posts..........

I don't know Why you have Solid Spacers,......

But you have to be able to get Rid of all the Water the Impeller is Pumping In,........

Maybe your Cooling System Isn't Factory,....... Donno.....

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I appreciate the reply. Ill make sure and clean up my post.

As far as the boat the whole thing has me frustrated. The cooling system is completely factory.It was all original when i purchased the boat.

it has the octopuss setup where water returns to the thrmostat housing before exiting the risers via a fitting in the side of the riser.And as far as i can tell thats the only water exiting the system.

My thinking is surley thats not enough water exiting the system.When i run it on muffs there was only water coming out the prop.even though theres two water exits on both sides of the housing.

 

[qaztwo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

on mine the spacers, block off plates, are there because the water does not exit through the risers but exit at the fitting on the back of the riser. On some they flow throufgh the risers.

Do you have a temp gauge? water out will only = water in.

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

yeah i have a temp gauge but it has no numbers.just green bar then red. iv tested the gauge just to be sure it wasnt goofing me.what would happen if i took the restrictor plates out .
i failed to mention that the plates do have a tiny hole.iv never dealt with this type of set up.i only have expierience with the newer center rise manifolds.

 

[qaztwo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I think all merc fresh water cooled fords have the same design would I change it no, but I don't know what would happen if you did. I believe the hole is to prevent an air lock.

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

thanks for the reply.i just checked out your pics looks like weve been thru pretty muck the same grief.

im not sure what to do at this point. i really dont want to dump the money into new manifolds and risers when i have some that have checked out. im just not so sure what else it could be.it be faster to list the things that arent new on this rig.

 

[qaztwo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I would check the engine water pump. Always been told if it gets hot at idle the its the lower unit, hot at speed the its the engine pump. Quick test of the manifolds is to place your hands on them if you can then there fine.

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

The circulation pump on thye motor is a rebuilt unit.0 hours.Its a thought id hope a 80 dollar pump isnt bad.But its always a possibility huh?

Im thinking at this point ill end up just talking it somwhere to get fixed all though i know it something little overlooked.

One last question tho. The tiny hole in the restricter plate was covered to the point where i had to dig the gunk out after i seperatted the riser and manifolds. The risers were the ones with the junk in them. im wondering if those tiny holes being that plugged up could cause me such a headache. what a easy fix thatd be sounds to good to be true is it possible tho?

as far as the manifolds last year when id start it theyd stay cool. As soon as the engine read hot they wouldnt cool down for awhile. I mean you could always touch them but they were hot but not blistering hot.The risers always stayed cool .


I AM SOOOO STUMPED

Thanks again for any help

 

[Bondo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I guess some Pictures Might Help........

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

There is definately a sparation plate as you described....
That little hole allows the riser to drain when draining the manifolds for winterization......
Assuming that the thermostat is installed/functioning correctly.....
1) the hoses are connected wrong or....
2) your risers are plugged internally & restricting water flow........
For a flow diagram you need Merc. manual # 1, page 7D-2, figure 2......
But I will try to describe the routes.....
Excluding the water inlet hose & the engine circulating pump hose, there should be six hoses....
The bottom two on the 'tree' go to the rear of the manifolds....
the top front two go to the risers....
The back two go to the front of the manifolds.....
If these are connected correctly, you should look at the risers & see if they are clogged at the water dumps......
Fred warner1 is a good source for cheap risers on ebay.......

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I appreciate all the feed back its been most helpfull. I will be replacing the risers and as qaztwo mentioned the circulation pump.He got me thinking and so i checked the flow rate and its not as good as it should be even though its a fresh rebuild.Who knows just to be safe im just going to buy a new one.

I appreciate the suggestion for the risers he is quit cheap. Everyoneelse wants close to 200 apiece.
Im going to get everything ordered and installed ill report back.
Once again i really appreciate ALL the help.This is truley a gold mine of specific info.Great site

Thanks Mike

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

So as time has passed and the temp has gotten warmer. I have purchased and replaced the above mentioned parts with the exception of the circulation pump.

I started it and everything went as planned. The gauge read at 6 oclock. Pointing straight up for atleast 20 min.It never even aproached the red even with various rpms.

I truley wont know if its all good until i load test it, but my question is allthough the temp didnt get hot the manifolds still seemed quit warm while the risers stayed unusually cool.

Im only famillar with center rise manifolds how hot is to hot for the manifolds as my other boats center rise ones stayed relativly luke warm to the touch through out.

These end rise manifolds you can touch them for about 10sec then theyr to hot to leave your hand on while the risers arent that warm is this normal?

Thanks again
Mike

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

my threshold for pain is about 140F so your probably 150 or 160 in the manifold. Still sounds like a flow problem, water spending too much time in the manifold before it lifts up and over the riser..... I dunno about a Ford, but my V6 Chev the risers never get too hot to handle until the engine is stopped. Then they start to heat up to an "uncomfortable to touch" temp once the water has quit moving through them.

 

[Don S]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

Get one of those IR Temp guns and do some actual tests with numbers. Your gauge may or sender may be bad.
Do you have an OEM manual with diagrams of your cooling system? Have you checked the raw water pump and lines TO the engine?

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

yeah im deffinatly going to invest in one of those ir temp guns. Any idea how hot they should run? I do have a manual but i never could find any cooling diagrams. The raw water pump along with the whole lower unit is brand new 0 hours. Last year i took the intake hose(to the bottom of the circulation pump)off while running and had about a 2 to 3 inch head at idle.

Any idea of a manual number i should invest in the one i have is quite old. Id imagine theres been quit a few updates. The original outdrive was a pre alpha . The new one is a what id imagine is just called an alpha 1.
The new one DOESNT have the load pin ontop of the shaft.

The motor is a rebuilt 888 mercruiser 302 its been punched 30 over not that id imagine that has much to do with the manual.

thanks
mike

 

[#1colt]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I forgot to mention that while it was running this evening the water that was coming out of the exhaust was not as warm as i thought it should be.
im begining to belive it really is something to do with circulation.

I routed the hoses as described by haut medoc. and the two that carry water to the risers(where it exits the system) were as cool as the intake hose and the other for were warm.

Thanks
Mike

 

[qaztwo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I've tried to post some scanned pics, no luck. So I added 3 on my link below under the title mercruiser flow.
Good luck

 

[qaztwo]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

I just noticed my link is gone.

http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

 

[Don S]

Re: 76 sea ray srv195 help

You need the OEM Merc manual #2. The Merc pn for the manual is 90-71707 but don't expect a lot of updates. You have a 30 year old engine, and the manuals were not "How To" manuals for DIYers anyway. They were designed for Merc Techs. But they are far better than any of the aftermarket manuals which show LESS than the oem.

Checking things like the exhaust manifolds, and the exhaust elbows, different places on the heads and the block, while following the water flow will let you see where the problem is, just by the sudden increase in temperatrue.