I have had an extremely hard time diagnosing a cooling problem over the past few weeks. Thank you to whoever (I think it was Don) that posted the cooling diagnostic manual. That has been a huge help. Here is what I know:
In an effort to isolate items, I found a large tub and lowered the out drive into it. I didn?t want pressure from the garden hose to influence performance. It isn?t quite tall enough to flood the area under the anode so I turned on the hose and put it in there to fill that with water. I removed the outflow hose of the sea water pump where it connects to the thermostat housing and back filled it with water. When I started it with this setup, I got air bubbles coming out of the sea water pump, so I definitely have an air leak somewhere, BUT WHERE?!?!?!?
My questions:
I will be forever indebted to anyone that provide any hints, guidance, advice or direction. Heck, I?d even take jokes at this point?
- I have a good impeller and brand new belt. I?m not convinced I have the belt tight enough, but I?m not sure how the engineers intended for one to tighten it. There is not a place to leverage it or a good way to grab it. It?s fairly tight, but I?d like it a little tighter. No belt squeak though.
- There is not a leak in my hose from the sea water pump back to the power steering cooler and the PS cooler is clear of debris or blockage.
- I have flushed a ton of water back down the hose that connects to the PS cooler to the lower unit. No debris, mud or anything else came out.
- I checked the lower unit clean out (next to the shift linkage) and it was clear.
- I taped the inlets on the lower unit shut and filled it with water from the hose that connects to the PS cooler. From there I get a leak in the lower unit. I get the same leak if I put muffs and the garden hose on it. It comes out from under the "anode" (I think that's what it's called, the metal piece that is designed to corrode first). I took that off to see what was underneath and water seems to fill the lower unit and come out from there. (I should have taken a picture, but didn?t think to last night? can do so tonight it someone needs further clarification.)
In an effort to isolate items, I found a large tub and lowered the out drive into it. I didn?t want pressure from the garden hose to influence performance. It isn?t quite tall enough to flood the area under the anode so I turned on the hose and put it in there to fill that with water. I removed the outflow hose of the sea water pump where it connects to the thermostat housing and back filled it with water. When I started it with this setup, I got air bubbles coming out of the sea water pump, so I definitely have an air leak somewhere, BUT WHERE?!?!?!?
My questions:
- Possibly an air leak in the sea water pump itself?
- Is there another place air could be entering the system?
- Why is there an apparent leak in the lower unit? That doesn?t seem good, but I?m a little terrified about dropping the lower unit on my own.
I will be forever indebted to anyone that provide any hints, guidance, advice or direction. Heck, I?d even take jokes at this point?