Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

[Aaron]

Hello board,<br />I am looking at a BassCat boat with a 150 merc XR6 outboard (1992). We fired up the engine with the garden hose hooked up and we noticed that the pee hole was not constantly pissing water. It was barley trickeling.<br /><br />Anyway, I told the boat owner about this and he said that he thinks that we did not let the engine warm up. He said there is a thermastat that opens to release the water once the motor warms up. <br /><br />I have been told conflicting stories about that. Some say that it should always pee out water and some have told me that it will take a while before it will come out. We had the motor running for only 5 minutes.<br /><br />Let me know what you think. I have no experience with outboards.<br /><br />Thanks again, great board.

 

[DJ]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Aaron,<br /><br />I'm no Merc. expert, but my opinion is that the flow should be relatively consistant and stronger. Two things could be causing low flow.<br /><br />1. Weak impeller (water pump).<br /><br />2. Clogged tube or orifice in the tell tale circuit.<br /><br />If you buy the boat, it's cheap insurance to have the water pump changed.

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Thanks Djohn19.<br /><br />Do you know if the motor needs to heat up before it will start to flow?<br /><br />Thanks again.

 

[DJ]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

In my OPINION-no. It's been along time since I owned a Merc. All the other brands I've owned had a consistant flow, even when cold.

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

OK, thanks for the help.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Aaron, I've owned several Merc's and on the older engine (a 73 Merc 500) and the tell-tale flowed water all the time. Now I own a 1999 model and it does just what you are describing. I posted the question to this board and was told there was a thermostat that had to open before good water flow would be observed. Even after that it still worried me so I traced the hose from the tell-tale<br />to the block and removed the cover it was attached to and under it was a thermostat. I remover the thermostat just to test and it pee'd like a young champion!!!! I put the thermostat back and quit worrying about it. Just my experience.

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Thanks Henry,<br /><br />What is the "tell tale"? I made sure there was no blockage in the hole, the boat has been sitting for over 2 years.

 

[bp21]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

I've owned a couple mercs in my day and it's been my experience that it took several seconds for the water to come flyin' out of the pee hole...never heard of a water pump that took a few minutes to release a water flow. I believe I would have the impeller replaced should you decide to purchase the boat.

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

According to the seller (a friend at work) he replaced the impeller two years ago and only has about 10 hours on the new impeller. The motor itself only has 98 hours. The only thing that could have affected it is that it was sitting for over two years. Could that cause wear to the impeller.<br /><br />Thanks everyone for the info. This is a great board. Can't wait to get on the water and go after those bass.<br /><br />Aaron

 

[jegervais]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

As a certified Mercury Technician, I can confirm E.F. Henry's comments. There is indeed a thermostat which needs to open before water flows out the tell-tale (pee-hole). Once it begins flowing it will be quite hot, as the t-stat opens @ 143 degrees (approx.). Be sure to take a test-drive before laying down any hard-earned ca$h, as an on the water ride will usually bring uot ANY running problems.<br /><br />Regarding the impeller, I would replace it as insurance against future failure. <br /><br />-John

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Thank you John from IL. I'll do that.

 

[skier]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

John from Illinois:<br /><br />I have a 1979 Merc 140. What is the optimal RPM's at WOT?<br /><br />Craig

 

[MURX]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

I have a 1992 Mercury 175 with 51 hours... I too was a little concerned about this had the impeller replaced... merc dealer said it was fine and already had been done, thats ok though you can't put a price on peace of mind... while he was in there I told him to replace the propshaft seals and pressure test the lower.... the stream is still sorta week compared to my 90hp merc and my 100 2+2 merc I notice when I have it in the drink it's a little stronger........ can't agree more with the advice to do a test ride.... they can sound fine on the trailer and not have enough umph to plain.. on a side note don't have it serviced by an independant deal with mercury dealers, unless of course you like having things done twice and having to go to a mercury dealer to have the independants work re-done JMHO

 

[RJS]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Same concern initially. Just bought a brand new Mercury EFI 200 HP. It seems like it has stage fright when initially started in comparison to my old Yamaha, which pissed on call. Once the Merc warmed up, it pissed like a race horse.

 

[Aaron]

Re: Outboard Pee Hole - Please Help

Thank you all for the advise. It helped a lot.