water p.s.i. guage not working???

[claytonhaske]

Hello, I have a 1989 bass tracker with a 1989 mercury 45 hp classic fifty 4 cyl. It has a water p.s.I. guage on the console that's not working??? It is hooked up to a nipple, where the spark plugs go. any reason its not working? And what does the guage do? And what should it read??? I am a novice to outboards, but hope to learn all I can about mine. Thanks for the help, clayton

 

[Chris1956]

Re: water p.s.i. guage not working???

The gauge is supposed to read the pressure of the water cooling the motor. Gauges corrode and don't work, so you might give it some air pressure and see if it works. I would think the water pressur on that motor would be real low, say 3-5PSI at idle, maybe 10PSI at cruise, at most. if the gauge scale is 60PSI, you may not get a reading.