Being a Boy Scout or a Pointless addition

Hypothetical Question Thanks for Reading Hi Everyone, I'm a Newbie here lurking long time here and elsewhere not new to Boats but new to my particular Engines and Configuartion I have twin 496 mags in an 11M Chris craft My initial searches were for competent raw water flushing system and monitoring cooling I'm trying to get my head around it all and can find little information or logical approaches so Flushing the Raw seems a choice of muffs or some sort of system embedded in the raw water circuit I'm struggling to understand why there is no standard fitment from new It appears the gain from failures due to poor flushing meets the criteria of the money chain for Mercruiser So Im interested in backing up my cooling and using this point to flush as well so hypothetically if my leg impellers fail in my configuration I will get no raw water as my raw pick ups are through my legs If i were to install a raw water pick up in my hull and my leg impellers failed would the salt water pickup suffice or would if I continued Running damage my legs Does the raw water cool anything in the leg or is it passed direct to the raw system inboard thanking you in advance Davo

Piecing together what your configuration is, assuming its factory standard production, you can't have the issue you perceive.

Adding some punctuation can only help to clarify your thoughts.

Flushing isn't mandatory behavior. If you feel like you need to flush the cooling system after every run, then plumb in a sweet water (garden hose) fitting in the intake hose and run fresh thru the engines. It is arguable whether this does anything to prolong the life of a set of exhausts.
The alternative is installing thru-hull pickup, strainers, seawater pumps that are engine driven, and block off the water supply coming from the drives.
The bottom line is that everything is fine just as it is. Plan on replacing the impellers in the drives every year or so and the manifolds every 5 years or so. Price of doing business.

Go to your local Merc deal and Drop the $$$ for the OEM flush Kits if you feel you need them. They are idiot proof.

If you poke holes in the bottom of the boat to supply water to the engines, you need to plug the water hose from the drive and cut the hose outside the boat in the bell on the transom assembly or you will over heat the drives.


Jump off your box, Mercruiser does not have a "Money Chain" they need to feed.....