NorthernBeek
New member
I have a late 80's honda 9.9 long shaft. Freshwater use only. I've had the lower unit off, verified the pump is good, keyway is in the shaft, no obstructions. As long as the foot is adequately submerged in water, it will eventually pump water, but needs RPM's. I had the thermostat housing off at one point to verify nothing was plugged. Took forever to get water up to the engine, not just coming out of the telltale.
Is it normal for these motors to do a poor job of pumping water at idle?
I read a thread a while back of someone with a similar vintage motor on their sailboat (mine is also on a sailboat) and they struggled to get it to show at the telltale, and often appeared to lose cooling when the boat traveled in moderate waves and the foot wasn't well submerged.
Had mine out tonight, calm water, as low as it would go (and submerged below the highest cavitation plate), and it would only pee at mid-range or higher RPM. When I dropped to an idle it would appear to stop pumping. At one point while docking I had to put in neutral and bump up the rpm just to be sure it was cooling.
I do recall when I had it apart to check and recheck the waterpump (because it wouldn't pump in a barrel unless it was really deep), the water tube seemed sloppy where it entered the block. I couldn't find anything in the parts diagrams about a gasket/seal/oring up there. I also couldn't see up there and looked like the block had to come out of the frame to inspect. Whereas down at the pump end there is a seal to the water pipe. I triple checked all tubes are clear, air easily passes through, no obstructions could be found.
Anyone have any experience with this sort of issue?
Is it normal for these motors to do a poor job of pumping water at idle?
I read a thread a while back of someone with a similar vintage motor on their sailboat (mine is also on a sailboat) and they struggled to get it to show at the telltale, and often appeared to lose cooling when the boat traveled in moderate waves and the foot wasn't well submerged.
Had mine out tonight, calm water, as low as it would go (and submerged below the highest cavitation plate), and it would only pee at mid-range or higher RPM. When I dropped to an idle it would appear to stop pumping. At one point while docking I had to put in neutral and bump up the rpm just to be sure it was cooling.
I do recall when I had it apart to check and recheck the waterpump (because it wouldn't pump in a barrel unless it was really deep), the water tube seemed sloppy where it entered the block. I couldn't find anything in the parts diagrams about a gasket/seal/oring up there. I also couldn't see up there and looked like the block had to come out of the frame to inspect. Whereas down at the pump end there is a seal to the water pipe. I triple checked all tubes are clear, air easily passes through, no obstructions could be found.
Anyone have any experience with this sort of issue?
