mattsmechaincal247
New member
Hello, I am sort of new to working on outboards but I am getting the hang of it quickly. I am working on a 2003 Mercury XR6, I have replaced the thermostats, rebuilt the poppet valve, and installed a new water pump impeller and upper housing. The motor starts, runs and smokes just as it should but at idle I get anywhere from 10 - 20 PSI of water pressure and at WOT it pegs the gauge I installed past 30 PSI. At first, I didn't know this was a problem so I ran the boat at the lake and quickly got a warning buzzer that was telling me the motor was overheating. Talking to some guys at the shop near me, they told me that I should get 3-6 PSI at idle and 10-20 at WOT, and my motor is overheating because the water pressure is too high. They also told me that it is probably due to a blockage at the base of the motor from the exhaust plate gasket. I would like to exhaust all possible options before I pull the motor and replace this gasket. Thanks for your help!