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advice on BF225 weak pee stream at idle speeds and high temp alarm

S

southafricanamerican

New member
I am now to this site, but have been reading a lot about this issue and have formulated a plan of attack to fix the issue based on what I have read, but would like some advice on the plan o see if I have the right idea.

First the issue- I have taken the boat out a few times the last couple of weeks after buying it from an older gentleman close by who had the boat maintained by the local dealer/marina. He did all required maintenance and provided paperwork from dealer in support of this. After water testing, speaking to the dealer I decided to buy our first boat. Fresh water boat, dry docked its entire life.

Since then have taken the boat out 3 times and have run into the following issue- trip 1) at idle speeds or anything under 1200 rpm either lunching, docking or cruising wake zones the motor has little to no water coming out of the pee hole, when this happens I get the high temp- constant beep alarm, motor the shuts down. I can restart and go, once over 1200 rpm I get a pee stream, although weak, no alarm. I am able to run the boat for a couple hours with reasonable pee steam entire time, but not what I expected. Get home decide to flush the motor using the fush port and see what happens. Water pours out everywhere except pee hole. I pull off the cowling and find a couple dirt dobber nests I had not seen when I water tested. Clean those out, use a piper cleaner on pee hole and water comes out. Flush another 10 minutes.

Trip 2, starts of great, no issues idling, decent pee (not great). Fun day on the lake, no alarms. Get back to dock, no pee, high temp alarm motor shuts down. Takes all my patience to get the boat loaded onto the trailer. Get home, start flush from the flush port, again no pee stream. I inspect pee hol andit look really tight, so I get a small drill bit an twist it a couple times(by hand) to bore open the hole a bit t provide more flow. This works, get decent stream, but not great. Inspect filter plates and find them clean but installed on wrong sides. Remove continue flush. Install filter plates (correctly).

Trip 3: same as trip 2, except pee stream started better an was very good at high speeds.

Conclusion- I have a block somewhere and possibly a issue with the impeller

Plan: 1) replace impeller (I will probably do whole water pump while im at it). 2) Check t-stats an reverse flush. I will install new ones t be sure. 3) replace water line to the pee hole and check pee he nipple on engine block.

Is there anything else you would recommend I do or try in addition to what i have outlined above? Thank you in advance for your advice
 
I agree with your plan. Your impeller might be worn, which makes sense with increasing RPM's to properly cool the unit. My buddy has eTec's and has to keep his idle above 1500-1700 or else they will overhead.

Same as you, I would replace water impeller/pump. Remove T'stats and flush engine while the lower unit is off. I take a rag and plug the water riser tube and fill the block the pull rag to flush out (kind of build pressure). Visually inspect water passages. Check T'stats in hot water and ensure opening. If they are working properly either keep as spares or install new ones. Clean out the pee-stream tube while you are it.

I believe the pee stream tube connects to a safety relief valve and you can only clean out so far. Trying to find the drawing but not having luck.

Chawk should come a long shorlty...
 
S.A.A. IF your going to replace water pump,order entire kit new housing etc,Be sure to use a sealing compound on housing and plate. Engine can be run with lower unit removed,just connect garden hose with male fitting removed,5/8-3/4 hose will work,stats installed, and flush her out. Telltale "pee hole" can be cleaned out with a piece of weedwacker trim line
 
Welcome to the Forum. There are a lot of helpful folks that monitor this forum and provide solid advice.

What year model is your 225? Please share the engine serial number.

Your plan sounds appropriate. On the 225 the pee stream at idle is not that great, but water coming out should be just warm, not hot. Over 1500 RPM it should be really peeing at a very high rate if the water pump is in good shape. I agree that you should replace the entire water pump this first time around. After that, in fresh water, you likely only need to change the impeller the next several times unless the water is highly silted.

When you remove the old water pump, inspect the impeller closely for broken off fins or missing chunks. If any, they are likely stuck somewhere in the cooling passages.

Test the t-stats in hot water on the stove. They should start to open at around 140 F and be completely open at 160 F. Completely open = 3 mm.

Over time, the nipple that the pee line hooks on to does tend to get restricted, so do ream it out with a drill bit or ice pick.

As Everglades recommended, try flushing the engine with lower unit removed and t-stats out. If you can pump in a solution of vinegar or CLR and let it sit for a couple of hours, that may help clear mineral build ups.

As for the relief valves - there is one on each side of the engine over the water jacket. On the right side, it's where the pee tube connects. I've never heard of these getting clogged in fresh water, but it's certainly possible. Three bolts hold down the covers - two are 6 X 32, one is 6 X 22. If you remove those, you should use new O rings (2 for each cover) and gaskets when re-installing. The relief valve itself is a simple spring and plunger set-up. They can be cleaned and re-installed. See parts 40,7,8,10, 12, 9,11, 15 at ...

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Outboard Engine/2006/BF225A6 XA/MOUNT CASE/parts.html

For anyone reading this who has the Helm Shop Manual, see page 8-4.
 
Morning gents, I appreciate all your feedback. I decided to drop the lower unit and inspect everything before I ordered the parts in case there was more than I suspected. I noticed 3 things right off the bat. 1) the filter plates were installed on the wrong side of the lower unit, not too much of a big deal, but... 2 the gasket from the water pump surrounding the drive was almost completely shredded 3) the gasket from the pump to the water pipe was completely missing. I believe just the 2 missing gaskets alone would severely affect the water pressure created by the pump and therefore the ability to pump the water to the correct parts, plus the gasket around the water pipe would let at least 50% of the water be pumped outside the pipe itself. Not sure who replaced the impeller before but...

Having noticed his, I did order the entire pump and also a couple extra gaskets as spares. I will do the install tomorrow, while im at it I will flush with the lower unit off and test the t-stats, but im planning on putting new ones in anyway, but will then have a set of spares. I am replacing the pee ole with a new one and also replacing the water pipe leading to it from the block. I will thoroughly can the l ones and keep as back up.

When you say sealin compound do you mean marine grease or is here something else I should use?

I will report back over the weekend after I have been out for several hours. Hopefully this solves the alarm and pressure issues.
 
Thanks for your advice gents. All parts arrived today for the impeller and pee hole replacement, so I did the replacements and I also went ahead and replaced the tstats and all o rings while I was at it. After doing the flushes and putting everything back together, I Ran the engine on muffs for a couple minutes to see if there was any difference and wow. She was pissing like a race horse in idle. I will put in a few hours tomorrow so that will be the real test, but what I saw today has me cautiously optimistic.
 
Forgot to mention, I think the main issue I had was whoever did the last impeller managed to leave the gasket between the water pump and water line off. In pretty sure the lack of pressure this created was my problem. Something I would have never known about had I not done this work myself with the info found on this forum. Saved me $$ at the shop and helped me learn more about my motor. Thanks again
 
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