Coach-George
New member
Hello to all. I am new to this forum, but I am not new to boating. Ive had boats (and different motors) all my life, but I am new to this little 4 Stroke Honda which is on my dad's old pontoon boat. He recently died up in Kentucky, and I brought his old boat down to Florida with me. Up until now the boat has been running perfectly.
A few month ago, I replaced the impeller (not the whole water pump) and thermostat. I mostly take the boat out by myself, and she has always ran like a sewing machine. Yesterday I had the boat out with a couple of my buddies...and all of a sudden I got an overheat alarm and red light...and the motor was trying to go into "Safe Mode' I back off the throttle, and the horn stopped sounding. I tried the throttle again, and the horn and light comes back. I dropped my buddies off at the dock and ran up the river to figure out what happened...she ran just fine.
Thinking back on it now, it seems the motor only had an issue when it was under a load...or digging into the water. It had done this before, but I had assumed I sucked some sand or seaweed into the screens or something. Now the problem has reappeared again.
I am wondering: I JUST read about the pickup screen in front of the cavitation plate. I have never heard about this before in any of my outboards. Truthfully, I did run the motor on my muffs for a long while after I changed the impeller the first time. Could I have damaged this new impeller during this process? Is there a certain temperature thermostat I should be using in Florida waters?
Sorry for the long post.
A few month ago, I replaced the impeller (not the whole water pump) and thermostat. I mostly take the boat out by myself, and she has always ran like a sewing machine. Yesterday I had the boat out with a couple of my buddies...and all of a sudden I got an overheat alarm and red light...and the motor was trying to go into "Safe Mode' I back off the throttle, and the horn stopped sounding. I tried the throttle again, and the horn and light comes back. I dropped my buddies off at the dock and ran up the river to figure out what happened...she ran just fine.
Thinking back on it now, it seems the motor only had an issue when it was under a load...or digging into the water. It had done this before, but I had assumed I sucked some sand or seaweed into the screens or something. Now the problem has reappeared again.
I am wondering: I JUST read about the pickup screen in front of the cavitation plate. I have never heard about this before in any of my outboards. Truthfully, I did run the motor on my muffs for a long while after I changed the impeller the first time. Could I have damaged this new impeller during this process? Is there a certain temperature thermostat I should be using in Florida waters?
Sorry for the long post.