Hot to the touch/tell tale water-is it my thermostat?

[Beagleman]

Good day guys, I just received a 30 hp Mariner, 2 cylinder one carb, serial number 30 ML 689 L 331200 that was submerged 5 years ago, and yesterday I got it running.

Now, when the motor ran (actually it raced) the water coming out of the tell tale hole was hot (atfirst cold), the thermostat/exaust/close to spark plug holes were hot to the touch after 30 seconds of running. So, I shut it off. When trying to take a look at the stat, I twisted off (quite freely actually) one out of the 3 thermostat bolts. When running I noticed the area around the thermostat getting wet (maybe it was splashing water from the tub I was running it in?).

My questions are;
-Could I have opened the seal somewhat when the bolt sheard?
-Does it sound like the thermostat is bad? If so, should I still try and take off the cover to clean up the area/test thermostat?
-What should I do next?

Upfront thanks for any help.

Robby

 

[Texasmark]

I just answered this. How many times are you going to post the same question?

If you want the question back at the top, write your question and if you want to move it back to the top type anything in the reply box and submit. Usually the word BUMP is used.

 

[Beagleman]

Hey mark, how do I remove the lower cowling?

RObby