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Is My 'Tell Tale' Telling Me Something ?????

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BoatCzar

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I have a excellent condition 1977 Merc 110 (9.8 hp) outboard. Has`nt been used for a good 5 years, but always winterized, maintained and garaged. I recently tested the motor in a 50 gal barrel of water and noticed very little water from the 'tell tale'. Really just spitting. Dropped the lower end, seen the old impeller`s fins were at 90 degree angles, so I replaced it.



Tried testing again and now get a intermittent stream from the tell tale. Somewhat better stream with RPM`s, but not always. Water is pretty hot, not warm.


Is this now normal? Or should the tell tale be a consistent stream with warm (not hot) water at any RPM?

Only thing I can think of is, is it possible exhaust is getting into the water inlet? (But this would have to be normal).
 
Were any of the old impeller vanes missing? If so, they'll be hiding under the new impeller, blocking the flow.

If not, there's a rubber seal the copper water tube goes into on BOTH ends. If it is leaking, water is going the wrong place.

The Tell Tale flow should not be that hot unless you ran the motor for a long time in the barrel--that tends to warm the water up.

jeff
 
No, nothing missing from any of the vanes, just bent up real bad. I did check the two tube seals. They looked like they were doing their job, but they are nearly 40 years old. How tight should they be? (now I`m picturing /wondering?).
 
There is a plastic washer at the top of the water tube.---------------When these motors have had a severe overheat that plastic washer will melt and block waterflow.----------Powerhead must be removed to inspect.---------Factory replacement is a better material.
 
Could be--especially in a barrel. Seen that myself.

Jeff

PS: A few weeks ago I ran my triple on a test prop and it tried to overheat on me. The frothy water the test prop creates did not allow the impeller to get a good 'grip' on water coming in.
 
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Welp, .......... got the rest of the rubber sealing grommets all in on the lower end. Noticed right away they were considerably tighter. Fired it back up in the barrel and two seconds later a steady stream was pouring out now. Let idle for a few minutes constantly feeling the temp of the stream. Not scalding hot anymore, not even remotely warm. Actually cool, even cold. Gave it a bit more RPM`s and it pisses like a 20 year old bar hoping GI on leave! Surprisingly the temp stays cool after about five minutes!

I`m amazed what a difference circulated water went from about 60% flow and literally scalding hot flow, to 100% (I hope the old top end grommet is not loosing anything) flow and cool water!

Well, at least in my case, the 'Tell Tale' did tell me something. If I ever buy a new/bigger motor, I will be sure to pay attention to the cooling water while it is running new. Then I`ll know of any changes, and first suspect pressure loss.

Thanks to you long time contributors for getting me pointed in the right directions.
 
BoatCzar said:
Welp, .......... got the rest of the rubber sealing grommets all in on the lower end. Noticed right away they were considerably tighter. Fired it back up in the barrel and two seconds later a steady stream was pouring out now. Let idle for a few minutes constantly feeling the temp of the stream. Not scalding hot anymore, not even remotely warm. Actually cool, even cold. Gave it a bit more RPM`s and it pisses like a 20 year old bar hoping GI on leave! Surprisingly the temp stays cool after about five minutes!

I`m amazed what a difference circulated water went from about 60% flow and literally scalding hot flow, to 100% (I hope the old top end grommet is not loosing anything) flow and cool water!

Well, at least in my case, the 'Tell Tale' did tell me something. If I ever buy a new/bigger motor, I will be sure to pay attention to the cooling water while it is running new. Then I`ll know of any changes, and first suspect pressure loss.

Thanks to you long time contributors for getting me pointed in the right directions.
Click to expand...



Great to hear happy ending threads - with good technical details.

CMOS
 
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