vita1j1min
New member
My dad has a 3.5 HP Mercury 2012 outboard motor. We took it to opening weekend on the Mississippi River, in an area that was pretty weedy and mucky. We could only run it for about 3 minutes at a time all the way in the water, and then the water would stop coming out of the coolant system hose, due to the water intake ports near the prop getting clogged. The prop would constantly get tied up in weeds too. I understand that a solution would be to get a motor designed for shallow, weedy water, but that is not an option right now. We would raise the prop high so that it would be sitting towards the surface, and rooster-tailing the water, which worked OK, but our speed was severely limited. Does anyone have any ideas on options for a cover, or guard for these intake port holes...any ideas on a solution to help alleviate the clogging issues? Thanks!
