sherman brown

I have to disagree with you about the thermostat opening before the water comes out of the pee hole. the motor has to reach operating temperatures of about 150 degrees before the thermostat opens and that takes much longer than it takes for water to come out of the pee hole. the pee line is there just to let you know water is being pumped. on many outboard motors, the water starts almost as soon as the motor starts up. I haven't ever tested it but I believe if the motor was cranked over for a minute or a little longer water would start coming out. why don't a lot of you guys that believe the water out the pee hole is dependent on the thermostat opening just Google the route of the pee hole on outboard motors and see what you get? the lines run against the exhaust plus I believe it even flows with the exhaust heating the water much faster than the motor heats up enough to open the thermostats. I don't want you to feel like I'm attaching you because all this is from what I've read and is totally my opinion and that's all. in your case, you are jinxed. it is very rare anything large enough to stop up the thermostats would ever get past the screen on the water pick-up or be deep enough to get in water pick-up on the lower unit. but I will never say anything can't happen. but even at idle the pump is pumping more than enough water to keep the motor cool if the impeller and upper housing are good. if it overheats even at idle something else has to be wrong. the worst I was ever fooled was after smoking my impeller I replaced it. at idle or slow speed it cooled just fine. but if I went over 3/4 throttle i could watch the heat hand rise. I took it back down and made sure a piece of the old impeller hadn't stopped up a water line I cleaned them from the back to the motor. put it back together with another new impeller, and it still overheated at higher RPM. I was asked by a friend who runs a charter and worked on boats in his spare time if I had changed the housing after telling him I smoked the old impeller while working on changing the carb from a 2-barrel to a 4-barrel with an adaptor plate and forgot to turn the water back on we started it up and revved the motor a few times before someone noticed we had no water.

we have a rusty old piece of wire reserved just for cleaning your pee hole, LOL.

I had that problem with a Mercruiser. I smoked the impeller and replaced it. at slow speed, it did great but hammer down and just watch the heat hand rise, I removed lines I removed the outdrive so I could clean the through hull line but nothing I did helped. I had a friend that chartered on Erie and was a part-time mechanic. I called him up and gave him the symptoms and the 1stthing he asked was had I changed the upper housing. I tore it back down and put the kit with the upper housing bottom wear plate and a new impeller in and took it for a test run and all was well. another thing that can cause one to overheat is something so simple as a blown head gasket.

very happy you got it all figured out. so let me rephrase this. in most cases, the motor won't overheat if the water pump is working properly. if it does you have something else wrong that's causing your problem. the 1st thing to check and replace is the poppet.

the motor stays cool once it warms the thermostat up to its operating temperature which is around 160 degrees which lets the water through and it cools the motor. and the temperature is controlled by the said thermostat. the water out of the pee hole flows through the exhaust and that's what heats it. the pee hole has one purpose and that is to show the driver that the pump is pumping water to the motor and it's just a bypass and serves only that purpose. the water flows out almost as soon as the motor starts which is way before the thermostat opens letting water through to the motor.

I'm so sorry to have to disagree with you. but the water coming out of the pee hole doesn't flow through the block and heads. its only purpose is to alert the driver if the pump isn't pumping to the motor. it starts flowing almost as soon as the motor starts and no motor even without water, doesn't warm that fast. it flows through the exhaust and that is what heats the water. it is a bypass so the driver will know that water is being pumped to the motor but the water out the pee hole doesn't serve any cooling of the motor and doesn't flow through the motor at all. just ask any reputable outboard mechanic what purpose does the pee hole serve. or better yet just Google it because Google is our friend.

if the empeller was pumping properly it would stay cool even when trolling. you need a new water pump impeller and it will stop overheating when idling.

still say the thermostat has nothing to do with water coming out of the pee hole. all the outboards I've owned in the last 45+ years I've been running them the pee hole was flowing almost immediately after the motor starts, and way before the motor heats up enough to open the thermostat. the water out of the pee hole does get hot but that's from going through the lines next to the heads and block and flows through the exhaust that heats the water. it is designed to let the operator know that the pump is working. I have never had a motor overheat because water wasn't flowing out the pee hole. I do understand an outboard warms up faster than I/Os but not near fast enough to open a 140 to 165-degree thermostat. the water starts flowing as soon as the motor starts or just a few seconds later as the water has to flow through the lines and exhaust before it starts flowing. and yes, the water is hot as soon as it starts flowing but it gets heated by the exhaust and not a hot motor. the water flowing through the exhaust is what heats the water. if you watch the water closely you will notice some exhaust coming out also. ask your outboat mechanic what is the purpose of the pee hole. if he doesn't say it is also known as the tell-tell hole and that its only purpose is to show water is getting pumped to the motor then I would switch my mechanics. the exhaust heats the pee-hole water! LIKE I SAY YOU CAN GOOGLE IT OR JUST ASK YOUR MECHANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have said all I'm going to say on this subject. trust me guys, i would not tell you this stuff if I wasn't sure what I'm talking about being a fact.

what has the thermostat got to do with water coming out of the pee hole? the water coming out of the pee hole is just a bypass to show you have water pumping to the motor. the water out of the pee hole has nothing to do with the thermostat being open or closed. it is supposed to flow as soon as the motor starts or a few seconds after while the motor is still cold. the water out the pee hole has nothing whatsoever to do with the thermostat.

I have dealt with outboard motors since 1977. I have had many motor's pee lines get stopped up with something. I always just figured it was some type of bug getting in the line and either building a nest or other things they take up in the tubes that stop or reduce the water flow. I bought an old 115 mercury inline 6 out of a field that was on an old junk boat that had been sitting for many years. it started right up but no water coming out. with the motor running I started working a short piece of large gauge weedeater line up the line. as I was getting it farther up the water started coming out slow at first which was green. as the water started flowing better all kinds of green and brown started coming out as I kept working the line in and out. these lines get clogged many times after setting for any long period. many impellers get changed well before they are bad when the line is only stopped up. anytime my water just isn't coming out the first thing I do is clean the line with weedeater line. in my 45+ years, i have never seen an impeller so bad that some water wasn't coming out a little. before i took it out on the water i did change the impeller. the old one still looked good but it had to be rotten from setting all those years. piece of mind knowing your water impeller isn't going to fail out 10 or 15 miles from shore is well worth the price of a new one and the hour or so to install the new one.

you know the lightning could have hit the water far away from your boat and still been able to damage some of your circuits and even cause a ground wire to make contact with the boat hull. attach a 12v tester to the hot side of your battery then touch it against the hull. there is just no way that rigger ran without getting grounded from someplace.

have either one of you guys thought about relocating your tops forward? all you really need to do is move the anchors for your frame forward then attach the top and move the tie down anchors forward enough to get the tie down lines away from your gear. on mine after I moved it as far forward as I wanted it so it still covered the cockpit the back straps were still in the way. i moved the tiedown anchors as far forward as I could and still held the top. the straps were almost straight down from the top but it worked great and the top never interfered with our fishing. I have installed many tops over the years and moving them forward where you want them is much easier than installing new tops because you already know what you want and how far they need to go to work for you.

I have to agree with what your saying. if this was true the water would go through when it was turned on. I am 72 now and have been changing water pumps and impellers since I was only 26 years old. and I have never had water come through if the impeller was bad. some people believe if the water is turned on high it will damage the impeller. people just don't realise just how much more water pressure it gets from running down the lake at 50 or 60 MPH. I have always turned the water on high and never had any problems with outboards and stern drives. if the water isn't turned up high enough the motor won't get enough water to cool it at higher RPMs. the first thing I do when starting the motor on muffs is look to see if the excess water around the muffs is reduced to almost nothing and it should have any water coming out around the muffs if you rev the motor up. I was told as a young lad that if everything else failed read and follow the F-ing instructions.

what size is the hoop on the extendable net? and what lengths are the handle when closed up and when it's extended all the way out?

at your price, if I needed or wanted a net I would jump on the extendable net, and at your price, I could pay for shipping and still have a great net for a bargain. all they need to do is check prices on any extendable net to realize even if they pay to have it shipped it's still a great offer.

before I tore it back down I would get a piece of heavy weedeater line about 18" long and start working it up the pee hole. if it goes up freely it's already clear but if you run into a blockage just keep working the line until it clears the line. bugs and even bees have been known to make a nest in the pee line and stop it up good. after clearing the line start the motor and see if water starts coming out. if you get water take the piece of line and run it in and out of the pee line while the motor is running to clear any pieces of debris out of the pee tube. if that doesn't help you did something wrong and have to tear it back down. make sure you have the little keyway in its place in the impeller so the shaft turns the impeller.

someone will be getting a great deal on these. any electric rigger that works is well worth 125.00. these would be an awesome buy for guys starting out and have a limited budget or someone to upgrade to electric and see what a difference they make at the end of the day.