Though I would ask this while I was thinking about it. I keep those black connections screwed in to the ski at all times so when I come home I can just pop on the green flush hose quickly. It never occured to me that maybe that hole needs to suck in or push out water while riding and I would be seriously limiting flow with the connector on. I have kept it like that for years and have had no overheating issues and like I said never really gave it thought until I had my flush issue recently. Thanks again!