Curse you Lake Austin Hydrilla!!! *pumps fist in air* 
:facepalm:
So I was out on Lake Austin today and at the VERY end of the day just a few hundred feet from the boat ramp.. My '11 C180 SE supercharged boat sucked up some Hydrilla. At first it was a wicked surge of noise and loss of power.
I pushed it some more, and it was cavitating badly. I shut it down almost immediately. Probably within 5 seconds of noticing this. I waited for a few minutes and then started it back up.. at first it sounded and seemed OK... pushed on the throttle a bit, and someone said they saw a little bit of smoke.. and I had no power. So I limped back to the docks, basically in Fwd Idle.
As we dropped off our trailer driver, and got in position, we waited just idling and cutting power twice just to avoid sucking anything else up further.. we finally made our approach and just about 20 feet from the trailer, the boat began beeping really loudly - constantly. It said Overheat I think it might have said Exhaust Overheat actually. Anyways, at this point I knew what was happening - I have read about it on THESE FORUMS!!!! :thumbsup:
So I knew this was going to happen once I felt the loss in power.. but sadly it did just before I could get it in. I shut it down when it began beeping constantly. Maybe I should have waited longer before firing it back up? I dunno, I was like 10 feet from the trailer so I turned it back on. It was quiet for a moment then began beeping loudly constantly saying Exhaust Overheat. I finally got it into the trailer and killed the power. It was beeping loudly for maybe 45 seconds total.
I pulled the boat up out of the water. There it was in all its glory. A basketball sized hydrilla bomb sucked up into the grates. I quickly reached under to retrieve my prize. It was mostly loose and so I got it out. I felt up in there with my fingers :blush: and didn't really feel it way back up in there. But I fear I may have to yank the grates to double check (is it possible to just unbolt them now that it's out of the water)? Can I reach in there further elbow deep and feel the impeller - battery set to off, of course :thumbsup:
I hope I didn't melt something in the exhaust line (the infamous black rubber hose)??? Where is it located, I look around in the engine bay when we first lost power and before the solid beeping. I didn't see any hoses melted but it would help if someone could orient me to where EXACTLY I should check now... ??
Any other tips/tricks/suggestions?
Also, should I be flushing the impellers on a regular basis with just fresh water river running? Apart from the hydrilla, the lake is fairly clean... Should I flush it to try to loosen up whatever hydrilla is still stuck up in there?
I can flush for like a few minutes out of the water (flushing the exhaust basically), but not any longer because the engine can overheat? Will this flush the impellers though??
Thanks in advance!!! Kind of a scary end but glad we were just feet from the boat docks when it all went down.. :facepalm:
:facepalm:
So I was out on Lake Austin today and at the VERY end of the day just a few hundred feet from the boat ramp.. My '11 C180 SE supercharged boat sucked up some Hydrilla. At first it was a wicked surge of noise and loss of power.
I pushed it some more, and it was cavitating badly. I shut it down almost immediately. Probably within 5 seconds of noticing this. I waited for a few minutes and then started it back up.. at first it sounded and seemed OK... pushed on the throttle a bit, and someone said they saw a little bit of smoke.. and I had no power. So I limped back to the docks, basically in Fwd Idle.
As we dropped off our trailer driver, and got in position, we waited just idling and cutting power twice just to avoid sucking anything else up further.. we finally made our approach and just about 20 feet from the trailer, the boat began beeping really loudly - constantly. It said Overheat I think it might have said Exhaust Overheat actually. Anyways, at this point I knew what was happening - I have read about it on THESE FORUMS!!!! :thumbsup:
So I knew this was going to happen once I felt the loss in power.. but sadly it did just before I could get it in. I shut it down when it began beeping constantly. Maybe I should have waited longer before firing it back up? I dunno, I was like 10 feet from the trailer so I turned it back on. It was quiet for a moment then began beeping loudly constantly saying Exhaust Overheat. I finally got it into the trailer and killed the power. It was beeping loudly for maybe 45 seconds total.
I pulled the boat up out of the water. There it was in all its glory. A basketball sized hydrilla bomb sucked up into the grates. I quickly reached under to retrieve my prize. It was mostly loose and so I got it out. I felt up in there with my fingers :blush: and didn't really feel it way back up in there. But I fear I may have to yank the grates to double check (is it possible to just unbolt them now that it's out of the water)? Can I reach in there further elbow deep and feel the impeller - battery set to off, of course :thumbsup:
I hope I didn't melt something in the exhaust line (the infamous black rubber hose)??? Where is it located, I look around in the engine bay when we first lost power and before the solid beeping. I didn't see any hoses melted but it would help if someone could orient me to where EXACTLY I should check now... ??
Any other tips/tricks/suggestions?
Also, should I be flushing the impellers on a regular basis with just fresh water river running? Apart from the hydrilla, the lake is fairly clean... Should I flush it to try to loosen up whatever hydrilla is still stuck up in there?
I can flush for like a few minutes out of the water (flushing the exhaust basically), but not any longer because the engine can overheat? Will this flush the impellers though??
Thanks in advance!!! Kind of a scary end but glad we were just feet from the boat docks when it all went down.. :facepalm:
