No water from Pee hole

[firedude411]

Ok, I have the 2003 Utopia with the 240hp merc. I am assuming that the small hole on the Aft-port side above the jet is supposed to be a tell tale indicator. The boat runs great and I have taken out several times without issue, but reading the forums has me looking at this hole. When I flush the motor it does not have water coming from it and underway I looked and felt nothing. I am afraid that if the motor is not cooling good the Florida summer will definitely cause problems. So far it seems fine highest temp so far is around 80* outside but had boat in water for several hours with no problems. Is this a pee hole and if it is how do I trouble shoot it. I have read some other post but nothing quit like this. Also please explain the path the water takes to get to the hole if you could. I have had it in the river and probably some brackish water close to the intercoastal. Before me I am sure it was in salt.

Thank You

 

[rookie101]

Don't worry about water not coming out of the tell-tail on the hose. You're back flushing and the water is moving in the wrong direction. To make sure the passage is clear, just hold the hose against the tell-tail opening and you should see it coming out near the pump.

You should see water coming from the tell-tail while running in the water though....... make sure you do a good back flush on the engine (you do not need to run the engine with the Mercury) and blow water through the tell-tale. Make sure the hose running from the top of the engine to the tell-tail is neither plugged or kinked. If everything seems ok try it in the water again and let us know what you see.

If you are having problems start with doing a pressure check on the system. You need to attach a pressure gauge to the top of the motor where the line for the tell-tail is. At idle, the jet pump should generate anywhere from 1/2 to 1-1/2 psi. At 5500 rpm, the pump generates about 15 psi.

Note this test must be done in the water because if you were to try it on the hose you would only be checking the pressure of your household water system, and not your pump.



Aaron :cheers:

 

[seadoosnipe]

Not a really big concern....

Unlike the Rotax engines, when we expect to see this stream of water to ensure that your cooling system is working, the M-2 has this line basically as a vent to ensure your heads are full, with no air trapped inside. Another reason you may not see water at this point is because once the water travels up the inside of the engine, it spills over into the heads and works it's way to the expansion tank and into the exhaust by gravity. I think this tube (water by-pass) tube is not really a tale tell tube by a tube used in equalizing the water jacket between the port and starboard heads.

As for your request to see the flow path of the cooling water, you can find it in the M-2 manual chapter 4B-5.

 

[firedude411]

Thanks Rookie101 and seadoosnipe. Snipe, that is probably why I have not had any overheating issues. I did use a garden hose along with compressed air to sand blast my finger:stupid: with the salt and other debris that cam out of the hole though. It was clogged but appeared to be more so at the exit of the tube not near the heads. Anyhow, I know that is is completely clear now. I can flow water from the hole to the intake and garden hose in the flush port also produces a little moisture at the pee hole, of course not a stream.
Oh yea, if you leave the cap off of the flush and put compressed air in the pee hole amazingly you get wet!!!:stupid:

Thanks again another engine saved by this forum.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Compressed air?....

I would refrain from using compressed air. If you do, keep the pressure below 60 psi. Remember, the gaskets are made and torqued to specified values that are based on the engines outputs, not artificial inputs.......:cheers:

 

[firedude411]

Thanks Seadoosnipe, anytime compressed air is used extreme caution should be taken. I have a friend that was telling me he cleaned his cell phone with compressed air because it had dust all over it from his shop. He was trying to figure out why it wasn't working right. LOL. Hopefully I will not be in the same boat or not in my boat because of this. I was carefull though, but again the pressure I used is much higher than the system was designed for.

 

[wingnut1961]

I used to see no flow from the tell tale port when flushing too. I recently started using a shorter, larger-dia. garden hose and quick disconnect to flush with. With all that and if I raise the bow of the boat up with the trailer jack, water comes out of the tell-tale. I used to back flush through the tell-tale port with the hose to verify it was clear, but this seems to work better.