Have done a search trying to find an answer but no luck so far, hence this post. Made a newbie mistake and didn't fully seat quick disconnect hose so no water during flush attempt. Ran engine at 4-5000 rpm for 1 min and then got continuous alarm and red temp light. Shut down water and then engine right away. That took about 15-20 secs. Total run time approx 1 min, 20 secs. Realized my error, redid quick disconnect and flushed boat for 20 secs. at 4-5000 rpm with a helper opening/shutting the water so total run time was 30 secs max. No alarm or temp gauge light and engine seemed fine. The question is, did I screw up my engine/other during the overheating instance? Thanks for any help. Tony
Overheating while flushing - caused damage?
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devonte007
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Since you shut everything down at once after the alarm, it is unlikely any real damage occurred to the engine. the engine is always in a water bath due to the coolant so it would take a bit longer to overheat the engine even with the heat exchanger out of the water. The first thing to get hot would be the exhaust system which is cooled by raw water, and in your case the (non-existant) hose water.
The exhaust system is cooled with lake water/hose water so it does not melt. It is most likely the overheat alarm was triggered by the exhaust temp. sensor, not the engine temp sensor. I would inspect the exhaust system very carefully, especially the rubber hose that links the two mufflers (can't remember off hand how it is hooked up but I know there are one or two big rubber hoses). If nothing looks melted or fried then you are probably ok. Unfortunately, the rubber hoses would melt from the inside out so the outside may look fine but melted on the inside which could cause it to blow at some inconvenient time when you are out on the water well away from shore. I would probably take off the rubber hose(s) and inspect them from the inside to be safe. If that checks out you probably got away with this mistake unharmed. Hook up the water to the boat again, run it for a couple minutes (with the water on this time) and look for any leaks (water or exhaust gas), if nothing then you are probably good to go. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya!
--Deven
The exhaust system is cooled with lake water/hose water so it does not melt. It is most likely the overheat alarm was triggered by the exhaust temp. sensor, not the engine temp sensor. I would inspect the exhaust system very carefully, especially the rubber hose that links the two mufflers (can't remember off hand how it is hooked up but I know there are one or two big rubber hoses). If nothing looks melted or fried then you are probably ok. Unfortunately, the rubber hoses would melt from the inside out so the outside may look fine but melted on the inside which could cause it to blow at some inconvenient time when you are out on the water well away from shore. I would probably take off the rubber hose(s) and inspect them from the inside to be safe. If that checks out you probably got away with this mistake unharmed. Hook up the water to the boat again, run it for a couple minutes (with the water on this time) and look for any leaks (water or exhaust gas), if nothing then you are probably good to go. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya!
--Deven
I'll add to Devon's great informational post.
I believe you shouldn't rev the motor very high for very long while on the hose...a quick blurb to about 3-4K shouldn't be a problem.
Also don't run it longer than a few minutes on the hose as the carbone ring isn't being cooled.
I believe you shouldn't rev the motor very high for very long while on the hose...a quick blurb to about 3-4K shouldn't be a problem.
Also don't run it longer than a few minutes on the hose as the carbone ring isn't being cooled.
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