Outboards

[Paul D]

Having had grit in my tell tale on the outboard causing a lack of water coming from the tell tale there was one school of thought that said the engine would overheat due to this ( since this is the only place the water comes out ).

 

Another school of thought was that the tell tale is only so you can visually see that the cooling system is functioning. ( Obviously with it blocked you would be running "at risk" ).

 

In an endeavour to determine which one of these is correct ( I subscribe to the second view, since my engine surely would have overheated steaming to Shambles and back with a blocked tell-tale ) I have been doing some studying.....

 

and I found this link which is full of really interesting information.

 

 

Outboard Learners Guide

 

 

[Bob F]

Nice article, Paul. Well found that man!!

 

So you were right about your tell-tale.

 

BF

 

[great white]

Paul

 

The tell tail is just an indicator that you are getting a flow through the engine, they regularly get blocked by salt crystals as the water evaporates out of the salt water while the engine cools after use.

 

This also happens inside the block therefore it is very good for the engine cooling system to run the engine in fresh water ASAP after returning from the Sea.

 

The majority of the pumped water from your engine exits through the centre of your prop to prevent cavitation increase thrust and cool the exhaust and leg of your outboard.

 

If your telltail stops try clearing it with some form of wire while the engine is running it should clear easily, if you are not getting cooling your engine will overheat quickly and an alarm should sound in your control box

 

Hope that helps

Its probably what your website says

Charlie

[jack]

Paul.An excellent well spotted article.It might at sometime be useful to know this tip.I had an outboard which was destined to be scrapped because my engineer could not unblock the years of accumulated salt/crud etc.With nothing to lose I took everything apart that I could, and useing an electric drill,set on low speed with a 1 metre leingth of spring Curtain wire [the sort for hanging net curtains ] as a drill bit, I drilled in a bit at a time,withdrawing and cleaning the hollow wire centre out frequently,from both ends of the water system.Occasionaly testing with an air line until I cleared it all .I used the engine for a long time afterwards.

[Newboy]

I'm having problem with the p-hole. it stops p-ing out last Saturday, 7 weeks after it last went out. I had it running twice since without any problems. The mechanic reckens it just some lose dirt in the system and I should use an air line to unblock it, which I will try next weekend.

[Coddy]

Hi all

 

Just a small point, last year I left the boat on a drying mooring overnight but forgot to lift the outboard.

 

Next morning started the engine and noticed that the tell tale was not showing any water out of it.

 

I found that when the tide went out the boat and outboard sank into the mud/silt and when I started the engine it sucked up residue of mud into the engine.

 

I used a baiting needle to clear the tell tale and it has been fine every since.

 

Moral is always lift the outboard on a drying mooring!

 

Coddy

[Paul D]

I eventually cleared mine out by feeding a piece of fishing line down it whilst it was running and the water started to come out so moved the line back and forth and it cleared out whatever was blocking it.

 

Previously I have managed to clear out the obstruction using the bilge pump to push water back up the tell-tale.