Engine idle slight vibration & strange noise

[FLJetBoater]

Was flushing my engines this afternoon after being in saltwater. I ran SeaFoam through them (64 oz in a full 50gal tank), burned about 23 gallons today. This is the video I took during the flushing

Also, there was very little water coming from the pissers during the flush. It started to come out at the beginning but faded away quickly. No alarms after 7 minutes of flushing so I figure they must be getting cooled. Would the water be redirected somewhere else?

The PO had no idea when the spark plugs were changed last - so that's on my list to do this week. But wanted to get opinions as well on if it could be something else.

 

[KevJul2019]

your motor sounds ruff when it’s out of the water hooked up to garden hose. I would change oil and spark plugs. Put grease in the intermediate bearing. And clean your motor.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Are you saying my motor sounds rough or in general they usually do?

Oil was changed just a few months ago and only used once since. I saw the invoice for that work. I could change anyway just to be safe.

I've read a lot of posts stating NOT to grease that bearing? The engines only have 130 hours.

What do you mean by clean the motor?

 

[sunbyrned]

The water pressure from the hose is something to consider. Maybe it wasn’t turned on all the way.(?) Thinking you had a good thrust at the beginning and then it finally settled to a low pressure or perhaps a kink in the hose and you wouldn’t be aware of it since you wouldn’t see the water flow.

 

[FLJetBoater]

The water pressure from the hose is something to consider. Maybe it wasn’t turned on all the way.(?) Thinking you had a good thrust at the beginning and then it finally settled to a low pressure or perhaps a kink in the hose and you wouldn’t be aware of it since you wouldn’t see the water flow.

Hose pressure seemed to be good the whole time. Brand new kinkless hose. Plus it was coming out like crazy from the bottom of the boat. Ran through the 4oz of salt away in about 7 minutes. Hooked up the garden nozzle after and washed down the seats, outside, trailer, etc. with another fresh 4oz of salt away and never noticed any pressure issues.

 

[sunbyrned]

Are you saying my motor sounds rough or in general they usually do?

Oil was changed just a few months ago and only used once since. I saw the invoice for that work. I could change anyway just to be safe.

I've read a lot of posts stating NOT to grease that bearing? The engines only have 130 hours.

What do you mean by clean the motor?

Here’s my take on what @KevJul2019 is saying, having been on this site for a while. I believe he’s saying these engines in general sound rough when on a hose and yours sounds no different and his humor is to clean the engine.

also, your call on the intermediate bearings greasing. Read the forums and come to your own conclusion.

 

[sunbyrned]

Personally, I think you’re fine. Mine kicks and spits just like yours. I probably wouldn’t put anything in the intermediate bearings. If I did, it would be just a few pumps. Hopefully others will chime in with some good advice to relieve your concerns.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Here’s my take on what @KevJul2019 is saying, having been on this site for a while. I believe he’s saying these engines in general sound rough when on a hose and yours sounds no different and his humor is to clean the engine.

also, your call on the intermediate bearings greasing. Read the forums and come to your own conclusion.

lol ok...thanks. I'm not experienced enough here yet to be able to make that connection Any advice for cleaning the engine?

 

[FLJetBoater]

Personally, I think you’re fine. Mine kicks and spits just like yours. I probably wouldn’t put anything in the intermediate bearings. If I did, it would be just a few pumps. Hopefully others will chime in with some good advice to relieve your concerns.

Interesting...OK. The thing about the intermediate bearings is that the grease you're injecting is just the water seal I believe, not the grease on the bearings. That's why I'm not confident it would solve it.

 

[Scottintexas]

my engine sounds rough/gravely out of the water also,

I agree, if you really thought you had an issue you could pull the impeller/shaft and see what the engine sounds like to help identify it,

I think you're fine,

I wouldn't bother with the intermediate bearing or if you do only the min. amount, IMHO blowing that seal is worse than being low,


.

 

[sunbyrned]

@Scottintexas How do you clean the exterior of your engines?

 

[FLJetBoater]

my engine sounds rough/gravely out of the water also,

I agree, if you really thought you had an issue you could pull the impeller/shaft and see what the engine sounds like to help identify it,

I think you're fine,

I wouldn't bother with the intermediate bearing or if you do only the min. amount, IMHO blowing that seal is worse than being low,


.

Thanks Scott. I'll get the plugs replaced and see what it sounds like out on the water this weekend.

 

[Scottintexas]

@Scottintexas How do you clean the exterior of your engines?

is this one of those questions where I answer honestly and then people mock me like when I admitted how many ropes I had sucked up over 11 years ??

I rarely clean my engines, if I do it's a light spray of water and rag to get the dust off,

Thanks Scott. I'll get the plugs replaced and see what it sounds like out on the water this weekend.

I don't think I'd change the plugs unless I notice an idling problem on the water or could better determine fuel/other issues were ruled out, run a few tanks and see if it's still there,


.

 

[FLJetBoater]

I don't think I'd change the plugs unless I notice an idling problem on the water or could better determine fuel/other issues were ruled out, run a few tanks and see if it's still there,

I'm just a bit concerned about the state of them, the PO didn't know when the last time they were changed was. Engines have 130 hours and the boat is 6 years old. I'm prepping for a potentially difficult time getting them out...
The port engine did stall out the other day at idle when I first launched it. Was fine after that...

 

[Redneck_4Play]

Sounds just like mine do out of the water. I'd say it's normal and you haven't anything to worry about.

 

[sunbyrned]

is this one of those questions where I answer honestly and then people mock me like when I admitted how many ropes I had sucked up over 11 years ??

I rarely clean my engines, if I do it's a light spray of water and rag to get the dust off,


I don't think I'd change the plugs unless I notice an idling problem on the water or could better determine fuel/other issues were ruled out, run a few tanks and see if it's still there,


.

Not a trick question. I just asked because I didn’t have a good answer to this question. Ironically, I do the same as you so I guess I could have given a good answer. Ha! Thinking about trying Simple Green in the engine compartment though.

 

[Scottintexas]

If you want to do it as a "get to know your boat" exercise and create a known date of maintenance I'm all for it, the stalling at idle could have easily been bad fuel or a bad mix,

I might really suggest you take an extra 30 minutes and pull the pump/impeller/shaft and see what it sounds like, it may be the same but it will be a good learning experience and if you ever have to pull it again you'll be able to do it in 15 min.


.

 

[VitaminSea]

The salt away mixer cuts back on water flow. When flushing, I suggest using the hose and flush adaptor for the first 5-10mins, and then switching over to the salt away dispenser only when flushing with the salt away.

On my 210 I never see water flowing out the pissers while flushing. On my VX Cruiser with the 1.8L, there is a noticeable difference in water flow out of the pissers depending on weather or not I have the salt away mixer hooked up.

 

[Scottintexas]

since your in salt water I would strongly suggest adding flush valves to direct all water into the engine,

here is a video of my mr1 without the impeller/pump and you can see how much flush water back flows out of the cooling inlet line that never gets to see the engine,

 

[FLJetBoater]

The salt away mixer cuts back on water flow. When flushing, I suggest using the hose and flush adaptor for the first 5-10mins, and then switching over to the salt away dispenser only when flushing with the salt away.

On my 210 I never see water flowing out the pissers while flushing. On my VX Cruiser with the 1.8L, there is a noticeable difference in water flow out of the pissers depending on weather or not I have the salt away mixer hooked up.

Thanks that's a good tip. So you flush 5 mins first with freshwater, then do you empty the salt away 4oz per engine (seems to take about 7-10 mins) and leave it at that?