Engine over heating, no pee hole water

[n1111z]

So I started my 240LS today and immediately the overheat alarm on the starboard engine came on and only had one stream of pee hole water. First time I ever had a problem with this boat. My diagnostics, water comes out the pee hole when I hook the hose to the flush. On the lift, water comes out the jet with the flush on. Took out the starboard plug, nothing at all in there. Under the boat, on that side there was a 2" square piece of garbage bag stuck to the edge of the intake. Is there any way to get stuff out of there when you can't see or feel it? Sorry if this is redundant, I did a quick search, I.m on vacation help would be appreciated!

 

[haknslash]

I bet you have something blocking your cooling coming from the intake/strainer in the jet pump. When you flush you essentially by-pass the cooling intake strainer so this explains why it's fine out of the water but not flowing once in the water. Maybe some of that plastic bag tore off and made it past the little holes in the intake strainer. It’s the small white plastic piece with holes shown below.



You can remove the cooling intake plate on the backside of the strainer and inspect for trash in there.

 

[Scottintexas]

The good news is this should be an led to be fixed with minimal about of mechanical skill

I agree with above
The first thing I would check would be the strainer cover but it's really rare for stuff to get past the screen

It could be you have more bag hung up in there you can't see
Worst case you may have to put it on the trailer to get a better view

Where are you at?
How long will you be there?

 

[n1111z]

Thanks! Intake screen clean as a whistle

 

[haknslash]

If the boat is peeing during flush but not in the water then it seems the problem is somewhere between the cooling system wye fitting in the engine compartment and the cooling strainer inlet in the jet pump.

Even though this video is for an MR1, it describes the cooling system for the 1.8L as well. Did you remove the 4 bolts and strainer cover to inspect if anything made it inside? It's rare yes because the holes are so small but you never know. I see you're in Florida so sea grass could have snaked it's way through the holes. If strainer is clean inside then follow the cooling lines to the wye fitting and look for any disconnects or kinks.

 

[boudin]

You can also disconnect the intake hose where it goes into the Y fitting, and blow an air hose through it.

-Greg

 

[Trevor Shipman]

I’ve blown (hard) in the pee hole (I know, I know) till I got bubbles out the other end. That helped clear whatever was there

 

[swatski]

I’ve blown (hard) in the pee hole (I know, I know) till I got bubbles out the other end. That helped clear whatever was there

TMI...?

(rotfl)

--

 

[Trevor Shipman]

TMI...?

(rotfl)

--

I know... I need to delete that post ASAP! Lol

 

[Scottintexas]

@n1111z did you get this fixed yet ?

 

[n1111z]

Thanks for all the great answers, I've just returned from the coast back to our permanent res. No it's not fixed yet, I took off the strainer cover and it was completely clean, I probably have a plastic bag lodged somewhere in the tubing. Hard to work on my boat as I don't own a trailer. I've got a guy coming to work on it before my next trip in Nov. Thanks

 

[n1111z]

Turns out it was a broken thermostat. The guys at Quality Marine in Cape Coral were great, came out to my house and fixed the problem right on my lift at a reasonable cost. Anyone else ever have this problem?

 

[Scottintexas]

We don't hear about it very often, although with salt water I'm sure you're more susceptible

I guess we should have asked more questions to begin with,
each engine has two pee holes for a total of 4, one set is for pressure flow and one is from the thermostat (see buckbuck's video above)
You said you only had one stream, one stream from the over heating engine or one stream (from the good engine)?

did they run it in the water to confirm it's working properly ?

 

[haknslash]

When it's on the hose you should be able to check if the thermostat is working because you'll see it drain out just above the jet pumps when reaching operating temp.

 

[VitaminSea]

When it's on the hose you should be able to check if the thermostat is working because you'll see it drain out just above the jet pumps when reaching operating temp.

View attachment 84214

Wasn’t certain if I should post a new thread, or add to this, as this weekend I recieved the engine overheat alarm. A few questions - I have a 2012 SX210.

1) Does the overheat alarm appear on the tach of the overheating engine? [I am assuming yes, but not certain]
2) At idle, should water be coming out of the cooling water inlets, or only above a certain RPM (say 2500+) on the MR1?
3) In the above image, when flushing my engines I noticed the following regarding the top port landed from T-Stat
Port Side - this would expel very hot water at a high pressure for 15-20 seconds, then drip water for the next 30-45 seconds, then repeat the process.
Starboard Side - this would expel the hot water for a longer period of time 20-30 seconds, then drip water for 15-25 seconds before repeating the process. (In both examples, I did not actually time things, I just observed what was going on).

I believe the overheating was due to a clogged port, as there was lots of seaweed clogging both of my grates (not so much in the clean out ports), and then when I got home and when I went to visually check the intake grates the props were covered with weed. However since the boat is new to me, I’m trying to understand what to check for an how to address.

Tagging @Bacchus_fl as I see in other tread you experienced an overheating warning, and have what appears to be the same boat, just a year newer.

Thanks!

 

[tdonoughue]

As to the new thread: probably. But, we are already here.

1) Yes, but the tachs are technically joined, with one being a master and one being a slave, I believe. Should be a little AL in the lower right corner of the 'master'. And a little message displayed in the message area.
2) Well, the cooling inlets are in the pumps (little white grates up in there). They let water into the cooling system. So I don't think that is what you mean, as water should not be coming out of the inlet. As to outlets (which is what I think you mean), water will come out of the 'pee holes' on the side of the boat, as well as out of the jets. Of course, if you are on the water, it is not possible to see whether water comes out of the jets, but you will see it out of the pee holes. No water out of the pee holes indicates you have some problem. Usually that is something blocking the cooling inlet.
3) I have not gone back and watched these when I have been flushing the engines yet. So I cannot say for certain. But I suspect something here is a function of being on the hose. In normal operation, the thermostat should be closed until the engine is up to temperature, then it should open and stay open (as the engine stays at temperature). I suspect that what you are seeing is that there is not enough water pressure from being on hose to hold the thermostat open, so it builds and when released, drops the temperature below the thermostat temp and it closes and cycles that way. I suspect if you are on water or have higher water pressure on hose it will not do that...

In other words, I suspect things are working just fine and what you had on the water was just something blocking the inlet, which has long since gone away.

 

[n1111z]

Well I should have updated this thread earlier. Thermostat was not the problem it was a broken pump housing. It was going to cost couple of grand to fix so I just went ahead and traded for a new boat. Same boat, a 2018. Kind of like selling the house after a party instead of just cleaning up but oh well. New boat is getting mods put on now, I'll post a new thread when it's finished.

 

[VitaminSea]

As to outlets (which is what I think you mean), water will come out of the 'pee holes' on the side of the boat, as well as out of the jets. Of course, if you are on the water, it is not possible to see whether water comes out of the jets, but you will see it out of the pee holes. No water out of the pee holes indicates you have some problem. Usually that is something blocking the cooling inlet.

Thanks for the response. Yes, I meant outlet/pee hole. So at idle I should always see water exiting here or just when above a certain rpm?

Also, your response/logic regarding the thermostat exit port makes sense.

Should be a little AL in the lower right corner of the 'master'. And a little message displayed in the message area.

I didn’t see the AL, as I have the displays set to the smaller font to show two different lines of data. On the port side I have the fuel gage up, and then below that was the overheat warning. So my assumption here is that my issue was on the port engine.

 

[tdonoughue]

I always see water exiting the pee hole (and I have the same year as you). Others have said sometimes it is over a certain RPM--but I see it at idle. Always. If I don't see it, I am shutting down and figuring out why. Does not apply to running on hose (haven't really noticed if it pees then or not). I am a freshwater lake boater, so I rarely need to run on hose.

The AL is a little LCD element all to itself (inverse, actually). So it is easy to miss. Little square comes up and if you look closely, there is a little AL in there.

I would not assume since the port tach had the error that it was the port engine. Might be. Put a YDS on it to see for sure. More significantly, if you have pulled it out and investigated, cleaned everything out and no longer get the error, declare a win and carry on. Usually it is something temporary blocking--you turn off the engines, give it a few minutes, restart and it is gone (whatever it is has floated out). Certainly by the time you get towed in, haul the boat out--it is long gone. When I overheated I had come to shallow water to load some folks. The extra weight put the bottom of my boat on the bottom. No water in=no cooling and BEEEEEP. Shut down, one guy got out, pushed us out further, reloaded, no further issue.

 

[haknslash]

I always had flow out of my pissers when at idle and always checked it each ride.