Anyone else worried??

S

searayjay

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First, I'm getting anxious to get the boat back in the water. However, I'm concerned if my first attempt at winterization was adequate. Yes I found and drained all the plugs, filled block , manis and various hoses w/ -100 a/f, drained and serviced the head and drinking water system but I'm still worried - especially about the raw water pump mounted on the block(BravoIII). I poured a/f on one side of it but not the side going out to the drive.
Anyway, does anyone esle worry?
 
One season with one of my past powerboats, I didn't drain the hose leading from the raw water pump to the Bravo drive on a Merc big block. Come Spring before launching, I discovered the pump was leaking badly.

The plastic pump casing cracked, requiring a rebuild. After that, even though I filled the block with an antifreeze solution, I always made a point of draining both pump hoses beforehand.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JoeBTB

Constantly. Admiral thinks I need a rubber room.
Click to expand...

Joe, that is funny!

searayjay

When my shop winterizes, the last thing they do is run antifreeze (from a large container w/anti-freeze-with the engine running and out drive in it) right before fogging the cylinders. I am raw water cooled. The B3 pump has rubber vanes that in themselves can hold raw water if not rotated during the winterizing process. I learned this on a DIY attempt and cracked the pump casing...it didn't show up on the muffs...but on my spring sea trial....heat, steam, water, alarms, smoke.....wasn't pretty. Getting the pieces of the vanes out of the system was a real PIA. The point is that this type of leak won't necessarily show up when you are on the muffs, but under load, thar she blew...worry is not a bad thing when we deal with things that can sink

Stan
 
a ton of $$$ saved at this end, and happy t ofeal the 40's makes me want to empty and go out? but soon a blizzard always his
 
You'll find out if you saved a "ton of $$$" after you re-commision in the spring if you have no problems.
 
I drain everything, backfill everything with -100, and crank the motor just a tiny bit to get the AF in the impeller housing back in the drive, 5 winters doing it this way and so far so good...I do climb into the engine compartment once in a while to check things out, usually on a day when I open up the cover to air it all out. Yesterday spent about an hour sliding ice off the cover from our storm on last Wed, and found a nice dry boat inside!
 
Lou, I think a lot of people forget to bump the starter as you do. Causes problems in the spring!
 
Yes... like me I'm afraid. I didn't bump the starter so I suspect my raw water pump is history. Can I rebuild it or will the body crack? How hard to R+R? 2001 Mercruiser EFI
 
I wouldn't be making R&R plans until you know for sure you have problems. Your concern might be relieved when you find all is well.
 
Even if you do have a problem, it won't be a big one. Your block and manifolds should be good to go. Those pump housings are plastic on the Mercs I think and easy to replace.
 
optomistic over a negitive attitude here?
we are very confident that the engine and boat made it through the Winter?
so $$$ well saved
 
I have never bumped my starter and I have never had a problem. I always thought if you back fill through the hoses it will go into the pump. Four years and never a problem.
 
Thx all-
I'm confident about the motor, manifolds, water systems etc, but in the back of my mind I thought I should have done more for the RWP than simply fill the hose that goes down to the pump from the therm housing. I always worried about the other(input) side of the pump. However, if it isn't that big of a deal, I'll just check it out in the spring before it gets into the water.
Thanks again
 
No big deal to rebuild a Merc seawater pump, other than needing to be a contortionist to get to all the bolts. Back then, I bought the 7.4 Bravo kit from boatfix, which currently sells for only $57.13.
 
With the OMC Cobra, the idea is that if the vanes of the impeller are covering the water passages in the pump housing, the AF may not enter the housing and then drain out the water intakes. Most of the time I have found that it starts to drain out the water intakes on the drive, even when I haven't yet bumped the starter. So probably it depends on the design of the water passages in the pump housing. Like others said, it's not a big deal to change the plastic pump housing, unless you have a Merc Alpha drive, which requires that you drop the lower unit. The Bravo series all have the impellers on the engine like Volvos. The OMC Cobra has the impeller at the rear of the upper unit under a plastic cover so it's easy to change.
 
Shop vac works well if you forget to turnover the pump and you have removed the battery. Or open all drains and blow the vac air thru.
 
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