New Owner of Seville Mid Cabin

zeddy

Member
Aug 7, 2018
42
Boat Info
1985 Searay 210 Seville Mid Cabin
Engines
Mercruiser 5.0LX/ Alpha One
Hello everyone. We finally upgraded our 1981 17 foot Seaswirl bow rider to a 1985 Searay 210 Seville MidCabin. So far, it's perfect for our growing family. I've added a foldable bench seat behind the driver's bench. Beautiful boat, we all love it!

I have two questions, first, the boat has a sea pump? it doesn't intake water from the outdrive. it has a strainer on the bottom of the boat. Is there an easier way to flush the motor instead of crawling under the boat and putting the plunger? Ive heard i can hook up a hose to an outlet on the bottom of the engine. I havent seen such thing.

Second question is the impeller. Since it's doesnt suck water from the out drive, im assuming its in the motor. It's a mercruiser V8 5.0LX. Where would the impeller be?

Thank you everyone.

Jack
 

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Welcome to the forum Jack. It doesn't sound like your motor and outdrive are original to the boat but that is an assumption I'm going to make.

If you are not getting cooling water for the engine from the outdrive you will have to have an engine-mounted pump. On the inside of the boat where the through-hull strainer enters there should be a ball valve and then a hose that goes to a pump mounted on the front of the engine typically called the "raw water" pump. This pump will be belt driven from the crankshaft and is typically down low on the motor. The output side of the pump will have a hose that goes to the water recirculating (circ) pump on the front of the engine, like on a car engine. Your impeller will be in the first pump, the raw water pump.

You should still have, and maintain, a water pump in the outdrive. In a typical, standard configuration there would be a hose that connects from the outdrive to a pass-through fitting on the gimbal housing on the transom. In the configuration you are describing the pass-through fitting has a rubber cap and hose clamp on it to block off the water flow from the outdrive water pump but you need that pump as that water from the outdrive helps to cool the upper gear housing. As an alternative you could choose to remove that pump impeller and install a drive shower to cool the upper gear case.

I have a somewhat similar situation in my 1985 Cobalt CM23. In my boat, the engine is mounted forward in the boat, like an inboard, but has a driveshaft that connects to the outdrive. Mercruiser calls this the "Jackshaft Model" and parts are still available from Mercruiser.

For running the motor on the trailer I made a very simple solution. From the ball valve above the through-hull strainer I had a brass elbow that connected to the hose that ran to the raw-water pump. I removed the elbow and substituted it for a tee. One side of the tee connected to the hose to the raw-water pump and to the other side of the tee I installed a reducer down to 3/4" then ran a hose back to the transom. I then installed a male, through-hull hose fitting through the transom that would connect to a standard garden hose. You will have to make a short adapter as you will be trying to make a male-to-male connection. A short piece of hose with a female hose connector on either end with hose clamps works fine. When I want to run m engine on the trailer I close the ball valve, connect the hose, turn on the water and start the motor. This will also work in the water if you wanted to flush a motor that had been running in salt water. DON'T FORGET....you have to close that ball valve before you operate the boat in the water. There are caps available for the male hose fitting you install in the transom. I have had this setup on my boat for 20 years.

Let me know if you need more info or some pics.

Shawn
 
Thank you shawn. That's really good information. I think what you did by adding a tee is probably easiest solution.

Now I'm concerned about the outdrive. The previous owner mentioned something being blocked off in the outdrive, Uses the through the hull strainer. I'm worried about my outdrive over heating now. When I run the boat on the trailer, I have water pumping out on both sides of the bellow hose. I mean water pumps out like it suppose to, as well as water coming out of the propeller/exhaust.

How can I check to make sure the upper gear housing is being cooled. Should it being in water be sufficient?
 
The impeller in the out-drive brings water TO the motor. It does no cooling of the out-drive on its way to the motor. That's why it's ok to use a thru-hull and an engine mounted pump when bypassing the impeller in the drive.

The water that you're seeing coming out of the exhaust and bellows is what cools the drive's exhaust passage. You should be fine while running it on the trailer as long as you see water coming out of the drive.
 
That makes me feel much better now. Thank you!
 
The impeller in the out-drive brings water TO the motor. It does no cooling of the out-drive on its way to the motor. That's why it's ok to use a thru-hull and an engine mounted pump when bypassing the impeller in the drive.

The water that you're seeing coming out of the exhaust and bellows is what cools the drive's exhaust passage. You should be fine while running it on the trailer as long as you see water coming out of the drive.
Hmmmm….I was told by a Merc tech that on an I/O setup with cooling water drawn from a thru-hull to a raw water pump that the outdrive pump needed to remain operational to cool the upper part of the drive. If it's not needed why are drive showers manufactured and sold?
Shawn
 
welcome! she looks great

drive showers are sold for both thru outdrive and seacock versions.. look at the part breakdown, just a tube up from impeller..
 
The water from the out-drive impeller doesn't cool the drive, it cools the gear oil as I understand it.

As told to me by a Merc mechanic, when I did this conversion on one of my older boats, you don't need to cool the drive oil unless you're out in that boat everyday giving it hell on the water. Racing boats need to cool the drive oil because it breaks down as it gets really hot.

Recreational boaters rarely get the oil hot enough for long periods of time like a racing boat would. Since we change the oil yearly, or should anyways, it never gets hot enough, long enough, before we change the gear oil. I had that boat I converted for years and never had a problem with the gear oil breaking down.

I would ask the previous owner about the conversion. How long has it been running with the thru-hull cooling? Unless the PO just did the conversion before he sold the boat, I'd say you were safe if it's still working. Just make sure to change your gear oil once a year.

Another way to flush the engine would be to close the sea-cock, open the strainer lid, and drop a garden hose into the basket.
 
The water from the out-drive impeller doesn't cool the drive, it cools the gear oil as I understand it.

As told to me by a Merc mechanic, when I did this conversion on one of my older boats, you don't need to cool the drive oil unless you're out in that boat everyday giving it hell on the water. Racing boats need to cool the drive oil because it breaks down as it gets really hot.

Recreational boaters rarely get the oil hot enough for long periods of time like a racing boat would. Since we change the oil yearly, or should anyways, it never gets hot enough, long enough, before we change the gear oil. I had that boat I converted for years and never had a problem with the gear oil breaking down.

I would ask the previous owner about the conversion. How long has it been running with the thru-hull cooling? Unless the PO just did the conversion before he sold the boat, I'd say you were safe if it's still working. Just make sure to change your gear oil once a year.

Another way to flush the engine would be to close the sea-cock, open the strainer lid, and drop a garden hose into the basket.
Interesting....
 
I've been looking into that shower. Doesn't look like I'm not going to need it. From what I've read online, it's really meant for high performance boats. The type of driving I'm going to be doing doesn't seem like it'll ever over heat. I'm going to use the boat for local fishing, changing spot here and there. I doubt t I'll ever go faster than 25-30 mph.

I'm glad I found this forum. Thank you all.

On another note, when I put her in gear, the throttle shifts into gear almost at the 10oclock position. Reverse at the 2oclock position. My seaswirl would shift into gear as soon as I pushed the throttle foward. Is there an adjustment? It's a mercruiser 5.0lx
 
I'm installing the drive shower on mine tomorrow. I have a 383 Stroker motor of about 350-375 HP. It's really a bit too much HP for an Alpha drive so I'm hoping the shower will keep the gear oil a bit cooler. With that HP I'm going to need all the help I can get.

We need to see a picture of your shifter/throttle and we might be able to help.
 
Here's a pic of the motor. I'll try to get better pics tomorrow.
 

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Here's another pic
 

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SO you your motor is not original to the boat and has a closed cooling system. Raw water only comes in via the pump, runs through the heat exchanger and out with the exhaust. It's a nice setup. You may or may not have a pump in the outdrive still. Boater 420 is pretty confident you don't need to cool the upper gear case oil so I guess you can decide what you want to do. I'm installing my drive shower as we speak.
 
anyone know how to adjust shift point?
 

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