Running outdrive in water tank?

Rapidroy5858

Rapidroy5858

Member
Sep 23, 2018
82
LaPorte In.
Boat Info
1990 searay sundancer 270
Engines
Twin 4.3 mercruiser
First off let me say this is an invaluable site for new boat owners like myself!
I would like to test run both engines in my sundancer 270 da before I put it in the slip for the season just to be sure it's starting and at least idling correctly.I am thinking of using a plastic 55 gallon drum cut of with 3/4 of it left and filled with water with cool water running into barrel as it idles.. Reason...
I tried winterizing the engines last fall by pumping pink stuff from a tank into the rabbit ears attached to the engine and for some reason I was not able to get antifreeze to flow up into engine. ( I eventually drained all water from blocks and poured in pink stuff.)
I am concerned that I possibly damaged impellars by running them without getting fluid to them.
The boat ran cool on both engines last year on the three trips I had it out after purchasing it. Both impellars replaces within last 2 seasons with less than 10 hours on them.
will this method at least give me an idea if the impellars are ok as far as cooling eng. at least at idle?
Thanks in advance for any advise.
 
The drum would work assuming you can get the drive in and submerged but you should be able to run off a garden hose with muffs.
 
If you are concerned that there might be impeller damage, I'd start with looking at the impellers. If not damaged then good. If they are damaged then you are not helping by running with damaged impellers. because if they are broken then most likely the part(s) are now in the cooling system. So why not just change for piece of mind.

To your original question, yes ok to run motor in a bucket.
 
Blueone said:
Muffs would be a lot simpler
Click to expand...
I agree but for whatever reason I could not get water up into engines ...this was right after I had used the boat then went to winterize, I'm sure it was operator error on my part.lol
 
sdarc said:
If you are concerned that there might be impeller damage, I'd start with looking at the impellers. If not damaged then good. If they are damaged then you are not helping by running with damaged impellers. because if they are broken then most likely the part(s) are now in the cooling system. So why not just change for piece of mind.

To your original question, yes ok to run motor in a bucket.
Click to expand...
yes I have considered impeller parts broken and in system .
 
Rapidroy5858 said:
I agree but for whatever reason I could not get water up into engines
Click to expand...

I could see a problem if you were gravity feeding... but if you have it hooked up to tap water the water pressure alone would give the engine no choice but to take the water, impeller or not.

I always used this kind with a wire going thru the outdrive intake and holding the muffs in place.

muffs.jpg
 
It will work ok, but you must keep cold water running into the drum. It will heat the water quickly.
 
Blueone said:
I could see a problem if you were gravity feeding... but if you have it hooked up to tap water the water pressure alone would give the engine no choice but to take the water, impeller or not.

I always used this kind with a wire going thru the outdrive intake and holding the muffs in place.

View attachment 66754
Click to expand...
Sorry I saw those ears look much better than the ones I had I was actually using as submersible pump that was in pink stuff deep enough to continually pump it through and I never got anything to the top of the motor as I said before might have been my process for this was wrong.
 
surprised there not 5.7`s. running AF thru the drive without draining everything first is not good.
Flushing, fogging, and draining is what you want to do first, then pour the AF in.
 
Depending on the pump you had, and it's GPM/head pressure, it may have been inadequate for the job. Or the hose was kinked... or the impellers could be shot... there's at least a few variables. Just because the impellers are relatively new, doesn't mean they're not bad (although unlikely given what you mentioned about how the boat ran).

A barrel can work, but it's a pain to fit the drive in there. Just use a set of muffs and good water pressure/flow from a hose. Or take it to a ramp.

You can remove the intake hose at the t-stat housing and check for good water flow and compare it to Merc's specs, if you want (GPM).

For what it's worth, I use the same one as Blueone referenced - no chance of it slipping off.
 
Lazy Daze said:
Depending on the pump you had, and it's GPM/head pressure, it may have been inadequate for the job. Or the hose was kinked... or the impellers could be shot... there's at least a few variables. Just because the impellers are relatively new, doesn't mean they're not bad (although unlikely given what you mentioned about how the boat ran).

A barrel can work, but it's a pain to fit the drive in there. Just use a set of muffs and good water pressure/flow from a hose. Or take it to a ramp.

You can remove the intake hose at the t-stat housing and check for good water flow and compare it to Merc's specs, if you want (GPM).

For what it's worth, I use the same one as Blueone referenced - no chance of it slipping off.
Click to expand...
thanks and yes I believe I will purchase a better set of muffs.
 
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