Speedometer keep getting plugged on outdrive.

KrazyKarl

Member
Jun 26, 2022
58
Boat Info
1999 190CC Sea Ray
Engines
4.3L Alpha (190 PHP) MCM stern drive
I'm a new owner of a 1999 SeaRay 190 CC with a MerCruser Alpha 1 out drive & the small hole in the front of the out drive keeps getting junk in it. I have cleaned it out many times but it still gets plugged. Is there a different way to get the speedo to work that doesn't get plugged all the time.
 
^^^ what he said, for real accurate i use an app on my phone, previous owner bypassed the outdrive pickup with a transom mounted pitot tube which really is not much better. you can spend a lot of money for a dash mounted gps unit, or get a phone app. I use Speedtracker on iphone, it works well and log trips.
 
I keep having the same problem on my 200 Select - keep getting little pieces of wood in there as we have a lot of garbage in our lakes...I pick it out and speedo works for a while, then something gets in that tiny hole again... Not really sure it's accurate anyway as others have said, but I cannot stand the gauge at zero all the time...almost as bad as a check engine light!!
 
I got mine opened up a little, it takes a few minutes of running before the speedo starts to come up. As I come off plane it takes a few minutes to show I've stopped.
 
It's still clogged.

It's just the nature of the beast in certain waters with stuff floating around.

Ream out what you can till you bottom out the drill bit. Then try blowing it out - disconnect it at the quick connect fitting by the cavity on the front of the engine by the anti-ventilation plate.
 
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I actually bought a spare yellow fitting that connects the pitot passage on the drive to the hose that goes into the boat. I connected that spare fitting to a hose adapter and then connect to my garden hose and force water down into the pitot passage, back flushing the passage on a regular basis, to clear anything out of there.

Mud and gunk will build up in there over time, since there is "no actual flow" flushing it out.
 

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