Flushing trailered I/O without Muffs

[Mullet]

Hi All,

I have a Sea Ray Amberjack with a mercruiser 5.0L coupled to a Bravo 3 (trailered). This is my first I/O boat and so I am taking some time to get used to all of the differences to outboard boating.

I do 100% of my boating in salt water and so have recently found out about the short service life of manifolds and risers :smt089. After a bit of research I have decided to replace with stainless for longevity. In order to get the very best life out of the new manifolds I would also like to increase the efficiency of my flushing (I don’t think I am being quite thorough enough for an I/O with the muffs as I live in the hills and have poor water pressure). My question is do mercruiser make a quick flush system (preferably without engine running) that you have used or are there any good aftermarket flush systems that you could recommend :huh:.

Cheers

 

[kaz911]

You cant flush the engine without it running. But all Merc's with B3's can get a hose flush adaptor installed for about $130 plus labour. You do not require a lot of water pressure to flush right.

I have it on my engine - and I flush about once pr. week - but I use SaltAway - so first rinse with salt water for 2 minutes - and then flush with SaltAway until I see "bubbles" coming out - so about 1 minute. Then done. Total time - 5 minutes pr. engine. I just had my risers off - and they look like they have a long life ahead of them.

And there is no reason to replace risers / manifolds unless it is that time yet. But annual inspection is a good idea.

 

[Mullet]

I have had the elbow block up from debris causing overheating. I pulled them off and acid bathed and now they are back on the boat. A lot of flakey material came out during the soak and flush so I think replacement is a priority.

Unfortunately, yearly inspections are not very practical from a cost point of view here in Oz ($250 for gaskets) and so that is why I am attracted to the longevity of stainless (with anodes) over cast.

why can't you flush without running the motor? Don't Volvo make something like this?

 

[Henry Boyd]

If you have a through hull raw water pickup you can modify it to flush the drive. However with the engine off water won't get past the raw water pump impeller.

The Volvo system involves teeing the raw water intake ahead of the rw pump. The teed line has a solenoid valve and connects to a container and pump(?). The container holds a salt removal chemical. The system is controlled by a switch at the helm. In the last ten minutes of operation the system is started and pumps the salt neutralizing chemical into the engine. I've only read about this and never even one in operation. As I recall its moderately pricey, and without any first hand recommendations as to effectiveness I've been unwilling to try it out.

Henry


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[Bob & Sue]

I boat in salt water nearly 100% never have heard of anyone that makes a flush kit that doesn't require running the engine. We use SaltAway after every use you can buy an adapter that fits on your muffs just run the engine up to operating temp then turn on the SaltAway till foam comes out. I would wait to see if you really need risers and manifold before replacing.

http://www.fisheriessupply.com/salt-away-salt-away-marine-corrosion-protection

 

[Mullet]

I have seen the Salt Away (and similar products) here in Western Australia. However when I flush using the muffs I don’t get a lot of water flow and the engine overheats very quickly. I have bilge pump in a kiddy pool that I now use but it is a PITA and that’s why I was hoping there was an alternative.

Regarding your last sentence: How would I know if the manifolds, risers and elbows really need replacing? From my internet research and the local Merc dealer I was under the impression that the first sign you had a problem was when the passages block up due to corrosion (check one). Once this has happened you can clean them to get a bit more life but the second sign is when your engine stops due to water flowing into the exhaust ports. I really don’t want this to happen as I regularly travel up to 80km offshore.

 

[Mullet]

I should have mentioned in my last post that I have the dry joint manifolds and so I am not too keen to replace the stainless gaskets and turbulators every year and so I was wondering if there is a way to determine useful life with out visual inspection.