Hey Guys,
I recently purchased a 2002 Sea Ray 185 Sport two months ago and I'm trying to troubleshoot an overheating problem. I purchased the boat without knowing ANY maintenance history as the boat was owned by a Cobalt dealer as a trade-in.
The engine is a 4.3L Mercuiser MPI (Serial #0M300066) with an Alpha 1 (Gen II) Drive (Serial #0M290514) and they're both original to the boat as far as I'm aware.
I replaced the 160 degree thermostat with a new one this past weekend, and the boat wants to overheat at idle during the sea trial in 50 degree water. At idle, the boat approaches 220 sitting at the dock (before I turned it off and let it cool). However, when we took it out and opened the throttle up a bit, the temp got a little cooler. 190 degrees was the lowest temperature appearing at full throttle - about 42mph or so. The boat had no problem staying at 200 degrees under power, but approaches 220 at idle when sitting at the dock for 3-5 minutes.
What do you you guys suspect? I'm thinking the lower unit's water pump may be to blame. If that's not the culprit, should I replace the circulating pump on the motor? And then do risers and manifolds? The boat was used in brackish waters for several years and then sat for about a year before I bought it. Any help is appreciated!
I'm currently ordering the water pump as we speak, but I'm hoping that a DIY tutorial can also be provided if possible. I've never removed the lower unit from a vessel, and I'm a little bit apprehensive about the process after reading about it in my Mercruiser repair manuals.
Thank you guys for your time, please respond back with any questions if I wasn't specific enough. I'm hoping to get on the water as soon as possible!
-Kevin
I recently purchased a 2002 Sea Ray 185 Sport two months ago and I'm trying to troubleshoot an overheating problem. I purchased the boat without knowing ANY maintenance history as the boat was owned by a Cobalt dealer as a trade-in.
The engine is a 4.3L Mercuiser MPI (Serial #0M300066) with an Alpha 1 (Gen II) Drive (Serial #0M290514) and they're both original to the boat as far as I'm aware.
I replaced the 160 degree thermostat with a new one this past weekend, and the boat wants to overheat at idle during the sea trial in 50 degree water. At idle, the boat approaches 220 sitting at the dock (before I turned it off and let it cool). However, when we took it out and opened the throttle up a bit, the temp got a little cooler. 190 degrees was the lowest temperature appearing at full throttle - about 42mph or so. The boat had no problem staying at 200 degrees under power, but approaches 220 at idle when sitting at the dock for 3-5 minutes.
What do you you guys suspect? I'm thinking the lower unit's water pump may be to blame. If that's not the culprit, should I replace the circulating pump on the motor? And then do risers and manifolds? The boat was used in brackish waters for several years and then sat for about a year before I bought it. Any help is appreciated!
I'm currently ordering the water pump as we speak, but I'm hoping that a DIY tutorial can also be provided if possible. I've never removed the lower unit from a vessel, and I'm a little bit apprehensive about the process after reading about it in my Mercruiser repair manuals.
Thank you guys for your time, please respond back with any questions if I wasn't specific enough. I'm hoping to get on the water as soon as possible!
-Kevin
