Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Haven't been able take the pontoon out in a couple of months so I wanted to start it to let it run for a bit. Hooked up my water hose/muffs (noticed water coming through) and cranked her up. I usually look immediately for water out of the 'pee hole' but for some reason didn't this time.

Motor is a 88hp Evinrude 2 stroke.

Started fiddling around with the radio. Then noticed the motor 'hiccup' and start to 'miss' a bit.

Looked and saw no water coming out. Shut it off, got off the boat and the hose had 'rolled' and kinked restricting the water quite a bit. Although there was still some coming through, not enough.

I un-kinked the hose and started the motor back up. It fired immediately and seemed to run fine. Water coming out to the pee hole and propeller exhaust.

I'm not really worried about the motor as it seemed to run fine, just a bit concerned about the impeller. It was installed late last year. Motor only ran initially about 4-5 minutes at most. And, it was getting some water at first, but not as much as it should have been.

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't let it bother you too much since you can't change what happend. That being said if the impeller was getting some water it's probably just fine. If it's pumping water good , again your probably fine. If it is messed up atleast an impeller is cheap and easy to replace .

I'd test it backed into the water on the trailer before I took it out.

With the hose hook-up, water pressure from the hose could be circulating water past the pump, through the engine, and out the tell-tale hole, making it appear to be pumping fine.

Be sure that the impeller is picking up and pumping water on its own before you get out on the lake and get stranded, or even worse, overheat and destroy the engine.

If it's been a while (over a year) since you had the impeller changed, you may just want to have a new one put in anyway.

BoatCop wrote:I'd test it backed into the water on the trailer before I took it out.

With the hose hook-up, water pressure from the hose could be circulating water past the pump, through the engine, and out the tell-tale hole, making it appear to be pumping fine.

Be sure that the impeller is picking up and pumping water on its own before you get out on the lake and get stranded, or even worse, overheat and destroy the engine.

If it's been a while (over a year) since you had the impeller changed, you may just want to have a new one put in anyway.

I agree, but I'd just run it in a garbage can full of water instead of taking it to the lake. If it doesn't fit in the can, remove the prop.



LC.

If your engine gets too hot, it'll just partially seize and quit. When it cools down, it'll usually start back up. Those old OMC motors are tough.

But the impeller will be cooked. Spend the $25 and install a new one. It's a easy job task.