Could this be the problem?

[tmbrown]

Last season, I was out at a lake party with my boat... havin' a great time, then the thing started overheating... of course, I felt like an idiot - everyone pretty much jumped off my boat and headed out on someone else's. This was labor day weekend... I was figuring I'd killed the impeller, because if I hit the gas hard, it'd keep cooler, but if the rpm's were under 2000, it would overheat extremely fast. Bought a new impeller on the way home, figured it'd be an easy fix, but when I opened up the fresh water pump, the impeller still looked brand new. Couldn't be the water pump - I just replaced it at the start of the season so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

I had just rebuilt the motor at the start of the season - by this point, I'd gone through almost everything in the boat, so of course I'm looking for things I hadn't touched. I'm checking for blockage in the cooling system; problems with manifold at the front of the intake manifold, and everything else imaginable. Just no luck...

For that reason, I hadn't bothered to break it out yet - just too irritated to deal with it and try to figure out what happened. Finally took it out of the garage and tried running it outside last weekend... looked good for 15 mins, then temperature flew up. So, tested every possible hose/pathway to make sure things were flowing smoothly, and found nothing.

I decided to take my best possible guess: That "brand new" water pump off e-bay (from www.ebasicpower.com)... Of course I wasn't smart enough to save the original, which had nothing wrong with it other than being old and not looking good on the rebuilt engine. So, taking a complete gamble, and thoroughly discouraged, I bought a new water pump, just to see. As I'm taking the water pump off, I hear an encouraging sound... a thumping noise that just doesn't seem quite right... I open up the cover, and the pic shows what I see...

Luckily, have the new water pump sitting there... throw it on, and it seems like everything is good! Can't wait to hit the water first thing tomorrow morning to see what else needs to be fixed!

Long story... but that thing p*ssed me off, so I gotta vent... Where better?

[tmbrown]

I feel brilliant... took the boat out this morning to see how it was running... watching gauges close, all seeming ok... then after about 20 mins, start to smell something funny... open the engine compartment, and I'm getting sprayed by power steering fluid. Now, I know my PS pump is going out - not terribly shocked, so I figure it finally crapped out. headed in, knowing I needed to be quick about it. Got home and checked it out, and here's what I see... apparently when rerouting the hoses after the water pump replacement, I misrouted the power steering hose!

I feel smart.

[Commodore]

tmbrown, it happens to all of us. Don't sweat it. At least you're back on the water. As for the hose.... That's pretty funny, but an easy fix. Have fun out on the water.

[Styk33]

I pulled my engine apart down to the pistons when I could not find my problem. At least you figured out what was wrong and it runs right now.