Raw water circulation

[Glock]

So, I pulled my 2012 TXI with the 5.7 out of storage to do a little work on it. The engine was completely drained when I put it away in October.

 

Today, I wanted to run the engine so I could run some Stabil through the system and fill the engine with antifreeze, even though the manual says that's not necessary. I hooked the garden hose up to the water intake hose and started the engine. The water didn't circulate once the engine was running. I checked the impeller, which was good, and all of the hoses to make sure nothing was blocking them.

 

Anyone have any clue what might be going on? I hope it's something simple.

[whitecaps]

Did you use a fake-a-lake to connect water hose? Or go directly into the raw water pump intake hose? I'm wadering if you didnt get enough to prime the raw water pump so it could start to pick up. Also, did you see water come out with the exhaust? If you did then all should be good but perhaps it didnt warm up enough to open your thermostat so as to allow water to circulate within the engine.

[MISkier]

How long did you run it? It seems to me that I had to run my engine a while one year to fully fill it and get some water to run out through the risers. It was several minutes. Like you, I was concerned something was wrong. While it was running, I even checked with the service department at the dealership that had winterized it (mine had been filled with antifreeze). They said it can happen where it takes longer than you think. In my case, I watched the temperature gauge like a hawk. Eventually, the water started to flow and all was well. That was a couple of years ago. No issues.

 

I change my impeller every other year. So, I was relatively certain that was not the issue.

 

The other thing to check is if you have a valve on your raw water intake hose at the hull. My Malibu does. I think it is to shut down if a hose were to burst to avoid sinking the boat. Make sure that is open.

 

Finally, if you are using something like Fake a lake and water is not forcefully splashing out on the driveway, the water is probably going into the engine. In my case, there was very, very little water leaking from the bottom of the hull. So, I was fairly sure the intake was bringing water in. No leaks from the engine or heater. Don't know why it took so long, but it did.

[whitecaps]

Also, I've had a perfectly good appearing impeller be bad as it was stripped from the hub. Upon inspection you couldnt tell it was bad.

[Glock]

I used the garden hose straight to the intake. It seemed to work for 10 seconds then all the water just spit back out the intake hose. Never got any water out the exhaust either. How long does it take for the thermostat to open?

[whitecaps]

When you say intake, are you referring to the intake that goes into the raw water pump?

[Glock]

Yep, the hose that goes straight to the water pump.

[whitecaps]

Probably just didnt run it long enough. Water hose was putting out more than the pump pulls in. With a fake a lake you'd see water spewing out from the plunger at hull intake but not until the engine has run for a while. You may have just reached that point but once you saw water going everywhere you felt like it wasnt taking anymore in but I bet it was.

[oldjeep]

Has your 2012 been checked for the recall on the engine water pump? There was a recall from indmar regarding a batch of pumps where the impeller would crack in half. Mine was part of that recall.

[Jmoski]

Can you share a picture of how your connecting the hose to the intake hose? If you don't have a good seal that could be the issue.

 

I prefer to:

 

1. disconnect the feed hose going into the raw water strainer

2. connect on a 8' section of clear 1" tube (from home depot) onto the barbed connector

3. run the other end into a 5 gallon bucket (suspended from a step ladder so the RWP isn't fighting gravity)

4. secure a running hose into the bucket to supply the water

 

This way you can monitor the level in the bucket to insure it's drawing correctly while you wait to see it start to spill out the exhaust onto the driveway. You have to pay attention though as my boat at idle will draw slightly faster than the hose can supply, so I have to stop every few minutes and let the bucket refill.

 

On a side note, you can pull the AF out the bucket as well with this set up - just make sure you drain all of the water out first and then remove the impeller and rinse it off after your done.

 

 

[Glock]

Thanks for all the input. I will try some of the suggestions this afternoon and see how it goes.

[Tidbury]

Years ago I had the same problem. Turned out that I had connected the hoses back up the wrong way around. I had the intake on the output side of the pump. The hose pressure would force a small amount of water through the engine. I finally figured it out when I hooked a hose up and put it in a bucket. Only took me a few seconds to figure it out when I saw that the hose was blowing bubbles...

[Glock]

Well, I'm going to take it to the professionals to see what is going on.

[MISkier]

What is the water quality where you are running the boat? Could there be some sort of silt buildup somewhere that is impeding flow through the block?

[Glock]

@MISkier, I ran it in a river and private lake last year. Water quality is pretty good, but that could definitely be possible. When I ran it yesterday, still no water out the ehaust pipes. When I pulled the plugs, water came out of the starboard side block plug and exhaust drain hose, but no water out the port side block plug.

 

Do they have to pull the engine apart if it's clogged internally?

[MISkier]

@Glock, I believe it may be a rebuild situation to clear the block of sediment. @Jody_Seal or @RichardDoane may know for sure. If you damage a cylinder or melt a piston due to a hot spot, it's a rebuild anyway.

 

Did the boat ever overheat or toast an impeller? Sometimes, impeller bits can be the "sediment" causing the blockage.

[Glock]

No, impeller is good.

[Glock]

Boat has never overheated. Man, now I'm worried. What does a rebuild cost these days?

[MISkier]

I don't know the cost, but I suspect somewhere around 2K.

[RichardDoane]

@glock - invest in a "fake a lake", then double check the raw water pump direction like @Tidbury said, I've made that mistake before on re-installation. Very rare to have sediment completely plug a cooling system. Once you get raw water moving throughout the system, remove the block side drain plugs, restart the engine and wiggle a zip tie or piece of solid core copper wire to dislodge any sediment build up that's accumulated until water flows out well. Check the intake end of the transmission cooler for debris and dead impellor pieces.

[DW]

@Glock : if you bypass the raw water pump (either by connecting a water hose after the pump or by simply removing the impeller and reassembling w/o it) and supply water to the water intake hose, you should even without running your engine get some water to come out the exhaust system as it will pass through the bypass circuit even when tstat is closed as noted above.

[bigskieridaho]

@Glock Hey bro, I have had issues like this and it is almost like a Vapor lock in the fuel but in the water system. Yes fake a lake with some good water pressure should clear it up. I will be out in Portland sooner than later if you want me to cruise over and help ya out. Shoot me a text and let me know.

[Sethro]

I agree. I think we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. Give the engine a couple of quick rpm boosts and I bet water flows out of the exhaust.

[Glock]

Got the water going. Shop hooked it up to fake a lake and it worked. Not sure why my method wasn't working, this is what I did when I worked at a nautique dealer in college. Anyhow, I am very happy to not have a huge repair bill.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I love this site!