outboard honda 35 no water from telltale

[Matt72]

Hi

 

I am new to boating and do not any experience of outboards, last week I started my honda 35 outboard and only got a small trickle of water from the telltale, then it stopped completely. I got a paperclip and pushed it up the hole and tried again and got a good stream of water. Ran the engine for about 30mins all was fine.

 

Today I have been down again and I got the same small trickle then nothing. I tried the paperclip again but this time it did not clear the problem. Do I now need to get a professional to have a look or is there something else I can try?

 

Thanks

Matt

[gazza]

Hi

 

I am new to boating and do not any experience of outboards, last week I started my honda 35 outboard and only got a small trickle of water from the telltale, then it stopped completely. I got a paperclip and pushed it up the hole and tried again and got a good stream of water. Ran the engine for about 30mins all was fine.

 

Today I have been down again and I got the same small trickle then nothing. I tried the paperclip again but this time it did not clear the problem. Do I now need to get a professional to have a look or is there something else I can try?

 

Thanks

Matt

 

it may just be spider debris blocking it. god knows why the like bunging up the outlet!! i suffer the same with my yam outboard from time to time. you may well have forced the blockage up into the pipe, a drill bit used with care is a better bet.

 

remove the tell tale pipe from the outlet fitting, remove it from the head or wherever it connects to and make sure it is clear, a blast of air will help. briefly running the engine up with the pipe off will confirm if the impeller is still ok. if all is well refit the now cleaned tell tale pipe.

 

if you have no flow of cooling water with a clear pipe you are most likely in for a new impeller.

 

hope this helps

 

gaz

[Alan de Enfield]

It could be a few things (from no cost to fix to fairly expensive)

 

1st - is water coming out of the exhaust ?

If yes (and in sufficient amount) it could be just the tell-tale blocked.

If No then it could either be a blocked impeller or (if the engine has been run without water going thru the impellor) a melted impeller.

 

Diconnect the tell-tale pipe from the engine and try blowing thru it.

Is water coming out of the engine / tell tale fitting ?

Is the engine getting unusually hot ?

 

I'm not familiar with this model but Johnson, Evinrude, Force etc all seem to be similar.

 

The impeller is very simple to change but you will need a workshop manual. (there are gear linkages etc to disconnect which vary model to model)

The 'leg' will split about half-way up (somewhere around the cavitation plate normally) when you drop the leg the impeller will be obvious, it will slide out (on a key-way), slide a new one in )ensure you bend the rubber 'vanes' the correct way, re-assemble the leg and way you go,

 

Until you sort it out keep any engine running (for the various tests) to a minimum to avoid engine damage

 

Edit - great minds think alike & fools seldom differ

Edited January 28, 2012 by Alan de Enfield

[Springer Skipper]

Once you know the pipe itself is clear,reconnect it. Blow back down the pipe,yer might like to push anothe pipe over it so as to get at it easy.You should get bubbles out of the leg by the prop.If you dont you may hav silt or corrosion at the base of the inlet manifold.Runnig in silty slurry used to block mine regularly,I had a bicycle punp to blow it back with,I just didnt fancy canal water to drink!Also leaving an engine without running it for a fair while can give corrossion a chance to start.

Best of luk,try the simple things first,the impeller is probably the least likely culprit.

[Matt72]

Thanks everyone

 

I think and hope it is something fairly simple, I have been running the engine every week or 2 over the winter and it has been fine. One more question, I am currently in my berth bow forward and to get at the engine I would need to turn round - would running the engine for long enough to turn round damage it ?

 

Thanks

Matt

[Matt72]

Hi

 

Just a thought - even though it was not freezing in the day yesterday could there be ice in the engine?

 

Thanks

Matt

[Paringa]

Have you tilted the engine? Just check nothing is blocking or wrapped around the inlet...It should be marked as such and if i remember is a grey or black plastic cover on the leg...that is the bit in the water.

 

If it was showing water coming out and now has stopped again, it probably means you just forced the blockage back up the pipe and now it has moved back down again...It is a fairly simple affair to strip that pipe off and check it...but with a bit of poking about you may just allow it through and out. The pipe is wider than the tell-tale exit so it is most probably blocked at that union not the pipe itself...

 

As others have said it may be the pump, but as it was working briefly and has now stopped it seems unlikely as they are pretty simple, reliable things.

 

Oh, and 5 mins to turn around is not going to be a problem but as you are aware not for much more.

 

Good luck

Edited January 29, 2012 by Paringa

[Matt72]

Thank you everyone - with your help I have sorted the problem - it was a blockage further back in the pipe. A bit more knowledge is gained and if it happens again I will know what to do. Lost 3 paperclips though, think I will have to take a supply with me.

 

Matt

[Georgina]

This is quite a common problem with outboards - even ones which use clean sea water, not canal soup. I have had it happen twice and spoke to Yamaha engineer about it. Answer - remove the little jet which is screwed in to the tell tale apperture, then pass a tiny drill which is just a bit larger through the jet hole and replace. The cause is that the manufacturers expect their products to be used in pure tapwater and make these jet apertures far too small. Don't make a massive hole - just get a drill bit that will just not go through the existing one.

[Matt72]

Thanks for that, will try it out later in the season. You would think they would just make the hole bigger to start with.

 

Matt

[Seagull]

Hi.

The problem with outboard motors is that they are cooled by "raw water". The dissolved lime sticks inside the water jacket and surrounding water cooling tracts and sometimes breaks away and blocks these tracts, especially the telltale feed. Usually the main cooling system still works but it is a good idea to have the engine internally descaled. I Regularly descale mine by dismantling and scraping out the limescale but this is a DIY job. It is amazing the amount of scale that builds up inside an outboard cooling system. Paying for this work to be done can cost a fortune. I have found however that running the boat in seawater for a few hours seems to reduce the amount of clogging. Please don't ask me why because quite honestly I do not know. Obviously checking the filter is correct but I have only had mine blocked once in the many years I have had the engine.

 

Hope this helps.

[Alan de Enfield]

Hi.

The problem with outboard motors is that they are cooled by "raw water". The dissolved lime sticks inside the water jacket and surrounding water cooling tracts and sometimes breaks away and blocks these tracts, especially the telltale feed. Usually the main cooling system still works but it is a good idea to have the engine internally descaled. I Regularly descale mine by dismantling and scraping out the limescale but this is a DIY job. It is amazing the amount of scale that builds up inside an outboard cooling system. Paying for this work to be done can cost a fortune. I have found however that running the boat in seawater for a few hours seems to reduce the amount of clogging. Please don't ask me why because quite honestly I do not know. Obviously checking the filter is correct but I have only had mine blocked once in the many years I have had the engine.

 

Hope this helps.

 

With some 20 years of using outboards in sea water I've actually found the reverse. When switching off the engine it seems as if the heat of the engine evaporates the water leaving salt crystals which block up the waterways and telltale very quickly. It is standard practice on sea-water ourboards to use a 'muff-flush' and rinse the engine thru' with fresh water.

[Seagull]

With some 20 years of using outboards in sea water I've actually found the reverse. When switching off the engine it seems as if the heat of the engine evaporates the water leaving salt crystals which block up the waterways and telltale very quickly. It is standard practice on sea-water ourboards to use a 'muff-flush' and rinse the engine thru' with fresh water.

 

Hi.

 

Is this not standard practise when using outboards in sea water? I was just saying that when my engine is stripped and serviced by myself It appeared that there was less build up of limescale. The engine is obviously run in fresh water afterwards, you would be a clot not to do this.

[cereal tiller]

Hi.

 

Is this not standard practise when using outboards in sea water? I was just saying that when my engine is stripped and serviced by myself It appeared that there was less build up of limescale. The engine is obviously run in fresh water afterwards, you would be a clot not to do this.

After working on a boat at milton on sea,i was driving back via the new forest when i remembered my yamaha out board had still got sea water in it's cooling system.

 

so i stopped by a stream in the forest,put my wellies on,and lifted the outboard from the van and stood it in about a foot of water and ran it up for a minute or so.

 

Had just turned the engine off when a voice said "never seen anyone do that before".

 

it was a new forest ranger on horseback,he eventually believed my explanation!