QX line

[KK&Pops]

Sorry for your difficulties.
It does sound like your cooling water passages could be clogged with salt & sand. Your outboard engine should be producing a solid steady stream of pee while at idle and when running at travel speeds. If this isn’t happening it will highly likely create an overheating engine problem which can cause serious damage (Quickly).
If your engine is dribble peeing you might not be completely clogged and might be able to flush it with a product like Salt Away. Amazon sells it. I would flush it several times with Salt Away hoping the product will help breakaway the impacted salt & sand. If you get the engine to pee better you can then lower the boat lift to allow the lower engine cooling water intake ports below the water level and run engine at idle on the boat lift until the pee stream recovers to an acceptable level. If overheating alarm sound’s immediately turn engine off and allow it to cool down before trying it again. I would do all of this while on boat lift. If I were you I wouldn’t venture far from my boat lift until I got the proper pee stream.

 

[Julianna]

Lots of questions here as your nomenclature might be off.

Is the hose attachment the one on the outside of the cowling? What broke on it?

What exhaust vale are you talking about? The engine normally exhausts through the gearcase at the propeller while running, but at idle there is a square black exhaust port that will generally be the primary exhaust port. Water should not be coming out of there unless there is a blockage somewhere, although it's not a big deal from what I've heard.

Are you getting high temperature alarms? Do you have a water pressure gauge and what does that indicate?

My guess is you have some of that sand/silt/crud up in your thermostats or PCV and it's creating more pressure in your cooling passages causing it to come out the exhaust relief port. If you are a DIY type you could pull all of those parts, check/clean and lube and see if it helps, also could pull the lower unit and check your impeller and exhaust damper gasket.

OR just run the engine making sure you don't have a high temp alarm and hope over time any blockages work themselves free.

Pictures would help as well.

My nomenclature? Do you have a PhD in Physics and Electrical Engineering? No offense but you sLund like my Dad lol. And yes my terminology is probably waaayyy off.
Yes the hose attachment on the outside of the cowling separated from the inside but was still attached to my water hose. And I don’t have the best water pressure so I was surprised it disconnected from the inside. I was able to reassemble.
‘I’m talking about the square exhaust port about 1/2 way up and it was dribbling water not streaming.
‘No high temp alarms going off only shallow alarms. I’ll check water pressure gage (if I can find it on Simrad)
DIY type? Umnnn nope. Basic that’s it. But if I watch YouTube maybe
I’ll post some pics and short video with engine running. I don’t want to blow it up.
‘Damn I wish Dad was here! He’d say “honey call a mechanic”

 

[Potomacbassin’]

My nomenclature? Do you have a PhD in Physics and Electrical Engineering? No offense but you sLund like my Dad lol.

Well I could have said "those derned words dun't make none sense!" but I try to act learned every now and again! I especially like to nerd out on boats and cars.

I wouldn't worry unless you start getting high temp alarms, outboards ingest all sorts of things and often times they work themselves out. You can always wait until the next major service and have the tech check these things out just to be sure.

 

[Julianna]

Sorry I couldn’t resist. Just bustin your a$$. I do need to learn the correct terminology though. Hopefully I’m being overly concerned. I’ll post pics and videos in a few

 

[Julianna]

Here are pics of the engine. Sorry it’s a mess just got in.

 

[Julianna]

This is thr hole im concerned about. Is it an exhaust hole, which dribbles water occasionally, or a pee hole which has no stream. Engine are not overheating and no alarms are going off. Also should i be using bilage pump at all times with the tritoon? Bost is on s lift. Just wondering if i should coming out of the hole. Thanks!

 

[Potomacbassin’]

Here is a 450R running, you can see the telltale location.

Some engines have strong "pee streams" and others look to have prostate problems but otherwise run fine. The best and primary indicator of any cooling issue is the coolant temperature and any alarms. Secondary to that, a telltale not spitting water is an indicator of a POTENTIAL issue such as your intakes being clogged with mud or grass, but not always. Your intakes actually could be clear and cooling water temp perfect but your telltale has some crud jammed in it.

That's why running the boat is going to be your best test of what is going on.

As far as your bilge pump goes, generally it should be wired direct to the battery and set to auto. I could see an argument that since our boats won't likely sink if the center toon fills with water then wiring the bilge through the master switch allows us to kill all load on the battery preserving it over long periods. Obviously you can just remember to flip the switch from auto to off or just disconnect the battery, really several ways to skin the cat.

 

[Julianna]

There was no stream coming out of this hole so it must be an exhaust valve port? I should have taken pic of engine while driving. I will do that tomorrow. But nothing was overheating nor were there alarms going off. Took pic of coolant temps. Said system was ok? Does it look normal? And yes bilge pump is set on auto. I do think the ladder is not mounted correctly even though it was deck mounted. It was dragging some water when closed. Here are some pics…

 

[BigD]

The "telltale" port not peeing when the engine is lowered in the water can often be cured by running some weedeater string up in there a few times. I carry it on the boat at all times as I am not comfortable not seeing a stream of water there. You shouldn't be either though it may not be a problem for your engine. But it could be. Weedeater string and a fresh water flush is often a cure. Crap gets in that port, especially if you leave your motor in the water.

 

[Julianna]

I answered my own question.

The "telltale" port not peeing when the engine is lowered in the water can often be cured by running some weedeater string up in there a few times. I carry it on the boat at all times as I am not comfortable not seeing a stream of water there. You shouldn't be either though it may not be a problem for your engine. But it could be. Weedeater string and a fresh water flush is often a cure. Crap gets in that port, especially if you leave your motor in the water.

I’m going to have to get in the canal because I can’t reach it. Even when I lift it up I can’t reach it. It almost feels like the engine needs to be mounted about 4-6” higher because I’m having a helluva time trimming it up through shallow water. I did notice the ladder was dragging through water today. So that definitely needs corrected. I’ve driven boats for 20+ years and the engine feels off. I’m going to see if my mechanic friend can look at it. I’ll try the weed eater line tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Potomacbassin’]

Water temp for a Merc in the 150-160 range appears normal. 10+ psi while running also seems normal.

That doesn't mean definitively there are no restrictions somewhere but at least your engine is happy and in range. You could spend a bunch of time and money to flush/backflush every line and coolant passage but to what end? I's say go boating and not worry about it.

As far as your ladder goes that could just be the added weight of the larger outboard and power poles squatting the rear. But again pictures would help!

 

[Julianna]

Here. Are a couple of videos with engine running. It’s definitely not peeing. The ladder is mounted from underneath but the bottom steps are fighting water.
it‘s not letting me. Upload video for some reason. Calling dealer tomorrow to see if I can get it in soon…sigh. Oh well at least it’s not overheating…yet

 

[BigKahuna]

The video file is probably too large to post on this site .... Can you create a link for all of us to view?!?

 

[Julianna]

I have no idea to create a link for the videos. I made them short hoping there wouldn’t be an issue.

 

[Julianna]

Made an appointment for tomorrow morning to find out what is going on.

 

[Vikingstaff]

I have no idea to create a link for the videos. I made them short hoping there wouldn’t be an issue.

Whenever I want to share a video here, I upload to my YouTube page, then share the link for that YouTube video here. Sharing a video link is pretty much the only way to do it, at least the only reliable way to do it, with the forum. Pretty easy if you do it that way, but it does seem to require that work around due to video file sizes.

 

[TomS]

Made an appointment for tomorrow morning to find out what is going on.

Beautiful boat and sorry to hear of the problems you're having. I went through several dealerships here trying to get service for our Axopar/Mercs, which was kept at Sanibel Harbor Yacht Club near Punta Rassa. I used a terrific mobile mechanic for all routine maintenance, Josh Roy at Royal Marine Service & Management. He is also good with the Power Pole, Rhodan, etc. When things got tougher, my best diagnostic experience was with Offshore Performance in Ft. Myers. Bill McBride at Diversified Yacht Services on FMB is also good. Best of luck to you

 

[Potomacbassin’]

Here. Are a couple of videos with engine running. It’s definitely not peeing. The ladder is mounted from underneath but the bottom steps are fighting water.
it‘s not letting me. Upload video for some reason. Calling dealer tomorrow to see if I can get it in soon…sigh. Oh well at least it’s not overheating…yet

The ladder looks mounted properly - the handrail is bolted from the top and the steps are supported from the bottom, but it's effectively a one-piece design. Even my entry-level ladder has a lower support brace (see pic).

Because the ladder sits aft of the outer toon there is a minimal amount of water hitting it. There might be some splash coming up onto your deck as a result but not unusual. It's also being exacerbated by that beautiful but almost 700lb engine hanging off the back!

 

[Julianna]

Beautiful boat and sorry to hear of the problems you're having. I went through several dealerships here trying to get service for our Axopar/Mercs, which was kept at Sanibel Harbor Yacht Club near Punta Rassa. I used a terrific mobile mechanic for all routine maintenance, Josh Roy at Royal Marine Service & Management. He is also good with the Power Pole, Rhodan, etc. When things got tougher, my best diagnostic experience was with Offshore Performance in Ft. Myers. Bill McBride at Diversified Yacht Services on FMB is also good. Best of luck to you

Thanks for info Tom. I’ll write this down. I’ve been using The Boat House, Ken, you drive in by Cape Coral bridge. Even though they damaged the cowling, they ordered me a new one. It’s ready but waiting on the decal.
‘As for the telltale not peeing, they worked on it while in the water. Tried a thin wire, which I did a million times. nothing happen. Then he used an air compressor. He gave it a couple of shots and it worked! (I’m going to buy a small portable one). Asked how much I owed for their time and it said nothing. I even tried to tip the kid $20 and he wouldn’t take it. So at any rate it’s fixed and I’m happy.

 

[Julianna]

The ladder looks mounted properly - the handrail is bolted from the top and the steps are supported from the bottom, but it's effectively a one-piece design. Even my entry-level ladder has a lower support brace (see pic).

Because the ladder sits aft of the outer toon there is a minimal amount of water hitting it. There might be some splash coming up onto your deck as a result but not unusual. It's also being exacerbated by that beautiful but almost 700lb engine hanging off the back!

View attachment 35096

I’m wondering if I should maybe add a couple hundred pounds in the front of the boat to help balance it. Because with the swing back everyone is sitting either across from me or behind me. Just between the two of us, we add 280 pounds to the back. If friends go that’s more weight added to the back. Idk, just a thought