150 Evinrude xp cooling

[lancer]

On my last outing in the fall my alarm went off on my 1991 150 evinrude. I noticed there was no water spraying from the water discharge. The alarm did not stay on but rather just a loud chirp. I shut it down for a while and then ran back to shore (several miles) with the alarm making a few more chirps on the ride. When I shut down at the dock the motor did not seem overly hot. No cracking\popping and the cover was not hot to the touch. I guess my question is, is the impeller shot when water is not sparying out in a steady stream. I noticed that water barely sprayed out, or was sputtering out on several previous trips but the motor never seemed to overheat. Should it be a constant flow as in other motors that I have owned and how big of a job is it to replace the impeller. (Roughly how expensive at a dealer)

Any help/insight would be appreciated

[marine_man]

It sounds like, based on the fact that the alarm went off, that you've got a weak or non existent water pump, despite the fact that the engine block did not feel hot.

When was the last time you replaced or had the water pump replaced?

It's not a terribly difficult job to do, it just requires time and some patience, and perhaps just a little bit of luck to make sure that the shift linkages line up, but it's not hard if you're the least bit mechanically inclined.

I'm not sure what dealers are getting for a water pump replacement - I'd guess it'd take 1 - 1 1/2 hours to complete at the most, so labor will run somewhere between 100 and 125 plus parts, so probably 200 max... but I usually do it myself, so I don't have a real good feel for it. If you do it yourself it'll cost you probably $25 for an impeller and that's about it.

I will tell you one thing though - the sooner you do it the quicker you'll get your boat back - don't wait until spring and hope to have your boat back in a hurry.

marine_man

[CatManLee]

Check the "[PoorWordUsage]er" for blockage. Open the hood, unhook the hose and see if it's plugged. I have had a few times where this was the problem, and it worked fine afterwards. All it takes is a little pebble and it can block the flow.

As posted above though, if it's been a while since the impellar was replaced you should probably replace it anyways. Over time it will start to work less and less, eventually warping so bad, it won't push any water at all.

Check out the "[PoorWordUsage]er" first and go from there.

[marine_man]

Quote:

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Check the "[PoorWordUsage]er" for blockage.

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While this would explain the tell tale stream, it usually won't make the buzzer go off. Only a small percentage of the cooling water flows out the [PoorWordUsage]er. The rest is returned through the back of the motor.

It is something to check for sure though...

marine_man

[kjgmh]

Is your oil tank low? That is the only alarm that would be a intermintent chirp. Overheat, no oil or fuel supply vacuum would cause either a steady or constant beep. It could be coincedence that tell tale was plugged and oil was low.

[marine_man]

Good point kjgmh... it could have been a low oil buzzer.

I'd still check into making sure the tell tale water stream is running good (remove whatever's plugging it or replace the water pump impeller).

marine_man

[lancer]

Oil was fine, I checked it as soon as the alarm chirped. Thanks for the input on the impeller. I am going to pick one up next week and hopefully its a job I can handle myself. I will also check for any plugs in the line. I have owned the boat for several years and never done any maint. to the cooling system.

Thanks again

[marine_man]

This thread should give you a pretty good feel for what's involved and what to look out for.

Good Luck!

marine_man

[lancer]

Thanks a bunch, that is exactly the type of info I was searching for. As soon as the weather warms I am going to dig in.

Thanks again everyone