Check your tell-tale with low water levels

[cjac]

Quick tip/reminder to pass along.

Last night went out and noticed I didn't have the tell-tale (a.k.a "pee stream") going on the motor when I started it up. I found a small pebble lodged in the tell-tale rubber output valve itself. Must have got sucked up and went all the way thru and got lodged there. It was enough to stop the water flow, so the water was trapped in the motor and would have likely overheated.

With lower than normal levels, I can see how this happened. Glad I noticed, could have been a very bad situation had I not. Simply passing along a reminder to take a look over your shoulder and make sure the motor is kicking out water.

Chris

PS Also watched a boat end up on the concrete ramp as the trailer was being pulled out. Check your straps too!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Good reminder! We had problems with our pontoon last summer. Between low water and a family of muskrats, the outboard sucked up a lot of junk, blocking the water flow. I usually ended up blowing water back through the tell tale with my mouth to clear it out

[iffy]

FYI; I notice that most posters on the forum believe as you do. But that is incorrect. That tell tale stream you refer to is just that, a tell tale stream. It is not where all the cooling water from an engine goes. In fact very little of it goes out there. It virtually all exits thru the prop. So, you most certainly would not have overheated your engine just because it was plugged. But its a good idea to watch the telltale anyway, because if it quits it could be signifying water pump problems.

[ChuckN]

Ditto to iffy... the stream is only an indicator.

[cjac]

Thanks for clarifying, I can say I learned something today! Trying to learn as much as I can to keep out of the repair shop.

Chris