Yamaha 3hp Question

[GudeMN]

I have a 1990-something 3hp Yamaha I tried out tonight for the first time. Fired up great, ran like a top except for one concern I have. No water coming out of the "pee hole". I actually couldn't find a pee hole on the thing. It didn't seem right and after 5 minutes or so.... performance seemed to lag and the motor would kill. Overheat I assumed. Back on shore I took the hood off looked everywhere inside and out but couldn't come up with a hole I was confident water should be coming out of. I know some low HP motors are air-cooled but I didn't think this one was. Any insight from any one. The tag with serial/model number is absent so I can't be sure of year/model but the seller assured me it was mid-90's. Clean as can be on the inside and ran great. Just a bit concerned about the absence of a steady stream coming out. Thanks for any help.

[Outfitter17]

Hey Gudemn,

I have a mid 90's 3hp, I havn't run it for a while. I will put in on a small boat this week and report back to you.

[CatManLee]

Check to see if it has a water intake on the lower unit...If there is a screen down there, it's water cooled (and probably is) and you either have a plugged water tube someplace or your impeller needs replacing.

If you can find the tell tail (Pea Hole), check to make sure it's not plugged by sticking a Paper clip or something in the hole and see if it is plugged (it's the smallest hole in the system past the intake screen). If it is plugged with a small pebble or something, disconnect the end of the hose while running in water and let the water flush it out.

If all that looks good, then you need to replace the impeller. You can bring it somewhere to have it done or do it yourself. It's really not a hard job, and can be done pretty quickly if you're fairly handy. The hardest part is figuring how your particular lower unit comes apart, then it's just dropping it out, taking the water pump housing apart, and replacing the impeller the same way it came out...It's just things like lining up the shafts, water tube, etc again when putting it back together that can be a pain once in a while.

Good luck...and if it is air cooled??? Forget everything I said.

[marine_man]

The 3 HP is water cooled. I'm certain of that.

What I'm not certain about is if it has a telltale stream - some smaller motors exhaust all of the water through the exhaust port.

Take a look under the hood - are there any hoses that run from the head / block area to the cowl?

marine_man

[GudeMN]

Thanks for all the responses guys. It is water cooled, that I found out for sure. But I haven't been able to to find the pee hole to be sure. There aren't any hoses running to the base of the cowl so marine_man may have nailed that one. I'm going to stick it in a tub and run it for awhile to get a look before I take it in. I had it on a MoMarsh Fatboy marsh boat while running it and there was no way to get a good look at the motor while underway. Thanks for the help. I write if I discover anything.