Low water pressure at idle????????

[Bullet Basser]

I have a 05 250Xs and it has little to no water pressure at idle. It has plenty of water pressure when running. It has a good pee stream at idle but will overheat if left running very long. Smartcraft is showing less than 1 pound of pressure. It has a new water pump and the housing is ok. The only thing that I can think of is that it has silt in the water jackets?? It is on a bass boat and I have ran the sportmaster into the sand before:( :( The other day I went to start it on the water hose and when I took the plug out of the back of the motor it had alot of silt on it. Should I be worried about this??? It never gets hot when running just at idle. It gets good water pressure about 1500 rpms. If I took off the heads to make sure it was clear would it void my warranty?? Thanks for any advice, Shayne Ward :cool:

[The Big Al]

Normal!

And yes if you unbolt just about anything your done.

If they find out about it.

And the dealer and the mechanic make more money on customer pay than warranty, in most cases double! So if they can void it they will.

The engine does have a corrosion warranty.

So Don't touch it.

[Bullet Basser]

Al, are you saying the low water pressure is normal? If so is there anything that I can do to raise it up a little? Thanks Shayne

[Jay Smith]

Restrict the pisser ( s ) a bit that will raise the gauge pressure at idle. Pressure is created by restriction to a pumping system either by size of the discharge or an obstruction in the discharge system ( as an orfice ).....BUT always remember that higher pressure readings caused by an obstruction ( either by choice or by debre ) will cause a heat increase...Pressure is sometimes a two edged sword......

good luck,

[The Big Al]

Should I be worried about this??? It never gets hot when running just at idle. Shayne Ward :cool:

No problems, don't start none wont be none!:)

be HAPPY

TEMP IS NEVER MEASURED BY PRESSURE, IT IS MEASURED BY A TEMP GAUGE,

TEMP GO UP, LOW PRESSURE COULD BE THE PROBLEM.
ALSO, TEMP GOES UP AND PRESSURE IS HIGH, COULD BE STEAM PRESSURE!!!!

THE PRESSURE GAUGE IS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE WATER PUMP.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY MERCURY V6 OUTBOARD WITH OVER 1 OR 2psi AT IDOL. (IE: 850RPM OR LOWER)

[Bullet Basser]

Al, I understand what you are saying but this thing over heats when idleing and the water temps down here are in the lower 50s?????

[rhickox]

Did you change the upper and lower housings and all the gasgets, along with the o-ring below the lower housing?? Sportmasters are particularly bad about spitting the lower gasget out!!!

[props4u2]

Does your temp alarm go off,(solid beep)? As Al stated, 1-4 psi is normal @ low rpm's on the opti's. I have seen the temps go up as high as 135 degrees @ idle, then down to 98 @ wot. I doubt you have any silt problems as the pressure comes up as soon as you are off idle. You could have trash in your port thermostat causing it to bypass too much water which will cause low water psi & the starboard head to over heat, if you have an engine monitor gauge, it only reads the starboard head temp, you can feel the heads while running on a hose, if the port head stays much cooler, pull the thermostat and clean it out.



Lee

[THE FAST ONE]

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Did you change the upper and lower housings and all the gasgets, along with the o-ring below the lower housing?? Sportmasters are particularly bad about spitting the lower gasget out!!!SHAYNE,I WOULD FOR SURE CHECK BELOW WATER PUMP ,BEING IT A SPORTMASTER ,I AGREE WITH RYAN --ED

[The Big Al]

If it's under warranty, is this not covered?

AL

[props4u2]

Also removing a head for inspection will not void your warranty unless you create a problem by doing so, that causes the engine to fail. This is so with all forms of warranties. The problem is that you may have to prove that you didn't cause a failure.


Lee