Did my knucklehead family kill my engine?

[pap]

Leaving lake yesterday, son took a hard heelside digger and a mild concussion, had to jump in after him. So we're all a little worked up. I usually back the trailer up and son drives the boat up on it (wife a big chicken) and then I pull out.

Well he/they forgot to shut the engine off. I notice this probably 30-45 seconds, maybe a minute after we exit the water as we drive to the "dry off" area.

I could hear something definitely not sounding right back there, but everyone on the boat just totally forgot to shut it off.

Can anyone tell me the likelihood of doing damage to the engine from such a bonehead move? Should I have it looked at or do anything before I take it out or just hope for the best. Of course it was just idling, but I have no idea how long it takes to do damage either to the impeller or the engine itself.

I'm really hoping for good news here...

Oh, and it's a good 1.5 hours to any boat shop, so I can't just drop it in easily for a quick check.

[Sluggo]

I had a similiar thing happen with mine. Pulled out and it was about 1 minute before I noticed a strange vibration. I did end up trashing the impeller and had to fish out all the pieces, but no other damage. I would definately replace it ASAP if it's not already in shreds. I think it would take a few more minutes to heat up to the point it would cause serious damage, but that is just a guess.

[matt k]

I'd expect a big old iron block/iron heads motor like ours to handle a minor overheat without much trouble. As Sluggo says though, the impeller is another story. They're cheap and easy to replace, so I'd do that and otherwise just hope for the best.

[docdrs]

Well if nothing was on your screen the engine probably did not overheat. At 195 or 200 a big warning comes up on your dash screen. At idle I would expect all to be ok other than maybe your impeller. I would pull it and take a look. If it was only a minute I would think the impeller is still probably fine as there was water in there. If you start it dry and run for a minute then thats another story. One other issue are the exhaust pipes.....feel them to make sure they were not overheated.

[pap]

I was in the truck pulling so I have no idea if anything showed up on the screen. I don't have an extra impeller and we just replaced it this year. Nearest boat shop is over an hour away and I doubt given the holiday I'll be able to get it looked at before this weekend. Next week we are actually scheduled to attend a church camp for teaching kids how to wakeboard/ski and I'm really concerned I'll get there and the boat will croak.

My wife suggested at the time putting the boat back in to check it but I was so angry I just wanted to get home. Looking back now she was probably right (as usual....).

Is pulling the impeller out on one of these engines a difficult thing? Can you visually inspect it (i.e. if it looks normal, it's ok)?

thanks for everyone's help!

[docdrs]

do you have a water strainer? you can take it to water , start it up and watch the water get pulled thru the clear strainer, which should tell you your impeller is prob ok. you can also remove the rear black starboard transom cover to get at your impeller cover, remove the cover ,then with a flex mirror or prob a medium sized mirror take a look at the impeller.

[pap]

ordered a "fake a lake" today - will hook it up and run the engine to see if water is running through and it doesn't overheat. If it runs fine then I'll replace impeller at end of season / next season startup.

[Jetlink]

ordered a "fake a lake" today - will hook it up and run the engine to see if water is running through and it doesn't overheat. If it runs fine then I'll replace impeller at end of season / next season startup.Careful with this as a test. The hose and fake a lake can supply positive pressure to the impeller and mask an issue if the impeller is not strong enough to draw water on its own.

[pap]

Well that is a point I hadn't considered. I ordered the impeller at the same time so I guess I'll just replace it when it comes to be safe. I'm just hoping that would be the worst of it (damaged impeller). Getting to the thing looks like a pain (beneath the exhaust manifold where the cats meet) so I hope I can get the job done.

[docdrs]

Well that is a point I hadn't considered. I ordered the impeller at the same time so I guess I'll just replace it when it comes to be safe. I'm just hoping that would be the worst of it (damaged impeller). Getting to the thing looks like a pain (beneath the exhaust manifold where the cats meet) so I hope I can get the job done.

Its an 8 minute job , i believe :)


http://www.moomba.com/msgboard/showthread.php?16606-Impeller-Removal-Video-Vdrive-8-minutes&highlight=impeller

[wotan2525]

Well that is a point I hadn't considered. I ordered the impeller at the same time so I guess I'll just replace it when it comes to be safe. I'm just hoping that would be the worst of it (damaged impeller). Getting to the thing looks like a pain (beneath the exhaust manifold where the cats meet) so I hope I can get the job done.

Run a hose into a 5-gallon bucket and turn it on, drop another hose into the 5 gallon bucket and then into the fake-a-lake. This will eliminate the positive pressure coming out of the hose and test to see if the impeller can actually "suck" up the water.

Although, in my opinion -- it's time that you learn how to change an impeller. It's a cheap/easy job and one that you should be able to do at a moments notice. It always happens at the worst possible time and the fact that you have a few days before you MUST have the boat means you have a lot more time than I normally have to swap one out.

Good luck!

[pap]

Ok I got the impeller changed today. A couple things I note:

1) the factory black paint seemed to come off when I opened the cover and it appeared it had never been cracked open (the boat is a 2009), even though I paid the mechanic/marina last fall to change it when they winterized it. I wonder if they changed a different impreller (the order says "coolant impeller") - if not they ripped me off because I got charged for parts and labor to do it.

2) It was quite easy to do, I bet it took me less than 10 minutes (with great thanks for the video showing how!) and I didn't drop any screws, it was a tight fit.

3) The old impeller basically looked new. I don't think I damaged it at all, but I'm glad I went ahead and replaced it anyways.

I used the fake a lake (actually a different version from Overtons as I needed it overnighted to me) and when the engine fired up it sucked that thing right up against the boat - no question that water was being sucked in rather than pushed through. Engine ran up to about 109 and seemed to stay there so I shut it off.

I sure do appreciate everyone's help. I'm not generally mechanically inclined and would have taken this to the shop to have done if I had time, but due to our commitment to the kids camp next week and the holiday I had to do it myself.

I did find one other issue, but I'm going to post a different thread on that one.... Here (https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?11229-Water-leaking-around-drive-shaft-normal-not-normal)

[matt k]

Since the old impeller looked good, keep it in your toolbox on the boat in case you accidentally fry one some day.

[pap]

Ummm, don't really have a toolbox on the boat. Probably something I should look into. I thought about putting it on the boat, but then thought I would not have an extra gasket or the nut driver to remove the cover.

Maybe I'm a schmuck, but with newer boats is it really warranted to have a tool kit on board? We're on small lakes, not out miles from shore or anything like that.

[matt k]

It all depends on your perspective. To me, flagging down somebody and getting towed home (or worse flooding/sinking the boat) because I didn't have a couple hose clamps or a screwdriver (or a spare impeller), etc. would make me a schmuck. But I also own a 20+ year old boat, and I enjoy working on it. I think it's a bit irresponsible not to have a least some basic tools on the boat, but as you said, most likely you'll never need them...

[Jetlink]

Or, you could just go boating with Michael Hunter too, he shows up with a "tool van" instead of just a tool box. That's the proper way to roll I think.

[pap]

Is there a "suggestion" list posted somewhere of stuff I should have available. I'm not a mechanic, but if there are common things that might go wrong, I guess I should be prepared. We've only had the boat two years and never had any issues, so I guess I'm complacent.

[sydneyACE]

I always bring a tool-bag with a good compliment of tools. It doesn't take-up too much space (maybe 1.5 cubic feet), and ads a good 60-70lbs of ballast. It's a win-win if you ask me. :)

Hmmm... Some things you commonly need...
Flat-blade screw-driver.
Phillips Screw-driver.
Pliers.
Cresent Wrench.

That is a bare minimum.

If you can spare some more room,
Bring a socket-set.
Set of end-wrenches.

[wotan2525]

It's all personal preference. I run with a couple of screw drivers and a set of vice grips. And a booster box. Most of the tools are utilized FAR more often working on jet-skis than they are on the boat.

For instance: my '83 JS550 decided to sink this weekend. To the bottom. Vice grips and the booster box were able to get her pumped out enough to ride back to shore.

[riveredge]

I keep a little basic tool kit I picked up at Home Depot for about $15. Has a small adjustable crescent, screwdriver with about 20 bits, and a 3/8 & 1/4 driver with basic sockets up to about 9/16. That and a screwdriver, 5/16 nutdriver, pliers, knife, spare impeller, takes up very little space in my little compartment on the back of the engine cover, and has been handy numerous times. Not that I've had breakdowns, but it's nice to be able to do some basic stuff without having to bring tools every time.

[jzelt]

$20 tool kit from Wally world (Walmart) has fixed a ton of stuff on everything. Has most sizes of wrenches and sockets (metric and standard) that I have needed.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/IWork-Automotive-122-Piece-Tool-Kit/17474561