Older Supra Question

[bam3352]

Hey Guys,

At the beginning of the summer of I picked up an 87 Saltare. I love it. I can from a Correct Craft Mustang 17, so the Saltare is a great improvement in many ways but most notably it's size and ability to be a great cruising boat in addition to capable watersports boat. I wake surf mostly, but also do a bit of everything.

The boat has run great, except for this past weekend it started to overheat. It is fine at idle and up to about 10-15 mph but once you get above that the temp goes up all the way up very quickly (2-3min)....if you come back to idle it cools down to normal operating temp within 4-5 minutes.

I figured I had an impellar problem so I opened up the pump. The impellar looked find but a new one is on the way anyway, however, I found a bunch of rubber pieces clogging the pump passage ways. The looked like pieces of an impellar, but like I said, mine was completely intact. Anyone have any idea where else a bunch of rubber pieces could come from that would clog the impellar? I'm thinking maybe the inside of the cooling inlet hose, but they don't look like the same material.

Also, I'm hoping this resolves my cooling issues, but i'm not sure.

Any ideas would be helpful....thanks.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I read posts by one guy whose hoses were deteriorating from the inside out. So he cut a chuck of hose off and sliced it open and sure enough little rubber bits everywhere.

Or they could be bits of an old impellor. Maybe someone changed it out but didn't know to flush the lines.

ps - i'm sure you will love the boat and congrats! Welcome to the club. Time for some pics, we love those the most, right guys?

[Salty87]

impeller is the most likely culprit. you should be able to squeeze the other hoses and get an idea of how much life is left in them. new hoses are a fairly cheap project if you go that route.

you probably want to pull the thermostat too and see if any pieces made it that far.

have you pulled the hose off that leads to the transmission cooler? there's a little grate in there that can get clogged up and reduce flow. you should also have a sea strainer on your water intake, before the transmission cooler.

i like your choice in boats!

[87sunsport454]

A couple of years ago I had the same problem. The inside of the hoses started to fall apart. Also I had a issue with the coolent. When I changed all of my hoses it was still running hot,not over heating but hot, and I could not figure out what the problem was. When the engine overheated it would blow out the engine coolant so I filled it up with water. Well that was the problem I didnt have the right amount of coolant/water in the tank. It seemed like a far fetched idea but that was the problem.

[bam3352]

I don't know if coolant would be the problem as this thing is raw water cooled. I was going to open up the thermostat, but I'm a little worried, I'm new to working on boats. I have a fairly extensive experience wrenching on jet skis, but boat are a new world for me and they are much more expensive if I screw something up. I will check the hoses and i'm thinking of putting a sea strainer in also. Any recommendations on what brand/type to buy?

Just so I don't mess this up, the thermostat housing is directly on top of the motor right? Is this something that is complicated to take off and get back together, or it easily handled. The boat has the 454 if that helps to describe it to me.

I will take some pics in the next couple days and post them. It's a red one. Cosmetically, the outside is a little chalky, I'd like to try and buff it out and shine it up a bit. I'd give it a 7/10. The interior has some small rips and such but nothing major. I'd say a 7.5-8/10. The carpet is shot and needs to be replaced...3/10. But so far I've put on about 40 hours and the motor and performance have been great....until this overheating issue started.

Thanks for all the help.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Carpet is shot but you are fairly sure the floors are ok??? Wet sanding will do ya right for the hull.

[bam3352]

The carpet is actually not that bad, there is just one large rip where I had to pull up the floor to fix the vacuum connection to the speedo. The floors are relatively solid....there are no soft spots except for one a few feet in front of the motor box.

One side of carpet is just very worn from use. It's not the left outside, weather beaten carpet type of shot that I think you are thinking of. I know these boats can have floor and stringer issues, but I'm a grad student and couldn't afford a boat with fully fiberglassed stringers and floors right now. Well I could, but I didn't want a 19 foot moomba closed bow. I actually like the room and performance of this boat so much that I would think about upgrading to a newer model with the full fiberglass once I actually stop paying money for school and start making money for myself. I think they started the all glass stringers and floors in 94 or 95 right?

I just want to get the overheating thing sorted so I can get out on the water later this week or weekend.

I'm also thinking of throwing a tower on over the winter, but I kinda feel bad about drilling the boat. Even though it isn't perfect, it looks good sittin' next to the dock just the way it is.

[saltare inverts]

I think the tower will make it look better. Get a tower. We do need pics.

[Blackntan90]

Dont worry, I felt kinda bad about drilling mine too...but just measure carefully!! And please post some pics!!

[jasonba1]

changing the thermostat is no big deal at all you should have no problems at all right on top of the engine. Also since you havent had the boat that long bet someone changed the old impeller that was shot and that rubber was never pulled out when the new one was installed

[bam3352]

I was thinking the same thing with the pieces of rubber. But, i ran it for about 39/40 hours with no overheating, so that's why I thought it was weird that the issue would just come up now. I guess they could have flowed back down to the impellar housing out the the T-stat, but I have yet to come up witha feasible explanation. There were a lot too, more than enough to clog the flow of the water through the impellar housing. Hopefully cleaning them out and putting a new impellar in will solve the problem. I'll take some pics the next time i have the cover off install the new impellar and to check the thermostat housing for more pieces.

As for the tower, what have guys gone with. I've basically heard the New-Dimension OEM style are the best, but they are pricey. I've also heard good things about Monster Tower, and they're prices are much better. Anyone know if you can make a monster full remove-able by going with their quick disconnects on all four legs. I'd like the ability to revert to the old school look if I'm just going cruising and don't need the high pull point, board-racks, and speaker set up for the day.

[87sunsport454]

I have a 1987 Sunsport Skier w/ a 454 in it. I am curious about just having a raw water intake. Mounted on the back top of my motor is a tank that holds some coolant. Do you have this simular tank (mine is grey) or does anyone else have this tank?

[bam3352]

my set-up is straight from the intake to the impellar housing, up to the T-stat and into the manifolds. I don't have a tank of any kind, at least from what I know.

[87sunsport454]

Huh....... Know I am really curious.

[beast 496]

remove the output hose from the pump and heat exchanger, clean all routes for cooling, also, remove end caps from heat exchanger, clean all coolant passages. Allan

[rickr]

Pull your risers and see if they are clogged with rust.
Use Freeze Off on the bolts and get new gaskets and bolts. While you are at it I would pull the manifolds too and replace the gaskets. Don't forget anti-sieze.

See post #48 https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?t=2855&highlight=freeze&page=5

[wotan2525]

I have a 1987 Sunsport Skier w/ a 454 in it. I am curious about just having a raw water intake. Mounted on the back top of my motor is a tank that holds some coolant. Do you have this simular tank (mine is grey) or does anyone else have this tank?

Is this a closed loop cooling system? Is there a radiator or heat exchanger somewhere? Sounds like your boat may have a closed loop saltwater system. Pics? Sounds cool!

[techsledder]

Wotan454, this is a closed loop cooling system. For closed loop marine applications the engine is typically cooled by anti-freeze/H2O mix much like your car or truck. Only big difference is that the anti-freeze runs through a heat exchanger (mounted near the engine or on the boats keel) to transfer the heat to raw water (also running trough the heat exchanger), either fresh or salt water it doesn’t matter. On your car the heat exchanger is the radiator and it transfer’s the heat to the ambient air through the cooling fins/conduit/veins.
bam3352, take some pictures of your engine for us so we can see what you’re looking at.

[techsledder]

Here’s a good article to help explain things in more detail. http://boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/cooling.htm

[87sunsport454]

I did a little bit of research on this system. What it does is the anti-freeze runs through the block and the exhaust manifolds. In the tank that I am talking about, the fresh water comes in and cools the anti-freeze and also runs through the exhaust manifolds. What I am told this is for is if you run in salt water it will not ruin your block as bad as if you didnt have this. I think because I live in Western Washington the original owner put this system on thinking he might want to use it in the salt water. It has never seen salt before, but just in case. I will try to get some pics.

[bam3352]

Guys,

Thanks for all your help. I ended up cleaning out all of the rubber pieces from the impellar housing and water lines. I also found a bunch of crap clogged in the inlet end of the trans-cooler. I installed a new impellar and had the boat out today....it ran great....it was barely over 1/4 on my temp gauge all day.

All of your suggestions really helped me out so I just wanted to say thank you. The only question I have is, how can be sure the belt that the spins the impellar is tight enough. It ran great today, but I still feel like the belt has a little more slack than before I took out the impellar....any tips or info on getting this right or do I do it by feel?

Thanks Again.

[Salty87]

excellent!

belt should deflect about 1/4" if you move it by hand. if it's moving more, loosen it up and use the handle of a hammer or something to jam between the pump and the block. get some leverage on the pump when tightening it down.

are you going to add a sea strainer? i've seen people almost overheat from clogging up the transmission cooler.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I have wrecked belts for being too loose, then the next one I put on too tight and it snapped. The belts say just to hand tighten but that doesn't seem quite tight enough for me. My pullies kind of eat belts too.

[techsledder]

Good to hear things are working well now. This forum has been great to read about other’s experiences and hopefully saves folks some $$. Your belt tension is a do it by feel thing if you don’t have a belt tension measuring device. Most of the trucks, cars & tractors I have been working on in the past have been done by feel. As long as the belt wasn’t squealing after start up it has been good. The engineer in me tells me to use the proper belt-tensioning tool like most shop manuals say, but I have never broken down with my touch and feel method. It also helps to keep an extra belt on hand just in case. Check the belt for cracks every now and then. Belts with really shiny glazing on its sides could mean it was too loose; it may need a good scuffing with a scotch-brite pad and a retightening.

[Salty87]

My pullies kind of eat belts too.

are the pullies rusty? that will create alot of belt dust and early death of belts.