Water Cooling System

I just bought a 1995 Supra Mariah with a 5.8 PCM HO EFI. I used it over the weekend and brought it home to clean it up. While under the boat, I noticed the grill for the cooling system water supply. When I looked inside the grill, the front half of the opening is covered by a white grommit inside of the grill. Is this normal, or has this grommit shifted and is limiting the water from entering the cooling system? The engine did not run hot at all this weekend. Any help would be appreciated, because I know very little about inboards.

If your Supra ran well all week-end and did not over heat then I would say all is well. Most over-heat problems that I have incountered have come from the in-line impeller located at or around water pump. It is best to always carry a extra impeller onboard in case impeller goes out.

my intake grill itself is sort of like that, only the front half is open. the back half of the grill is solid, i think it may act more like a scoop that way but i'm just guessing. i haven't been under the boat to look into the intake.