I've been on a Summer-long mission to get the temp. stabilized on my 91' Conbrio. Thus far, I've got it stabilized at 176-180 (closed coolant system engine) but I'm still thinking that's a tad high. I tightened all of my hose clamps this weekend and found a couple that were a little loose. That helped immensely. I want to check to see if I have any blockages but I don't see a strainer anywhere. When the intake line comes in through the hull, it goes directly into a black 8"-10" cylintrical (sp?) housing that has hoses that divert water to the transmission cooler.
The reason I'm thinking I might have a blockage is that it tends to run about 5-8 deg. hotter when idling. As soon as you bring it up to speed, it drops back into the 178 range. Again, this is a "salt water" setup and has a captive coolant system that runs antifreeze, so the raw water simply comes in, goes through the trans cooler, through the pump, into the heat exchanger and out the manifolds.
If I've picked up trash, where should I look? Is there a strainer on the housing that I mentioned earlier? The one that sends water to the transmission cooler.
Thanks!