sherman brown

if the empeller was pumping properly it would stay cool even when trolling. you need a new water pump impeller and it will stop overheating when idling.

still say the thermostat has nothing to do with water coming out of the pee hole. all the outboards I've owned in the last 45+ years I've been running them the pee hole was flowing almost immediately after the motor starts, and way before the motor heats up enough to open the thermostat. the water out of the pee hole does get hot but that's from going through the lines next to the heads and block and flows through the exhaust that heats the water. it is designed to let the operator know that the pump is working. I have never had a motor overheat because water wasn't flowing out the pee hole. I do understand an outboard warms up faster than I/Os but not near fast enough to open a 140 to 165-degree thermostat. the water starts flowing as soon as the motor starts or just a few seconds later as the water has to flow through the lines and exhaust before it starts flowing. and yes, the water is hot as soon as it starts flowing but it gets heated by the exhaust and not a hot motor. the water flowing through the exhaust is what heats the water. if you watch the water closely you will notice some exhaust coming out also. ask your outboat mechanic what is the purpose of the pee hole. if he doesn't say it is also known as the tell-tell hole and that its only purpose is to show water is getting pumped to the motor then I would switch my mechanics. the exhaust heats the pee-hole water! LIKE I SAY YOU CAN GOOGLE IT OR JUST ASK YOUR MECHANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have said all I'm going to say on this subject. trust me guys, i would not tell you this stuff if I wasn't sure what I'm talking about being a fact.

what has the thermostat got to do with water coming out of the pee hole? the water coming out of the pee hole is just a bypass to show you have water pumping to the motor. the water out of the pee hole has nothing to do with the thermostat being open or closed. it is supposed to flow as soon as the motor starts or a few seconds after while the motor is still cold. the water out the pee hole has nothing whatsoever to do with the thermostat.

I have dealt with outboard motors since 1977. I have had many motor's pee lines get stopped up with something. I always just figured it was some type of bug getting in the line and either building a nest or other things they take up in the tubes that stop or reduce the water flow. I bought an old 115 mercury inline 6 out of a field that was on an old junk boat that had been sitting for many years. it started right up but no water coming out. with the motor running I started working a short piece of large gauge weedeater line up the line. as I was getting it farther up the water started coming out slow at first which was green. as the water started flowing better all kinds of green and brown started coming out as I kept working the line in and out. these lines get clogged many times after setting for any long period. many impellers get changed well before they are bad when the line is only stopped up. anytime my water just isn't coming out the first thing I do is clean the line with weedeater line. in my 45+ years, i have never seen an impeller so bad that some water wasn't coming out a little. before i took it out on the water i did change the impeller. the old one still looked good but it had to be rotten from setting all those years. piece of mind knowing your water impeller isn't going to fail out 10 or 15 miles from shore is well worth the price of a new one and the hour or so to install the new one.

you know the lightning could have hit the water far away from your boat and still been able to damage some of your circuits and even cause a ground wire to make contact with the boat hull. attach a 12v tester to the hot side of your battery then touch it against the hull. there is just no way that rigger ran without getting grounded from someplace.

have either one of you guys thought about relocating your tops forward? all you really need to do is move the anchors for your frame forward then attach the top and move the tie down anchors forward enough to get the tie down lines away from your gear. on mine after I moved it as far forward as I wanted it so it still covered the cockpit the back straps were still in the way. i moved the tiedown anchors as far forward as I could and still held the top. the straps were almost straight down from the top but it worked great and the top never interfered with our fishing. I have installed many tops over the years and moving them forward where you want them is much easier than installing new tops because you already know what you want and how far they need to go to work for you.

I have to agree with what your saying. if this was true the water would go through when it was turned on. I am 72 now and have been changing water pumps and impellers since I was only 26 years old. and I have never had water come through if the impeller was bad. some people believe if the water is turned on high it will damage the impeller. people just don't realise just how much more water pressure it gets from running down the lake at 50 or 60 MPH. I have always turned the water on high and never had any problems with outboards and stern drives. if the water isn't turned up high enough the motor won't get enough water to cool it at higher RPMs. the first thing I do when starting the motor on muffs is look to see if the excess water around the muffs is reduced to almost nothing and it should have any water coming out around the muffs if you rev the motor up. I was told as a young lad that if everything else failed read and follow the F-ing instructions.

what size is the hoop on the extendable net? and what lengths are the handle when closed up and when it's extended all the way out?

at your price, if I needed or wanted a net I would jump on the extendable net, and at your price, I could pay for shipping and still have a great net for a bargain. all they need to do is check prices on any extendable net to realize even if they pay to have it shipped it's still a great offer.

before I tore it back down I would get a piece of heavy weedeater line about 18" long and start working it up the pee hole. if it goes up freely it's already clear but if you run into a blockage just keep working the line until it clears the line. bugs and even bees have been known to make a nest in the pee line and stop it up good. after clearing the line start the motor and see if water starts coming out. if you get water take the piece of line and run it in and out of the pee line while the motor is running to clear any pieces of debris out of the pee tube. if that doesn't help you did something wrong and have to tear it back down. make sure you have the little keyway in its place in the impeller so the shaft turns the impeller.

someone will be getting a great deal on these. any electric rigger that works is well worth 125.00. these would be an awesome buy for guys starting out and have a limited budget or someone to upgrade to electric and see what a difference they make at the end of the day.

I'm not sure what net you have but I have a couple of the TRU-TRAX nets for sail at a great price. they are still in great condition. I can't remember for sure what the last price was., but if you want to pay shipping I have the large TRU-TRAX for 65.00 or the smaller one for 55.00. if you're interested just let me know. they both have the extendable TRU-TRAX handles.

I had fished Lake Michigan for salmon and then started fishing the western basin of Erie for eyes using a deep v 16' boat with an 80 HP Evinrude motor. I used it for years on both lakes. I had wanted a larger boat but that wasn't in my budget. I was born and raised until I was 14 down in Tn. I made a few trips down to fish and visit friends and my MIL and FIL. about 40 miles up into Ky I keep looking at an old boat parked in a field under a tree and kept saying I was going to check on it. then 1 trip I stopped and asked about it. the heavy aluminum 18' open bow Cherokee hull was still in great shape but the paint was almost gone. I wanted it for an Erie fishing boat and didn't care much about its looks. she still wanted what it was worth when it was parked but that was years ago. so I offered her 200.00 for it but she thought that wasn't enough. so she had a friend at the marina come out and see if 200.00 was fair. he told her if someone was willing to pay that much she should take it because it wasn't worth that much after setting for so long. so, 2 weeks later after I had went back home she called and accepted the 200.00. my brother went with me on a Sunday to get the boat but like idiots, we went unprepared. when we got there it needed tires, and the wheel bearings were clicking when we turned the wheel. my brother started checking the bearings. they were rusted and a little rough. he cleaned them as best he could then packed the bearings, and filled the hubs with grease. then we took the old tires and wheels into the nearest town. everything was closed up and we thought we were out of luck but as we were heading back we saw a tire store that was open. we bought a couple of used tires. we put the tires on and headed to In. took it over to show it to a friend who said he would paint it for the cost of paint if I would get it sandblasted. my BIL owned a sandblasting shop and my brother worked for him. took it in on a Saturday and my brother blasted it. I got new bearings, tires, seats at an RV salvage store, then I swapped out the old cable steering to the 1 cable steering I bought from a friend who was selling new parts from buying out a marina going out of business. BOTTOM LINE we used this boat on Erie and were so happy with the larger boat. it took rough water like a swan. we used it for many years drift fishing then for trolling. this boat was great at handling rough water as long as we slowed down and had respect for Erie. but when we started fishing the central basin I got a larger boat I thought I needed but later realized I had made a huge mistake as that boat would have worked great.