Please Help!

[Kamran1024]

I just bought this boat a few weeks ago new (no previous owner) but a 2013 model. It has a 2013 Evinrude E-Tec 150 and it took a lot of convincing for me to decide to purchase the boat with this motor. Everyone I know and trust who own boats have and swear by the Yamaha 4-stroke, but I could only find the boat in yellow with a Yamaha and my wife and I really wanted black. Against my better judgement I went ahead and bought the Evinrude after several salesmen swore up and down that it was a better motor.

On my 3rd trip out (less than 10 hrs run time total) I started getting a Water Temp warning. I myself am a rookie boat owner but I happened to be out with someone who was much more knowledgeable about boats and he thought that I might have picked up some silt that was keeping the motor from getting the proper amount of water.  After messing around for a bit he was finally able to get the motor to run what seemed to be pretty smooth and at least got us back to the trailer and off the water. When I went home to flush the motor as I have done each time because I am running in saltwater I hooked up my hose to the connection on the motor and water came pouring out as you can see in the photo below.  I had planned to take my boat with me on vacation next Friday but now it seems as though I've got a REAL big problem on my hands. Does anybody know what would cause this much water to be pouring out when I connect the hose? The better question is whether there is a simple fix that can be done without taking it to a mechanic because I doubt seriously they can get the boat back to me before my scheduled vacation.

[BluewaterBill · Accepted solution]

I am sorry to hear about your circumstances.

The water rushing out the back is possibly from the inner flusher tube that may have gotten pushed out of the black motor cover grommet.  If the garden hose male fitting has too small an inner diameter or if the hose was angled when attempting to attach it, the inner flusher tube could become dislodged.

Normally it is an easy fix for a dealer to remove one side cover, refit the dislodged tube, and check the clamps.  They could double check the motor overheat warning for you at that time. Perhaps a call to the dealer owner or manager, since you recently purchased the engine, would expedite getting your motor taken care of so you could make vacation.

[Kamran1024]

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention in my original post that I purchased the boat from a dealer that is located about 200 miles from my home so taking it back to the dealer would be quite an inconvenience. Of course when I purchased the boat from them they talked about the number of Evinrude certified technicians and that I should easily be able to find one near my home if I should need them. This is definitely true, however, the certified technicians near my home have no incentive to rush to get to my boat ahead of anyone else in line.

I do have one more question that I hope someone could answer for me. If this does happen to be the inner flusher tube as BluewaterBill mentioned,  would the work required to fix this be under warranty? I was told when I bought the boat that I would get a 3 yr 300 hr warranty, but I don't know what the limitations are of that warranty.

[Kamran1024]

UPDATE: I removed the side cover myself this morning and found exactly what you suggested to be true. The water port had become dislodged at the connection so I removed the existing hose clamp, inserted the fitting back into position, and installed a new hose clamp.  Flushing via the port now seems to be working much better. I still have some concerns about the Water Temp warning I was getting and don't think that the dislodged water port could in any way cause the Water Temp warning. Am I correct in assuming this?

I purchased a set of ear muffs and tried flushing the engine via the water intake screens at the bottom of the motor but I couldn't get a good seal with these particular muffs. I started the engine and was barely getting any water coming up and out of the port so I don't know if this was an ear muff sealing problem or if I have a bigger issue.

[BluewaterBill]

The dislodged hose could have caused the overheat if it got kinked behind the motor covers and the outflow was restricted. That tell-tale water is the cooling system for the engine computer, EMM, and the vapor separator tank. If water was restricted and the EMM got warm, the TEMP or HOT light would come on and the motor slow down to 1200 rpm.

Good for you in finding and fixing the hose. Those motor covers are very sensitive to overtorquing the screws and could crack in the fastener areas. The torque spec is 24-36 in. lbs

I prefer the dual-feed flush muffs with rectangular "ears" on them for best results.

What town and area of the country are you located?

[Kamran1024]

Thanks for the added info.  I had no idea there were torque specs to the side panel screws but I made sure not to tighten them too tight because I was concerned about the same thing you mentioned above, cracking the case.  If anything I might need to check to make sure they are tight enough to be within spec.

I shopped Academy sports for the ear muffs and the only type they had were single side flush. Do you know of any particular brand that have proven to be better than others?  I would love to buy a pair that other owners have the most success with even if they are more expensive.

I live in Baytown, TX about 35 miles east of Houston. There are plenty of Evinrude Dealers & Certified Technicians in this area, but as I mentioned earlier I drove about 200 miles to purchase this particular boat so taking it back to the dealer I bought it from is a limited option. I would have to have a major problem and not be able to get it serviced here before I would consider taking back to them.

[BluewaterBill]

You can find this at marine supply stores, dealers, or Amazon.com

Shoreline Marine Dual Flow Flusher

[Kamran1024]

UPDATE #2: So after fixing the water port I took the boat out for a test run and continued to get the water temp warning. At this point I was a few days away from vacation and needed my boat back ASAP, so I made the decision to haul the boat 200 miles back to the dealer Laffayette Power Sports because they might have some incentive to jump me to the front of the line. Fortunately they were able to do just that and promised to have my boat back to me the same day so that I didn’t have to leave, go home, and come back to get it being 3 hrs away. So I left the boat with them and got the bad news call, the mechanic called to say that they dropped my lower unit and I had “a ton of sand” that I picked up and a damaged impeller that would not be covered by Evinrude’s warranty. I told them I would pay to fix the issue if it was caused by operator error and he said it looked as if I had drug the boat while hitting ground for quite some distance in order to pick up that much sand. Now I know for a fact that I have never been stuck in the boat or run that shallow for even a minimal amount of time. I started getting the warning on just my 3rd trip out with less than 10 hours on the boat. I remember getting shallow one time but I immediately trimmed the motor up and got out with very little effort. I have some concerns about this particular dealership starting with the fact that I was originally supposed to come pick the boat up on July 3rd but couldn’t get the financing complete due to the July 4th holiday. The salesman made the comment that they had been up at the dealership until about midnight on July 2nd in order to get the boat ready for delivery, yet when I finally came a week later to pick the boat up we had to sit for several hours why they were apparently again working to get the boat ready. Aside from that I had a number of other issues that make me very skeptical of this dealer/mechanic such as the price they were trying to charge me was not the agreed price, the RPM gauge has never worked properly, the throttle was extremely stiff when trying to shift into drive and makes it impossible to make minor adjustments to my speed, there were missing screws on the side cover when I went to repair the water port myself, another gauge on the dash obviously wasn’t sealed properly as it gets condensation behind it, and there is a table that locks into place on this boat but the slot that the mechanism goes into was not cut out correctly so that the lock does not work. Anyway, the mechanic shows me an impeller that he said came off of my boat and it definitely looked damaged and he claimed to have flushed all this sand out. I then took my boat with me on vacation and towed it 800 miles for a week at the lake and the first time I go out I am still getting the water temp warning. The warning happens at high RPMs although I don’t know how many exactly because the gauge does not work. I know that if I keep the boat speed at around 12 mph I can run seemingly all day, but as I approach 20 mph it’s just a matter of time before the warning comes on. If I then slow the boat and switch to idle the warning will go off in less than 30 seconds and I can be on my way again as long as I keep it to 10-12 mph. I don’t know what to do at this point. I have already paid to have the boat fixed once but obviously it didn’t fix the issue completely.

What now? Do I need a new motor for a boat that I haven’t even made my 1st payment on? I definitely don’t think I will be doing business with this particular dealer anymore because I am concerned that they might have knowingly sold me a new but leftover 2013 motor that hadsissues, and even if they didn’t I took it back to them to have repaired, dumped hundreds of more dollars into it and the boat runs the same as when I took it to them for repairs. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[BluewaterBill]

If the gearcase was packed with sand and the impeller torn and melted, it is possible that sand also is trapped up in the powerhead, perhaps inside the pressure relief valve and thermostat areas. If so, that could be a reason that it overheats when you add power to the engine.

the shop may not have taken the boat out on the water to test everything and may have run it on a hose or in a test tank to see if water flowed out and the engine temp was OK at low speed.

If there is an Evinrude dealer in your vacation area, go talk to them and see if they can fit you in because of your circumstances and short vacation time. I did that for people very often when I could and tried to save at least part of their holiday.

Many things cause overheating and a boat should be on-water tested to make sure nothing else is affecting engine temperature

Here is an  image of a sand obstructed pressure relief valve.

 

[Kamran1024]

I know that they tested the motor in a test tank and did not take it out. A friend of mine mentioned the issue you are describing and warned me that the repairs could be quite expensive. I considered taking the boat to a mechanic in this area, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, but have heard that rates up here are insane and they probably wouldn't be able to get to me within just a few days. I plan to take it to another certified mechanic close to home. Am I doing any further damage by driving the boat at slower speeds to assure that I don't get the water temp warning?