At the end of last season the last use of the rib was in Poole Harbour staying on a camp site up the frome River. On our last trip we had to come back at low water which is at lease 2 miles I would estimate. I am sure I sucked in mud to the cooling system of the outboard as we started having problems.
At the end of last year we had the thermostat fail and I also replaced the impeller as I was having pumping issues. I also flushed the whole outboard with Rydlyme which seemed to work well. At the end of last year the motor was pumping water very well. Fast forward to the start of the 2023 season and she would only just dribble a few drips from the tell tale. Knowing that the impeller was good I suspected that residual gunk left in the engine would have settled at the low point which is where the impeller pipe is connected.
I followed some advice from a thread way back on here to blow some compressed air up its pee hole pipe. This seemed to work a dream.
As I said in the title a weak tell tale flow is not always your impeller. Video below
Hopefully this might help someone else and even save them a few quid
Weak water at tell tale not always your impeller
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ChrisParish
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 2049
- Joined: 23 May 2018, 15:30
- Boat Make: Bombard Aerotec 380
- Outboard: Suzuki DF20A
- MMSI Number: 235916094
- Location: Poole
- Has thanked: 123 times
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Re: Weak water at tell tale not always your impeller
To be honest, in my personal experience I have yet to find a weak tell tale to be a sign of a damaged or worn impeller. It’s almost always a blockage as the pipes tend to be small bore, low (ish) pressure and get blocked by things like salt plugs really really easily. I have a piece of wire in my tool bag which I stick up the tell-tale if it’s not working and as of yet I have never not managed to clear it.
With some engines the tell-tale is on the water inlet side of the engine, on others it is on the outlet (often after the fuel vapour cooler on modern engines). In reality all you can guarantee by the presence of water coming out of the tell-tale is that water is coming out of the tell-tale and conversely the only thing you know if it isn’t working is that it isn’t working.
Regardless - if it isn’t working and can’t be cleared with a bit of wire / a squirt of compressed air then don’t go to sea. Always take the safe option.
With some engines the tell-tale is on the water inlet side of the engine, on others it is on the outlet (often after the fuel vapour cooler on modern engines). In reality all you can guarantee by the presence of water coming out of the tell-tale is that water is coming out of the tell-tale and conversely the only thing you know if it isn’t working is that it isn’t working.
Regardless - if it isn’t working and can’t be cleared with a bit of wire / a squirt of compressed air then don’t go to sea. Always take the safe option.
Not a complete idiot - some parts are missing.
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ChrisParish
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 2049
- Joined: 23 May 2018, 15:30
- Boat Make: Bombard Aerotec 380
- Outboard: Suzuki DF20A
- MMSI Number: 235916094
- Location: Poole
- Has thanked: 123 times
- Been thanked: 636 times
Re: Weak water at tell tale not always your impeller
That’s a good call
Not a complete idiot - some parts are missing.
