Everyone CHECK YOUR COOLING HOSES.....

LouC · **Posted:** Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:11 pm

Well this was the first time in 10 years of boating that I had to get towed in (thank goodness for BoatUS Tow Boat service). What happened was I was just taking my normal ride (went to get gas in Northport LI, then rounded Sand City and went into Huntington Bay to enjoy the flat calm day. On the way back, I rounded Sand City and slowed down to enter the channel there. Looked down and the temp gauge is pegged at 240*. This boat normally runs between 160-175 at most. And I scan the gauges all the time so this happened very fast. I slowed down to idle and imagine my reaction when I opened up the engine hatch and saw a very hot engine and water in the bilge up to the engine mounts! I knew something was really wrong when I saw the auto bilge pump kick on when I slowed down to come off plane. The bilge was pumping but I could not tell if water was still coming in or not. So I decided to try to get in as close to shore if the boat continued to take on water and was in danger of sinking. I aimed it toward a private beach in Huntington Bay and tried to keep my speed low to keep the engine running. Got within about 30 yards of the shore and the engine quit. Got on the phone and VHF and hailed Boat US, they even called the CG for me because the boat was taking on water. After sitting for a while it was clear then that water was not still leaking in and the bilge was pumped out. The tow guy got there in about 30 min and towed me back to my mooring. I got the guy at our local boat yard to put it back on the trailer as I did not want to run the engine at that point. Got it home and looked at it yesterday. Found that the hose from the transom mount that connects with the power steering cooler on the rear of the engine had popped off. Now this hose you can barely see, you need to get up in the rear most part of the compartment to reach it. I thought it was odd that it popped off as a raw water cooling system is not really under pressure as a closed system is.
Today I got up the nerve to hook up the hose, test the manifolds and make sure that there were no leaks from them or the rubber hoses that connect to the Y pipe. Flushed the raw water intake hose and made sure I had good flow from the water intakes up to the impeller, which looked new.
Then started it up. The starter clicked once (it for sure got salt water in it so I'm replacing it with the spare one I have sitting in the garage) and the engine cranked, started and ran just like it always has. Normal temp and oil pressure. Oil looked fine. Ran it about an hr on the hose starting it about 5 times to make sure it was not going to hydrolock. I won't know for sure if its OK till I run it on the water but I'll do a compression test first.

So for all you I/O owners, check those clamps, and don't rely on a screwdriver to get them tight enough, I found that a 5/32nds box end wrench fits on the clamp and you can get it much tighter.

One more reason why I don't want any more I/Os. At least if the cooling system fails on an OB it doesn't fill the bilge with water faster than you can say Oh Sh!t.......

blue dragon · **Joined:** Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 792

Seems extremely similar to what happened to me earlier this year

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11377&p=107677&hilit=scariest#p107677

pickledboater · **Posted:** Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:12 pm

Well Lou,
That is a really random thing to have happen. Glad you are ok and it sounds like the boat is too. Good to know and I'll be checking all the hoses and clamps tomorrow, going out Sunday, they finally opened our regular ramp today from the diesel spill that happened in March. Best of luck on your next launch!!!!!

john55c · **Posted:** Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:11 am

Glad everything turned out OK, and I agree, TowBoat is a must. No matter where I put in around here, there is a TowBoat location that covers us. We have 22.5 hours on the new engine, and I am going to check everything for tightness this morning before heading out in case anything came loose in that time period. Hopefully no other damage was done.

LouC · **Posted:** Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:54 pm

Even if you can't fit a bigger pump you could get a 2000 gph pump, wire it up with alligator clamps and a hose. That way if the worst happens you drop it in the bilge hook it up to the batt and hang the hose over the gunnel.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:40 pm

The tear down revealed melted exhaust flappers but surprisingly the exhaust hoses were not burnt up inside. I am going to split the drive to check the water tube grommets since if the flappers were melted those grommets could be melted too.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:22 pm

LouC wrote:

Even if you can't fit a bigger pump you could get a 2000 gph pump, wire it up with alligator clamps and a hose. That way if the worst happens you drop it in the bilge hook it up to the batt and hang the hose over the gunnel.

Glad you made it!!

That's way I always say, add another pump. Its cheap insurance!!

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

Glad you made it out ok Louc :shock:

had my heart rate up for a minute there, I am definitely checking my hoses when I get the boat home this weekend, Thanks for sharing your experience.

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:09 am

Especially check the little hose that comes from the water tube on the transom mount to the p/s cooler, that one is hard to get at and with the Cobra with the drive mounted pump, the full force of the impeller output was just filling the bilge with salt water. With a Volvo, if that hose popped off you would have an air leak and some water in the bilge but not as much since the impeller on the engine would be sucking air. But you'd still overheat. On the Volvos the one that could get you into trouble if it pops off is the one from the impeller housing to the thermo housing, that one would fill the bilge with water fast.

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

Ok good to know, I will go over the whole engine since your story reminded me of a horrible day out for me. I usually don't boat alone anymore, at least three of my co-workers purchased boats shortly after I did and I feel much more comfortable going out as a group.

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:12 am

I'm usually out by myself, the morning in the summer here is very nice, flat calm water and not much boat traffic. If this was on the weekend it would have been a lot rougher. I did not like the idea of maybe having to swim from the channel at Sand City to the shore, so I tried to get in as close as I could not knowing if the boat would stop taking on water or not. In a way, it was better that I was not able to hook up the hose that popped off ,because that would have put 70* water into a really hot engine and manifolds and probably would have cracked things. The manifold I took off yesterday looked fine and what I could see of the exhaust valves looked OK also. The starter was full of rusty salt water, LOL. I put in my spare one with a new solenoid.

Towing insurance is a must.

boater50 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:49 pm

Whoah! Glad to hear you were ok........kinda like forgetting to put the transom plug in after you launch! Actuall, I just replace that same hose earlier this spring and I will be sure to check the tightness once again. It is kind of hard to get any kind of tool down there to reach the clamp, but will do....thanks for the reminder...

rpengr · **Posted:** Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:04 pm

LouC wrote:

Especially check the little hose that comes from the water tube on the transom mount to the p/s cooler, that one is hard to get at and with the Cobra with the drive mounted pump, the full force of the impeller output was just filling the bilge with salt water. With a Volvo, if that hose popped off you would have an air leak and some water in the bilge but not as much since the impeller on the engine would be sucking air. But you'd still overheat. On the Volvos the one that could get you into trouble if it pops off is the one from the impeller housing to the thermo housing, that one would fill the bilge with water fast.

I was going to point out this same information...glad you got to it first.

The melted exhaust flappers were not unusual on the Cobra...That's why they had a service bulletin to remove them.

LouC · **Posted:** Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:35 pm

A small 5/32nds box end wrench will tighten those clamps up nicely.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 25, 2013 8:45 am

Be CAREFUL about over-tightening clamps, and make sure which kind you've got. If you overtighten the kind of clamp that has a ridges cut into the band you run the risk of them cutting the hose. The clamps with the smooth band won't have that problem. But with either kind you also want to avoid cranking them so tight as to cause the threads to strip or the bolt to break.

Some folks like to have TWO clamps on each location that carries boat-sinkable amounts of water. One right behind the other. This way you don't risk losing the connection to just one clamp failure. But not all connections will have enough room to accommodate two clamps.

www.iFourWinns.com

Everyone CHECK YOUR COOLING HOSES.....

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