03 mercury XR6 150 motor problems

[bassfisher]

I just had a shop install an impellor on my 03 mercury XR6 150. (before it wasn’t peeing at all at idle, or when revved up) So Sunday I took it to the lake to see how it ran. Well it still is not peeing at idle; it just sprays/spits, but has a nice stream of water above idle. Is this normal for my motor? Understand I know nothing about marine motors. I know my 94 mariner 115 pees all the time, not just above idle, but all the time.

When I was testing my motor to make sure it ran alright, it ran fine, except for it not peeing. Now for what ever reason, the propeller is no longer spinning when I engage it into gear. (It was before taking it to the shop) My other question is, do you think the shop could have done something to have caused the propeller not to spin now?

I can engage the throttle and spin the blade by hand with no problem with the motor running or not. I checked for a shear pin and could not find one. Would you know if my motor has one?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[nofearengineer]

Oh crap, Harold!!!

Man...it sucks to hear you're having trouble with your Avalanche. To me, the first problem sounds like a worn-out water pump impeller. It can still push some water through if you spin it hard enough, but at low rpm's it doesn't cut it.

As for the prop not turning, can you hear the motor go into gear? Or are you just shifting it and thinking it's in gear. I know motors with spun hubs will still grab enough to idle back to the docks, so it's either not in gear or something is broken in your gear train.

My amateurish analysis. I hereby call 1FastLaser to the podium to educate us!!!

[ally260]

Sounds like they missed tha shift shaft when they stabbed tha gearcase.

Tha stream is probably ok. There are some small by-pass slots on tha
t-stats that let a small amout of water pass till temp builds. When you rev it you get more water thru these slots even if tha stats aren't open yet.....T

[jasonfish320]

If you didn't get an engine alarm I would check the hose that runs off the engine to the drain (pee hole) this should be very obvious when you take off the cover. A lot of times this hose can get a little loose or it might have a crack or tear in it..very easy fix.

I once was running down the lake, was about to pull up to my fishing spot and turned around to see my engine steaming and no pee running out...I freaked at first, but when I got the cover off I found that the hose had just come off and it was peeing onto the engine...

[bassfisher]

Thanks for the insights folks. I'm calling the shop today (closed on Monday) to see what they say. They have never let me down yet. If they did forget something, they will own up to it I believe.
I was told to watch my water gauge PSI, it should read 8psi at idle, and go up from there. Which it does. This motor did sit for two years and never was started.
When I was in the driveway testing it early on, it did chunk into gear, now nothing, no sound at all when I put it into gear. It's like it's in neutral all the time. I kept pushing on the neutral switch to see if it was stuck in, but from what I could see, it wasn't, it kept popping back out.

Hey Bryce, does your live wells have four livewell pumps? Two in the battery compartment, and one each in the storage compartments on each side of the livewells?

[ally260]

"Sat for 2 years" Was this before or after tha water pump was changed? If it was before, you need a new one.............

Water pressure on tha hose ain't gonna be right. It needs ta be "in tha water" to be right............4 ta 5 lbs at idle is ok just so it rises with rpm.

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by bassfisher

Hey Bryce, does your live wells have four livewell pumps? Two in the battery compartment, and one each in the storage compartments on each side of the livewells?

Harold, I'm pretty sure my boat just has two livewell pumps, even though it just has one big livewell (with a divider in it). It fills and recircs with the same pump, and since it has two, I've got a backup. What year is yours again? If you've got two separate livewells, you might have 4 pumps...I'm not sure. Are you sure you're not mistaking a duplex bilge pump setup for two livewell pumps?

[bassfisher]

The water pump has not been replace, just the impeller. The gauge reads 8psi at idle, and goes up from there. I was at the lake this last time trying it out. I was also going to test the livewells pumps to see if the worked right. I can hear them come on, but no way to tell if they are working right unless I'm in the water. (Which I did not get to test, because the motor issues) I had to use the trolling motor to load the boat. Not very fun for the first time out in the Avalanche. Now my old boat was no big deal, I've done it a few time.

[bassfisher]

Mornin Bryce. My 02 has two separate livewells. Each pump is 360gpm, in the battery area, and one each on either side of the storage compartment. My bilge pump is 1100gpm, it is in the battery area mounted in the bottom of the boat.

[bassfisher]

Well I just got back from the shop, and it's ready to rock and roll now. They forgot two things, the shift lever is not ingaged properly, but it's works great now, and the water pipe had a sleave not engaged right either, and it's peeing a lot better now at idle. At least its a small stream of water verses spitting now, and gets better with increased RPM. Took them about 45 minutes to pull the lower unit, repair it and reinstalling it, with two man. BTW, I got to watch, so next time I'll do it myself, and save that $90 labor charge. (No they did not charge me anything) So life is great again!!
Now I just have to wait for another 50 degree day and try it on the water again to make sure the livewells work properly.

[nofearengineer]

Great to hear everything worked out for you, Harold. Boat problems can be scary!!

I still hope maybe you can come hang with us at Dale Hollow for a day, or maybe I can come get my little 115's arse whipped by the XR6 sometime down there in Kentucky. Mine will somehow still be prettier of course.

[lilmule]

8 psi is right for idle speed its higher only when running the motor more rpms,on plane will read like 20 or over.

[nofearengineer]

Idle psi can vary. My Optimax, for instance, is supposed to be 3-6 psi at idle. I can't imagine that 8 psi would be low for any outboard. Sounds good to go.

[ally260]

Glad ta see ya got it fixed. Guess they didn't check much after doing tha work, huh! ..................

[bassfisher]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Great to hear everything worked out for you, Harold. Boat problems can be scary!!

I still hope maybe you can come hang with us at Dale Hollow for a day, or maybe I can come get my little 115's arse whipped by the XR6 sometime down there in Kentucky. Mine will somehow still be prettier of course.

Even more so when it’s the first time having your new (to me) boat in the water, and you have to load it with the troll motor. That’s never any fun. I'm just glad it worked. I thought about testing it several times, but never got around too it.

LOL, My boat might be faster, but you’ll catch up with better gas mileage down the water when I ran out of gas. You know what they say, fastest doesn’t always win the race. And about the prettier part, white is awful sharp against tan.

BTW, did I say that Cedar Creek Lake was mostly frozen. (80%) With about 1/2 " of ice still. The ice was soft (thank god) because by the time I got around to dropping the TM, I was on the ice. Fun times I till ya, fun times!!

[1FASTLASER]

Originally Posted by ally260

Glad ta see ya got it fixed. Guess they didn't check much after doing tha work, huh! ..................

My thought exactly Alley.how ya doing bud??

Anyways thanks Nofear..

There are a couple of different designs on the motors and this needs clearifying so that more people know.... Right now the year escapes me when they went from the older design cooling systems to the updated versions.....Ealry to mid 90's is the best I can explain right now....The older motors when fired up pee'd almost immediately and had higher pressures at idle than the newer engines have. When the new design cam in there was alot of raised eyebrows on the new system. What the newer system does is keep the water or more of it inside theblock and circulating in order to prevent or at least help prevent what is called cold seize. By doing so the motor is allowed to warm up more evenly.Cold seize has happened to many a motor that was not given ample time to warm up. Cold size occurs when the pistons start to expand faster than the block. I hope this clears up some of the questions I have noticed about the old versus new.

By the way I would be leary of a shop that hasnt checked there work after doing so. The mis-stab would have been found immediately and should be checked as part of the service.