Spent

F_ck the dumb ****.... I've said it before and I'll say it again. Anyone who got a boat w/these drives got f_cked by both Merc and the boat mfr. I'll also say that someone at Merc noted that this would be a problem and recommended strainers to boat mfr's but they chose and still choose not to protect their customers.
To those who will say "keep it out of the mud dummy", I say either you don't have these drives and don't know what your talking about
or
if you do have these drive, hang tight, your destiny w/the mud sand suckup is coming...

You, me and others got f_cked on these ultimate screw up and lack of concern by the mfr's ( which is short for mother f_cker's)

Thank you, good night!

rjcardinal

Calling it quits for the night. Just came in from working on the boat and its probably not as bad as I expected. The hose from the outdrive to the sea pump was clear. The impeller and housing looks as new as when I installed it last week. The hose from the sea pump to the power steering cooler was packed tight with sand. After the power steering cooler it was clear. Next in line is the fuel cooler which was clear. After that is the oil cooler which was clear. Then the water goes in the thermostat housing which was clear also. I have all the hoses disconnected now. I just rigged up a shut-off valve fitting for my garden hose that just fits inside the 1.25 water hoses on the boat. Tomorrow I will back flush all hoses and coolers. I am going to order a strainer sometimes tomorrow along with a good bit of suction hose to install it.

Hey Dredge! How about a pic of your strainer installation so I can see how Fountain rigs it.

Oh, here I go thinking again, but will a strainer work on the pressure side of the pump as well as it works on the suction? I was thinking of buying two and putting one before and one after the pump. Looking at what happened in my boat the first restriction past the pump slowed down the sand and it clogged. If I could have a strainer in this position also it would be a breeze to clean out next time.

Ron

Dredgeking

my boat isn't rigged like fountain does it. most of my gear is mounted on the transom. i have almost nothing on my stringers. my strainer sits on the starboard side of the engine where the second battery would go.

FlyFast

I did what enticer said. I have a perko 1 1/4 brass scoop intake strainer.

Here are some pro's

I beach my boat in sand all the time. I don't have a problem with sucking sand. The scoop is about three feet from the transom. It is about 8 inches up from the keel. It fits right between my trailer bunks.

I have lots of water. My bravo raw water pump sits below the water line so it never has to suck water. The water naturally flows into the pump. The pump is wet before I start my engine.

At speed the scoop supplies all the water pressure that you need. I might be able to operate without the impeller if I kept the boat moving. with full closed cooling it takes a while for the motor to heat up.

The strainer has kept weed out of my system.

I run full closed cooling so if the boat jumps out of the water my engine still had cooling.

Here are some con's

I had to drill a hole in the bottom of my boat. I chose the bottom because it is solid fiberglass. My transom has wood in it so i didn't want a offshore pickup. My seacock is in the front of my engine compartment where I just barely reach it. It was easier to plumb and hook my flush hose to in the front of the engine bay. I wanted it where I could see it.

If any of my hoses to my raw water pump leak the boat will sink. With a brass seacock I can turn the water off it my boat is left in the water.

I have too much water pressure with the 1 1/4 a 3/4 scoop would probally be the right size. I run a 1 1/4 inch hose to the cooler and right to the raw water pump. With closed cooling I can run up to 60 psi without a problem with the heat exchanger. I know I run over 30 but that is as high as my guage will go.

This may not be the best way to go but it will give you lots of water for cooling. maybe this will help somebody.

R Addiction

Stay Out of the sand!!! Brother in law had the same problems with his 25 Outlaw. Installed a sea strainer and never had the problem again.........but then again he would shut the boat off when coming into a favorite hangout and walk it up.....then push into deeper water when leaving. Then he permanently fixed the problem...............he sold the boat!

Breathe Later

Ron,

I feel your pain. The LWP's are a real bastard. However, there's no way you can trim the drive out for top speed without them. Offshore pickups with step hulls can be a problem as well. I read an article in Hot Boat by Tyler Crockett where they had plenty of pressure with an offshore pickup, but it ended up being air pressure! I boat in the Chain O' Lakes in northern Illinois. This area is notoriously shallow, with mostly mud. The channels are always full of silt, and when the PWC riders run line abreast, forcing you to the edge of the channel, you can see the mud churning. Whenever I come off plane into one of these channels, I trim the drive up as I throttle back. By the time I'm off plane, the drive is up past 7 on the indicator. At this trim level, the LWP's are above the level of the keel. Also, always watch the water pressure guage. You'll be alerted before overheating can occcur.

Gumbydammit

Just a brainfart.

Assuming you have a charge of water in the motor when this happens..... Couldn't you quickly **** down and push a little momentary switch on your dash and fix it??

There are a ton of pumps out there that would provide plenty of pressure for this task and would not impede the stock system.

Ted, your lift pump is in the boat, not on the drive....right?? If so, there has to be a spot where you can pop a pump inline and use to clear your system when this **** happens.

I think if you got a pump that could pump a decent pressure, you could have a "clear cooling system" button on the dash. Shut it down, push the button, resume party!!!!

If this works, can I get a patent and charge Merc for it?

Perhaps I am wrong??? Anyone have any ideas on this??

Ted, I am coming to look at your boat. I'm gonna be rich!

fountain27ho496

Had this drive behind a 98 hp500, best described as a
4 yr nightmare, same problems as above with a low
temp problem which turned out to be pebbles in the stat
not allowing it to close. Advantage dealer never turned
in my warranty card so merc didn't know I had this
package, Motor baked at 220 hours, most likely due to
the overheating and other problems with this motor
I have just become aware of. I now have dual pickups
on xz drive with closed cooling. Warranty is up soon
hope merc is hiding any more flaws

FlyFast

Has anyone tried a strainer or screen on the end of an offshore water pickup. this may not help much with sand but it would keep the weed out of your system.

Just trying to help

Airpacker

interesting opinion you have there.So what should I run on my single engine cat if not a LWP bravo case.My gear case actually surfs on the surface at speed,I really don't see how mid case pickups would work for me.While mercury did indeed supply the gear case,the boat builder should have installed strainers,not mercury.I boat on a shallow sand bottom lake all summer and by being careful,have never filled my cooling system with anything but water.Do they belong on a V?I don't really think so unless it has a big pad/step/notch design where surface running is normal,but then again,does a boat belong in the mud and sand?