Need a little help here please. My buddy (who doesnt do computers too well) has a '98 32' Fountain w/stock 502s used to run in the 150 degree range for the past 2 years of ownership. this year he's is running 175-180. So, he had the impellers replaced, still 175-180. He came over to my dock, I pulled the hoses on the housing where i have seen impeller blades stuck, but she's totally clean. Fired the motors up with hoses off at this juncture, great water flow. this is a freshwater boat and has been since day one. Also has the original Gaffrig guages (could it possibly be these?). Any suggestions or other places to check are much appreciated. thanx in advance,

tom

Are they 502 mag MPI ? were there any pieces missing from the impellers,

Did he ever suck up some sand that is stuck in the block?

They are 502 MAG MPI's and the old impellers were starting to disintegrate and supposedly they got the rubber out. As for sand, good possiblity, as we boat in some shallow waters. I will pull the plugs in the block and see what we find for sand. thanx again for the input,

tom

you do have 160 thermostats,,175 does not seem too bad,,not sure you have a problem

I found rubber and small rocks in the oil cooler and ps cooler, PS cooler lay's horizontal on the back of the motor and the oil cooler is mounted vertical on the front right side of motor, good luck, fishin only sucks when the beer runs out.

@boatnt, thanx for the response. I wondered if maybe he had thermostats or not. He's concerned because he'd been 150-155 consistently for the last two years and now he's jumped up in temp 20-30. he was idling out our dock and i watched his guages wander from 150 to 180 then back down to 155 then back up, just idling, on both motors.

@33, thanx again for the input! I recognized the engine oil coolers standing vertically on the right side of the block but i did not pull the hose from the bottom side to inspect, i'll do that. i didn't know about the PS coolers on the back side, I'll make him climb back there to check those, haha, His boat...make him do some work . LOL on the Fishin...but I'd rather mow my grass than fish! There's just somethin about people that are out on the water in a long sleeve flannel shirt, 90 degree day, a bucket of worms and a stick that i can't comprehend. Oh, and they have a real habit of waving with one finger....what's that all about??? Beer is good food!!! Thanx again everyone, much appreciated

tom

Check for loose hose clamps on supply side of seawater pump or partially open flush valves if equipped. A cycling of temps up/down at idle can be caused by sucking in air.

Great point US1! funny you mention that, as i was looking over the hoses at the thermostat housing, there 2 clamps on the supply line from the Oil Cooler on the housing. As it turns out, the dipwad that changed out his impellers (a suppose performance boat shop in Angola, IN) broke the clamp and just left it on there, with no clamp on the top of the oil cooler. I wonder how many more be broke or missing? thanx again,

tom

I think your friend has a case of the "chunks" as in chunks of old impellor blocking water flow. Not to hijack, but beer is good food! A wise man once told me "there's a pork chop in every mug" ... mugs are 24oz at my watering holes.