zane

it is amazing what the motors can suck up. last winter i pulled the heat exchangers apart on the other boat. they were really full of crap...all sorts of weed...parts of an impellor (previous owners..not mine)....next time out i'm gonna bring the ir thermometer. i was just a little concerned by the steam...it doesnt last long ....it'll be something i'll have to watch as the season progresses

ragtp66

I thought I was the only one with this issue. I have a 87 SR Pachanga 22 with a 454Magnum/330hp. Exhaust always has steam coming from it. I bought the boat about a year ago and unfortunately I didn't get much of a service history with it. Has about 220hrs on it, raw water cooled. The boat was from new york and spent some time in the hudson river (brackish water). Last summer I replaced both manifolds and risers but never thought about for some reason replacing t-stat boat always ran around 140/150 ish. When I went to winterize the boat I found that there was no Tstat installed. So this spring I installed the correct 140 Tstat. After running on the hose for just a few min the temp went from 140 climbing to 170. thought maybe just not enough water from hose. Put the boat in the water runs up to 140 quickly cruisign at 3000-3500 rpm runs around 160/165 WOT at 4400 rpm climbs to 170. also climbs to 170 after coming off plane from cruise at 3500.Risers are warm to hot to the touch meaning you could keep your hand on them for 5 seconds but not so hot to where you could not keep your hand on them. 3 questions I have ...#1 I can't seem to find anywhere to tell me what the "normal" range of temps should be. #2 I haven't yet but this is my next area to attack is replacing the impeller in the drive. #3 Where the hose connects to the tstat housing and feeds the starboard side riser the hose gets severely pinched by the hatch lift ram when in the closed position.(sea ray's poor location) I was trying to get the "T" fitting to turn to reroute it but that thing isn't moving. Because of the the way that is collapses the hoses I am SURE that the plastic check ball on that side has no room to open. I tried routing the hose behind the ram instead of underneath is and that helps but I was looking for a more permanent fix. If you want pictures I can post. I will get the steam from BOTH exhausts whether on the hose or in the water. I am thinking that something is not right causing this. The plugs all come out looking good not wet no deposits on them and there is no misfires or pinging. Any help would be appreciated.

ENFORCER24

you should replace the impellor every year at minimum , i know alot of guys that do it mid season too , as for the temps everything sounds in order , i know that a 454 is safe up past 200 degrees , but i'm sure everyone wants to run right at the thermostat temperature , mine runs 140-160 all day long and i smile , i have with a previous boat capped off that "t" fitting on the thermostat housing and the risers and let all the water pass thru the bottem of the manifolds , just for testing purposes it made the manifolds a lil hotter but the engine ran a little cooler (didnt say i understood it) , i do also know that its normal to get a 10 degree spike when you drop off plane , every sport boat that i have ever owned or been on does it
its probably just hot exhaust gasses cooking the water after the riser when they mix.
just my .02

Spy

I just went through this exact situation with my mechanic. My impellor is new and everything is in good working order. After a little looking it the problem was the previous owner had blown an impellor and there were still some remnants of the old impellor lodged in the cooling system causing slower water flow and resulting in the Exhaust really heating up at the back of the motor. I had a 160 degree thermostat and the boat was running like 175 when I ran it hard. now that all the old rubber parts are clear from the system we are back down to running in the 160 range.