Thermostat's or not?
 

The Top Gun I bought this year has 525SC's in it.
The motors do not have water pumps, they have bypass's and it appears that the motors do not have thermostats in them either. The normal running temp is about 130... sometimes up to about 140-145 after cruising a while. That seems too cool to me? The boat is very cold natured and has to run for a while before it can idle and stay running.
Would I benefit myself to put t-stats in the motors?? Say
165's or something? Thanks in advance!

The crossover I have has a thermostat. But in order to use a thermostat your crossover must have a bypass hose to relieve the exesive pressure. I bought mine from Eddie Marine but others sell a similar product. After warm up mine runs 180 and never moves. I also have a EMI "Large" combo oil/power steering cooler. Before I installed the bigger cooler the temp fluctuated about 15 degrees. It seems like the boat runs much better with the warmer water provided after the cooler.

They are designed to run with 140* T-Stats.

How long to warm up????? Mine always took a couple minutes at a high idle 1000-1200rpms to warm up. I had the stock circ pump and 140* T-stat. I would not use anything higher than a 140*.

Do you have oil temp gauges???? What are those temps like and are they taken before or after the cooler???

About 15 minutes at 1500 rpm before it will stay running at idle.

I do have oil temp gauges and they always just barely touch the lowest number which is 100 degrees. after cruising for a while, it maybe gets a hair past that.
No cooler. Just seems everything should get hotter than it does.

Any engine builder will attest that it's not favorable to run an engine too cold. Normal operating temperature will burn out any condensation and allow the engine to develop it's horsepower without excessive wear. Where are you Dean G. when you're needed?

Mine was always 2-3minutes to warm up. I did notice on Mike's boat that the idle is set really low. I had mine set to idle around 750rpms in gear and 900rpms in nuetral.

The oil temp is way too cool. You want it to get to at least 212* at a good cruise rpm. That temp reading needs to be taken before the oil goes through the cooler.

Hey Griff.....

I have adjusted the idle up some to exaclty those numbers. Seems to be holding there well.

So what do you recomend? Should I put in some 140* stats and see what it does in the spring?
Thanks!

unless you have one hell of a cooler i highly doubt youre oil tems are that low youre engine just cant cool the oil to 100 degrees after running i could see 170 180 but knot asz low as you describe , oviously no themostate controlled oil . keith eikert makes a great unit this will allow oil to reach proper temperature . my oil temps run at 195 to 200 with no themostat water temp at 120 i also run a teague off shore oil coller witch is way over kill even for my 725 hoarse

Thanks for that info Rob.... so from what your saying it sound slike maybe I should be checking out my gauges? I am also not entirely sure where the sender is either so where it is getting the temp from plays a role to I am sure. How much stock do you put in your gauge(s)? thanks!

Best way to check oil temp is to get one of the infared temp readers with a laser pointer and point it at the oil pan. I doubt the gauges are bad. Possibly has the wrong sender for the gauge and the temp is being taken after the oil is cooled. No way the oil is really that cold. If it was, you'd have condensation and milky oil. I didn't have an oil temp gauge on my 525SC to give you a reference point.

If you put in TStats with the crossovers, drill (3) 3/16 holes in each one. It will keep the water temps more stable. Also make sure and get the Merc gaskets with the crush rivets or your water temp sensor won't work.