My boat has the freshwater flush option on it, I only boat in freshwater, so I never have used it, and none of my other boats had one of these.

Question-Can I just hook a hose to it and start the motor? I have never seen anybody use one, and I am assuming to flush the motor, you probably have to start it up?!?
The reason I am asking, I want to start my motor after I de-winterize it, my lower unit has a low water pick-up, so the standard cups won't work. I know they make a piece that will strap on to the front of the lower, but why bother if I can do it with what I already have.

If everything is plumbed properly you should be able to hook up the hose and fire it up. just watch for the water exitign thru your drive /exhaust and keep an eye on yoru temp guage .. just to be sure everthing is in order..

mine has a set of valves. one to turn off and one to turn on. i run my boat off the flush system.

I had one on my Donzi. I had a ball valve that you turned off and then you would run the engine with the hose hooked up. You have to remember to turn it on again before you put the boat in the water!

Flyinbrian;

Since you stated that you have a low water pick-up, I will assume that you have a Bravo 1 drive. If this is the case then you can run off the flush fitting. If you have a drive such as an Alpha with a waterpump in the drive, you can't run the motor without the drive being supplied with water. The pump will burn right up.

Don't do it. Isn't there a plaque that says "serious engine gamage if you run engines on this system" Mine does. It has no where near the volume needed to cool egine and is only meant to flush the salt water. Look at the different diameter of the hose compared to the raw water hose. About 1/3. DO NOT DO THIS>