On my way back to the marina yesterday, my port engine cooling hose (thermastat housing to recirculating pump) blew...dumped a ton of water into the bilge. The high water alarm worked but my ears are still ringing. Anyone else blow a hose...seems odd?

I ordered a new hose this morning but am wondering if I have a bigger issue? That engine has had water tempurature fluctuations of about 20 degrees while the other stays right at 155 degrees...could the thermastat be shot and could that cause the hose to blow? No visible debris in the hose, I flush the engine after each day on the water and I change the impellers every season (approximately 25 hrs on these). I'd like to getter fixed this w/e but I'd rather not repeat the ear splitting drama anytime soon!

does your boat have a water pressure gage????? might be high water pressure???

sounds like a bad hose how old?????

All of the above, bad hose, high water pressure or loose clamp.

The hose is (was) two seasons old. I'm ordering a new thermostat in addition to the hose and will back flush the fuel & steering coolers this w/e. I hope that will lick the problem.

I do not have water pressure gauges. If I need to know the pressure, is there a gauge that I can temporarily check pressures with or install somewhere on the cooling system itself (I don't really want another couple of gauges on the panel)?

I'd like to install a water pressure guage.... where do you get one and where does it get installed??? And I'm very interested in having it hooked up to an alarm so it goes off first before the engine has time to overheat due to lack of water pressure from impeller failure...

How old are the risers? I had a raw water pump to t-stat hose fail once and I think partly clogged risers played apart....too much h2o pressure.

Only have about 20 hours on the manifolds/risers, new from Stainless Marine this spring. I'll check them for restriction, thanks.

I had the exact same problem over the weekend. I backflushed the motor, removed and cleaned the oil cooler and power steering cooler but still had pressure issues. Turned out to be a bad thermostat. It was broken and not opening properly. This caused too much pressure and blew the hose directly out of the seawater pump.

Bummer Mike...I hope that's what it is. I'll get it flushed this w/e then button everything up with a new hose and thermostat.

Do you know what the pressure difference was between the good thermostat and the bad one? Have a good w/e on the water while I'm in the driveway!