I am having a issue and looking for a little help. I have a 24 Excalibur with a 502 and a V4, New outdrive with low water pickup. Problem is every time I go out I suck up debris and overheat. when this happens, I flush out the engine and the pickup but end up needing to put a t-stat in it too. I just bought the boat a few weeks ago. It does not have a sea strainer on it but I am adding one before the next time I take it out. My question is, I want to delete the t-stat and replace it with a restrictor plate. Has anyone done this and what would be the proper one to use instead of the 140 t-stat. Also, does anyone have a decent sea strainer for sale or can point me in the direction of the one to get?
I am really getting tired of this so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Jay

Anyone?

I would keep the tstat and install the strainer.

Restrictor can hurt you at sustained high rpms.

Wannabe

My suggestion is to stay out of the muck! ...I know, easier said than done. I've spent every night for the past week, flushing hoses and coolers on my 502 MPI. Those little river pebbles will clog a P/S and oil cooler. Both of mine were about half clogged. Once the pebbles get in there, then the sand has a place to sit and further the clogging process.

i agree with wannabe,a restrictor could cause irratic temps,mercury,s setup works and they have sold a ton of them.if you boat in water with debrie in it,a sea strainer will help.

I ran 3/4" this weekend (have crossovers) and couldn't build any temp, maybe 120 after hard run. Went back to 160 stats the next day.

LOL, definitely easier said than done when boating around here! This no rain situation isn't helping matters either..

Thats the plan this week for me, start flushing the entire cooling system, install a sea strainer, and start over again. Thanks for the replys. I'll stick with the t-stat and see how it goes after the strainer is installed

Jay