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Strange cooling problem with BF40A

B

Blue Skies

New member
I recently purchased a boat that came with a nice dinghy with a 2007 40 HP four stroke Honda outboard. During the purchase process, the broker and I took the dinghy out and it performed well. I believe the tell tale was pissing out the side of the engine. WE finished up and the broker said he would lift the dink back up after I had gone. I suspect that he may not have flushed the engine. The boat sat from the end of December until last week while we went thru the purchase and repair process.

I took the dinghy down last week and it started right up, but no water from the tell tale. I assumed that the impeller was probably shot so I loaded it on a trailer and brought it home. I rebuilt the entire water pump with an OEM kit and reinstalled the lower end on the motor. I was super disappointed to see that I still had no flow at the tell tale. I pulled the discharge hose and the fitting going into the block, everything seems clear, but I'm getting no water at all. I even tried running a weed wacker cord down thru the fitting but encountered no obstructions. I then removed the water jacket cover. It appeared to be clear, but it looks like someone had added some gasket maker to the o-ring/gasket. I then turned the water on to the ear muffs again and started the engine. I believe that I should be seeing water flow in this jacket cover, but once again I had no water at all.

At this point, I'm stumped. I'm thinking of pulling the lower end again, putting it into a tray of water and spinning the shaft with a battery drill to prove that the pump is working. I don't have a manual yet so I don't know where else to look. Any of you Honda experts have any sage advice for me?

Thanks , in advance.

Blue Skies,
Dave
 
Hi,

You might want to pull the intake screens off and make sure nothing like seagrass or seaweed or "other" is fouling the pump intake.

If that looks ok, I would try unscrewing the fitting that the tell tale tube attaches to from the engine block.

Put the lower end in a trashcan full of water... stand clear... and start the engine.

But be ready to shut it down immediately!

If the pump is good and the water tube is hooked up properly then anything in the bypass circuit WILL be instantly dislodged and ejected along with LOTS of water.

Trimmer string, wire and compressed air only works sometimes. This works every time for clearing the passage.....if all else is good that is.

If still no water then, yes, pull the lower end and investigate because that's where you'll find the problem.


Good luck (but you're probably going to get wet! ;>)
 
I had this exact chronic problem with my 2001 BF40 LTRA beginning 5 years ago. Replaced the water pump many times and flushed with product to remove corrosion, but the output stopped every time I was out in the boat, extremely frustrating for several years.

Turned out to be corrosion blockage: white scale particles accumulating in the bottom of the interior engine block water passages and blocking the tell-tale outlet.

Solution: with the motor running, remove the water exit hose from the tell-tale port and use a straight section of clothes hanger wire to insert into tell-tale and remove, jam in and pull out, repeat repeat until the particles clear and output is strong. If this is your problem too, the particles will accumulate in water under the tell-tale outlet at the base of the engine block.

Always keep a straight 10-inch section of clothes hanger wire in the boat to treat blockages this way as they form while the motor is running. For me, the particles eventually cleared and now the stream is strong.
 
alanization said:
I had this exact chronic problem with my 2001 BF40 LTRA beginning 5 years ago. Replaced the water pump many times and flushed with product to remove corrosion, but the output stopped every time I was out in the boat, extremely frustrating for several years.

Turned out to be corrosion blockage: white scale particles accumulating in the bottom of the interior engine block water passages and blocking the tell-tale outlet.

Solution: with the motor running, remove the water exit hose from the tell-tale port and use a straight section of clothes hanger wire to insert into tell-tale and remove, jam in and pull out, repeat repeat until the particles clear and output is strong. If this is your problem too, the particles will accumulate in water under the tell-tale outlet at the base of the engine block.

Always keep a straight 10-inch section of clothes hanger wire in the boat to treat blockages this way as they form while the motor is running. For me, the particles eventually cleared and now the stream is strong.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I’m going to try this.
 
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