Steps to correct overheating -'04 XLV

[mhperry]

Thanks to all who have posted info on overheating issues in the past. My 04 XLV V-drive overheated this weekend. New boat owner situation. Idled out to no wake zone (10 minutes), hit throttle and boat chugged and went back to idle speed. I see from previous posts this may be limp along mode. Temp reached 230s. Shut off after a few minutes of retrying and got tow back to dock. Just opened up Raw Water pump to find an impeller with no flaps (shredded). Concerned this could be more than an impeller replacement need - running dry could have caused impeller to shread.

I have a few detailed questions to ask.

1. What happened to pieces of impeller.. ..where do I look to see if the pieces are lodged somewhere? I see from postings there are a few filters to check. Not sure where to look for these. Tight spaces in the v-drive

2. Intake appears to be on starboard side but for ballast system (previous post mentioned starboard side for intake). Think cooling system intake is on Port side. (I had to manually close ballast intake due to issue with system filling by self even though valves are in up position). How do I check cooling system intake for clogging w/o damaging anything or causing future leakes. Drive shaft already drips 1 per 2 seconds.

3. Is there a way to tell if water pump is bad? not sure where the thermostat is or if I found it how to tell if it was bad

Simple explanations help as I am a first time boat owner. Some of the previous posts were a bit harder to follow, particularly for answers to Qs 1 and 3. Pictures are helpful if available. Thanks!

[MOBIU5]

The pieces of your impellar are still in your cooling system and will need to be removed. Follow the hose directly exiting from your impellar housing. Take apart and remove all trash which will be backed up against a filter/screen. I pulled 3 impellars worth of trash out of that hose last year boat runs like new now.

Replacing your impellar should fix your problem. The impellar will become brittle and will shred after sitting for any appreciable length of time. A shreded impellar IS the reason your boat overheated. I find it easier to lube up the new impellar to get it back in the housing. I've had to replace to begin every season until this year.

If your thermostat is out it will generally be stuck at the temp where it went kaput. It sounds like you got your boat cut off in time. If not they are not expensive or hard to replace but make sure you clean the old gasket off thoughly. Use a little bead of liquid gasket when you replace the cover or it will leak. Be careful not to overtighten screws on the cover. Refer to your owners manual for locations, think you can print one from the website if you didn't recieve one with your boat.

Good luck.