Motor saved by observant boarder

I was in the back of the boat assisting with boards, ropes etc. My son jumped in and my wife turned on the engine. My son yelled to me that there was a lot of "smoke" coming out of the exhaust.
I looked down and saw steam coming out of the exhaust. Not a lot but enough to throw me into panic mode. I looked at the temp gauge from the back of the boat and saw it was just above the 180 mark for the first time!

After shutting down the engine I jumped in, went under the boat and half of the intake was blocked by what looked like algae. I checked the filter next to the v-drive and it was almost fully packed with algae.

We had never been out in the stuff before and now we know to avoid it. There wasn't much but that is all it took. Took it out the next day and everything was fine. Need to run a compression check but it seems fine otherwise. No steam, no water in the oil, no oil in exhaust, runs well. I let the motor cool by opening the hatch for 30 minutes rather than shock it with cold water

So an observant observer may have (and most likely did) save not only the day but the motor as well.

:confused::confused:Is there any audible alarm for these gauges or senders?:confused::confused: As much as I hate to admit, I am not watching the gauges full time but that is one I look at a lot. It can creep up quickly.

I'm sure you could add an audible, but as far as I know both of my SC boats have never had one. I did the same thing once when my impeller ripped and my boat started overheating, didn't notice it at first and could've been very bad. Now I make it a habit to run my eyes past the gauges every few minutes since that happened about 6 years ago.

180 wont have hurt your boat, I am not a mechanic but I have spoken with a journeyman about temp in a boat. My truck runs at 100 degrees Celsius which converts to 212 degrees fahrenheit.I wouldnt bother with the compression check. Unless you had it pegged at 240 in which case I would do it but I thought the same thing a few years ago and this is what i was told so save you money and dont worry about it.

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Originally Posted by saskie99

180 wont have hurt your boat, I am not a mechanic but I have spoken with a journeyman about temp in a boat. My truck runs at 100 degrees Celsius which converts to 212 degrees fahrenheit.I wouldnt bother with the compression check. Unless you had it pegged at 240 in which case I would do it but I thought the same thing a few years ago and this is what i was told so save you money and dont worry about it.

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I agree unless the boat goes over 240 even you dont have to worry about damaging anything. Since the boats are fresh water the water will boil at 212 and the temp will spike up fast.

As for the Engine it can take some heat.

exp in my LT1 Vette it routinely runs at 200 and in traffic hits 230 and over heat is at 250. i hate seeing it run that hot but its normal, my cooling fans don't even turn on till 220. Yes its a closed pressurized system but that just keeps the antifreeze from boiling, it still shows these engines can take a lot of heat and be ok.

It never got close to 240, lucky on that one.
I can't count on others looking at the gauges as much as the rest of on the forum would. I also have a 15 year old (the one who spotted it) who would probably do ok at watching but who knows about everyone else.
That is why I was asking about an audible.