Engine not drawing water

[DDL]

Hi all! I have a 2004 XLV with the Indmar 340. We had a great summer with no issues and the boat ran great. I was going to winterized it today by adding RV antifreeze after draining the block and blowing out the lines. Did the usual pulling off of the raw water inlet hose and attaching another hose into a large bucket of antifreeze. Started the engine and in previous years, it has sucked up the antifreeze pretty quick. This time...nothing. Put the water inlet hose back on, hooked up the garden hose to the snorkel on the belly and fired it up again. Ran great but no water coming out the exhaust. Checked the belt and pulled the impeller - both in good shape.

Any ideas as to what I’m missing or what might be wrong?

Thanks
Kevin

[MJHSupra]

Did you check all the hose connections?

Does the bucket need to be higher than the motor to help the initial air getting out of the line?

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk

[DDL]

Hi and thanks for replying to my post. I’ll confirm that today. The bucket was on the floor and that inlet hose is just below floor level. I’ve winterized it the same way for the past 8 years and never a problem. What makes it even more confusing is when I hook up the suction cup to the belly of the boat and turn on the garden hose. It’s not pulling any water into the engine and that has never happened before. I checked the hose and grill on the bottom of the boat for blockage and they appear clear. Other than the impeller that circulates the water, what else could be failing that mechanically sucks the water from whatever source?

[parrothd]

You reconnected the pump hoses? In the correct places?

[DDL]

I’ll double check all the hoses today. I only removed the raw water inlet hose at the V-Drive, replacing it with a secondary hose that ran into a bucket of antifreeze. In the past I just start the engine and it sucks the antifreeze in quite quickly. Is there something mechanical in that V-Drive unit that aids in sucking the water or is it just the impeller unit at the stern end of the engine?

[parrothd]

I’ll double check all the hoses today. I only removed the raw water inlet hose at the V-Drive, replacing it with a secondary hose that ran into a bucket of antifreeze. In the past I just start the engine and it sucks the antifreeze in quite quickly. Is there something mechanical in that V-Drive unit that aids in sucking the water or is it just the impeller unit at the stern end of the engine?

Nope, the implellor may be bad. Poor some water down the intake hose first to prime it. Sure you removed the right hose in the vdrive?

[DDL]

Thanks and I’m leaning toward that impeller. I pulled it out yesterday and it seems good (all the fins are on and still flexible). Regarding the hose, it’s the large raw water intake line that comes up from belly water intake port and goes into the V-Drive. The hose on the other side of the V-Drive, the one going back to the impeller, was not touched. Is that the right one??

[DDL]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions on this. After filing the hose and priming the system, I fired it up and everything worked great! All ready for a nice cold Canadian winter (uugh)