2002 SANTE, overheating-limp home mode, I think?

[oncelost77]

Well, second year with my boat, first year no problems. I had the boat winterized in 07 and the boat sat through 08. I called the Marina and asked what I needed to do to put the boat back in the water this year. "Just put the plug in and connect the batteries."

I have 8.1L MPI and it ran strong for the first 20 min., but went to this limp home mode. If that is what it is doing based on reading other threads? Engine temp went to 250, so I stopped limping home and got towed in by a friend on a jet-ski. What a sight, my boat costing 10x the jet ski, very depressing.

Gonna take the boat back to the marina in the morning, any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[WakeSlayer]

RE: 2002 SANTE, overheating-limp home mode, I think?

250 is really high. The impeller would be the first place I would check. Then check all your hoses. And cross your fingers.
What was the temp before the limp mode? Are you assuming temp caused that ? No other noticeable issues?

[DavidF]

RE: 2002 SANTE, overheating-limp home mode, I think?

Main thing to check at this point are the impellar, like WakeSlayer mentions and the internal condition of the rubber exhaust hoses....they do not like high heat and tend to collapse internally.

At 250 degrees I think your block/heads might still be ok...especially since you shut it down and did not try to force cool water through the hot engine.

Just for peace of mind, perform a compression check.

Make sure the o-ring in the water strainer is in place and that all the hose clamps are tight.

[bchesley]

RE: 2002 SANTE, overheating-limp home mode, I think?

If all you had to do was put the plug in and go then that impeller was probably bad. When you leave them in for that long they get bent and preformed to the housing. I always take mine out over winter and leave it in the bilge.

[WakeSlayer]

RE: 2002 SANTE, overheating-limp home mode, I think?

I never take mine out over the winter, but my blocks sit full of antifreeze. If you just drain the block it is a good idea to remove them.

Good thing you caught it. There was a guy in Indiana who started his Python up for the first time of the year a couple years ago, and let it sit running at the dock unattended while he went and did some other stuff. His motor completely burned up.

Like David said, check the internals of the hoses. That is what I meant, but worded it poorly. Luckily, you don't have much hose back there and do not have mufflers. The downside is your motor is so big that working them off back there is going to be a biatch. Agree on the compression check, as well. However, you can probably replace the impeller, check hoses, check all hose connections and strainer and fire it up.
You will probably be ok.

Good luck, my Python brother.

[oncelost77]

I looked at it again and realize it only got up to 200, so I am praying that all is well. This impeller thing will never get me again if it is the case. The marina mechanic thinks the same as ya'll, I will find out tomorrow and will post the outcome. Will give the hoses a good once over and I might hold off on the compression check. Thanks for the response.