Possible implications of using a "fake-a-lake" improperly

[diesel33]

I have been tying in the garden hose directly to the intake (not using the 5 gallon bucket method) and cutting the water on to warm up the motor while the boat is on the trailer. I don't have extremely high water pressure at the house and this didn't concern me until reading a few posts here. The boat is a 2001 SAN with the 5.8 and my question is this: Have I, or will I damage any cooling components/engine components if I keep doing this? I ask this because sometimes when I shut the boat off before pulling it out of the water it seems like the motor will turn over a couple times and there is a little bit of steam coming out of the tailpipe. Other than that, the boat runs perfect all day long, no other symptoms or concerns. It didn't really concern me until my buddy's X2 started lunging after shutdown, and come to find out had a blown head gasket.

[xrichard]

I'm confused...are you using a fake-a-lake or similar...or are you attaching the garden hose in some other way? Also, I'm not sure what you mean that it seams your motor will turn over a couple of times when you're pulling it out of the water. Are you leaving it running as you pull it out? I'm not sure there's any reason to do that and there's a small risk you'll damage the impeller if you run it without water.

In any event, if you're not starving the cooling system of water, you'll be fine. You'll know you're starving it of water when running the fake-a-lake if your temperature increases beyond your thermostat rating (typically 160...but it can be different). You can also look at the clear strainer and see if you're sucking in air. If you are pulling in air, you can easily damage your impeller and you should replace it before.

Otherwise, steam out the exhaust is nothing to worry about.

[diesel33]

Sorry for the confusion, its kind of hard to explain. I made a similar style that has female fitting that fits on the end of the hose and a barb fitting that goes into the raw water intake. The female fitting has a shut off, so I purge any air out of the hose, then shut it off and climb into the boat and hook it up, and cut it on before the boat cranks. I typically take the hose loose from the "out" side of the strainer, only bc its easier to reach and hopefully I dont need a strainer on my domestic water. I shut the boat off before its out of the water, so its not running dry, but the motor is still warm.

[jchamlin]

Any reason you don't use a bucket? Just go to Pep Boys, get a bucket and rubber hose and you're good to go. They have diameters that fit right into the water intake. I remove my intake from the hull, stick one end of the hose into the intake and the other into the bucket. I use the clamps from the water intake hose to tighten around the rubber hose...works great.

I don't think you'll have a problem providing too much water with your current method, but I could be wrong. I have done this before and not had any problems. I'd recommend the bucket method anyway...so you know whether your impeller is working properly.

[DanielC]

There is a lot of plumbing between the raw water pump, and the water intake on the bottom of the boat. You have the through hull fitting, the water strainer, the V-drive cooler, the shift transmission cooler, lots of hose going from the front of the engine, back (forward) to the V-drive, and every connection, and fitting could be a possible air leak. You increase the chances of an air leak dramatically if you are constantly removing and replacing hoses, a lot.
If I am not mistaken, the water strainer is located pretty high in the engine compartment, and any leaks there would increase the amount of air sucked into the system. Easier to suck air, than is is to pull water up abut two or so feet to the strainer. I have also seen a strainer or two with loose PVC fittings, that the water hose clamps to.

I would suggest that if you have to run the engine, you use a Fake-A-Lake under the boat, so you can leave the entire cooling system intact.