Winterize help

[03SANTE]

Block not being warm has nothing to do with it. Ice cold or running for hours, the second you fire up the engine the raw water pump turns and draws water into the system. There is an problem if that is not happening. Did the boat run correctly last time you used it? Try pouring some water down the hose from the strainer to the pump and see if it comes out anywhere before the raw water pump. If you have no leaks, there is an issue with the pump or impeller like the other poster mentioned. Shouldn't be an obstruction if you are going into the system after the strainer.

[Tom_H]

Block being warm won't matter. When you drain first, it fills the empty block through the circulation pump (the thermostat is the outlet - not the inlet to the block). Once the block fills, it will then shunt it to the exhaust manifolds (metered by how much the thermostat is open/closed). If you're not pumping on start-up it's a pump issue so long as you don't have an air leak between the bucket and the raw water pump. When was the last time you replaced the impeller?

While the raw water pump, when in good shape has enough suction to pull with the bucket down on the ground, having it up higher will help. I would check your hose connection where you tapped into the system, it's the most likely place that you may have an air leak which will result in no suction.