Starting engine out of the water???

[onsse]

Hi,

Is it bad to start the engine when the boat is not in the water? I usually start it for less than a minute just to insure that once on the water, the motor will start. I don't put it in gear.. just idle for about 30 seconds.. is that bad? :|

I have a 93 sport and I can't seem to find where to hook up the garden hose to keep the motor running. Can someone help?? thank you

~onsse

[bmh2208]

RE: Starting engine out of the water???

Yes it is bad. Even for 30 seconds. When the engine is running, the raw water pump impeller is spinning. While your engine most likely will not overheat, you will quickly burn up the rubber impeller. Go to the boat store and pick up a fake a lake. While they are a pain, they work and will prevent you from destroying your impeller.

[Andrew]

RE: Starting engine out of the water???

why not just start the boat on the trailer while its in the water before u unhook it?

[Fast351]

RE: Starting engine out of the water???

^^^^ this is what I do...

[TravelinTrav]

RE: Starting engine out of the water???

Just for example, My buddy had a dead battery, so he pulled the boat out, jump started it out of the water, and put it back into the water. By the time he got it back into the water, the engine was making an awful noise, so he shut it down, and threw a fit, on a 95 degree day in Seattle. He destroyed the raw water pump within that amount of time, and I laughed at him. Of Course being the nice guy, I fixed it for him, so I could use his boat, since it had a full tank of gas... LOL...

[onsse]

thanks for the tip and advise. really appreciate it.

[boatech]

yeah i would go with NEVER AND I MEAN EVER START AND LET YOUR BOAT RUN OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ag4ever]

When I get to my boat storage, I start the engine dry, but only long enough for it to start. It is then shut down immediatly after less than 1 second of running. There should be enough water in the pump for it to be ok for this very short period of time. Starting it tells me it will start and that I don't need to fix anything before getting to the ramp and wasting my time and others who will be waiting for the ramp. The launching ramp is for launching a boat, and not fixing it. If you don't know your boat will start, you should not be launching it.

Just my personal opinion.

Just don't run your engine without a supply of water to the raw water pump. When I do my test start I can usually still see water in my raw water strainer telling me the pump still has water in it.

[76NautiquePete]

As part of dewinterizing my boat I always start it up on the trailer.... Just to make sure all is well. I simply loosen hose clamp, pull the fresh water intake hose off the hull fitting, let a garden hose run into hose, pumps draw water as needed, I let it run until engine reaches normal operating temp., thermostat opens and flushes out all antifreeze, etc.

Been doing it that way since 1976 and no problems.... other than an occasional nieghbor wondering whats going on.

[walleye]

My 94sn allows me to hook up a garden hose to the water filter screw it on and fire it up

[bobchris]

starting it and letting it idle for about two seconds is fine, your varify the starter works and the battery is good and it will fire, that's all you need to know so turn it back off and launch the boat.

idling out of the water for 10 seconds or longer well your just screwing yourself and the boat so do it if you want but you shouldn't. And never is a bit strong done correctly no harm is done.

[DanielC]

Do not start your boat out of water, ever. The impeller can be damaged enough in even two seconds to lose its prime, and then it runs for a lot longer with out water, and that destroys your impeller.

[bobchris]

Do not start your boat out of water, ever. The impeller can be damaged enough in even two seconds to lose its prime, and then it runs for a lot longer with out water, and that destroys your impeller.

please don't push your paranoia upon others because it's not going to hurt a **** thing runing it out of water for a couple of seconds.


longer than that yes it can damage it depending on how long it was run.

[DanielC]

Your boat, do what you want with it. May I suggest you get and carry an extra impeller. And know how to change it, and make sure you know what way your water pump is oriented on your engine.
You can get impellers from www.skidim.com
Don't believe it is paranoia I am spreading. The impeller will get damaged running even for a short time with out water. You might get away with it for a while, but is is a risk. The impeller does draw the water out of the hoses, and water strainer when started without being supplied with water, and the next time you start the impeller can run dry until it can suck water through all the hoses, strainer, trans oil cooler, and V-drive, if your boat is V-drive. I will stand by my original statement. Do not start your boat without water, ever.

[ag4ever]

Daniel, may I suggest you look to see if your impeller actually sucks all the water in the line from the raw water strainer to the raw water pump in less than 2 seconds. I think you will be suprised to see how long it can run before it draws all that water through the pump.

I have checked, and running it for a very short time to see the starter works and engine actually fires does NOT pull all the water out of the supply line in front of the raw water pump. But running it for more than that CAN cause a problem. But then again, it might not cause a problem. I have run my boat on accident for approximatly 1 minute after launching with the sea water pitcock closed. The raw water pump did NOT have water. I immediatly shut the engine down when I realised what happened (you could tell because the engine sounded like a truck engine without a muffler), opened the seacock, idled to the dock, and replaced the impeller. It only had minor scaring on the veins, and no parts were missing. Mind you, this was running at 3,000 rpm for most of that time.

So these pumps can withstand a bit of abuse, but I would avoid it if possible.