Starting engine out of the water???

[DanielC]

There is no question in my mind that you can get away with running your boat without water for a short time. You also have a possibility of not damaging your impeller. There is also a possibility that you could damage your impeller. If you have minor damage on your impeller, there is a very real possibility it could fail completely when you are away from the relative safety of a launch ramp or dock.
The original question that started this post is as follows:
" 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?"
The answer to that question is Yes, it is bad. it could cause your engine to fail to run properly (limp mode) when you are away from the launch ramp.
Do you want to be out in the middle of some lake , in limp mode, when a thunderstorm comes up?
Would you rather have do drag you boat back on the trailer with the winch if the engine did not start?
I have not done a statistical study on this, but I would guess that there are more water pump failures caused by running the engine with out water than there no starts caused by an engine failure. Please note, I do not consider a dead battery an engine failure.

Running your engine without cooling water can possibility cause your impeller to fail at a very inconvenient time, some times even after several successful trips out with no apparent problems.

Once again, do not run your engine without cooling water, ever.

[ag4ever]

I agree, the OP should never start their engine as they have posted.

But I do think a dead battery is an engine failure. Just turning on the ignition will not tell you if you have enough battery to actually fire the engine. The only way to know is to test start the engine. I personally don't want my test fire to be after a long drive to the ramp just to find out I ned a new battery or a battery charge. I want to know as soon as I can which is when I first get to the boat storage.

So once again, run your ening e for a brief moment to ensure it works because I don't want your darn dead boat sitting on the launching ramp for who knows how long while you try to figure out why it won't start. I want to launch my boat and when I ensure I won't interfere with other launching, I am irritated when others don't show the same courtesy.

[DanielC]

Starting your boat out of the water will take more electricity out of your battery than the alternator can put back in in the very brief time it is allowed to run. If your battery is in question, put a charger on it the night before. Better yet, make a provision to supply water to your boat, so you can run it long enough to recharge the battery.
I kind of know the sound the blower makes with a battery that has enough charge to start the boat. If the blower sounds weak, or slow, I check the battery voltage, or just put a charger on it.
If your boat ran the last time you used it, and nobody has messed with it, it should run. Why would it not run?
I will still stand by the original statement.

Do not run your boat without supplying cooling water to it, ever.

Violating this rule may cause water pump damage and could strand you away from help in a body of water, too far from shore to make it back without a running boat.

[Andrew]

imo, if u have to ask don't do it. anyone that knows how the cooling system works will know just how far they can go before damaging the impeller........

[DavidF]

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 darn 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.

Right on. I have been doing the start it for a few seconds to ensure the battery is fine and it will fire. Then it gets shut off. Been doing it for over 20 years and have never damaged an impellar.

You may get away with 30 seconds every now and then, but 30 seconds is too long...keep it under 5 seconds.