Maybe some advice guys. I took the boat out today - first time in weeks. Started the kicker and trolled for 20 minutes. Then kicker (Honda 8 hp, 2004) stopped. Motor was hot and smoked a bit. Didn't start again. Took it home and started in the driveway in the bucket and it started fine and I noticed that no water came from the peehole. Took the hose off and poked a toothpick in the nozzle at the engine block a few times and water shot out again. Kicker ran fine for 15 min then with proper cooling stream. I am wondering now if that overheating earlier could have done any significant damage to the motor and how I would find out if. What are the symptoms I should watch for. And what can I do? Or did the successful driveway test confirm that I may have dodged a bullet here?
Kicker Overheated
- Thread starter calmsea
- Start date
albernifisher
Well-Known Member
I had the same problem with my 8hp honda,it was plugged solid with salt.Was a very easy fix,all I did was take the cover plate off from where the pisser hose comes from and inside was a bunch of little channels that get clogged with salt and stop the flow of water.Clean it out,install a new gasket and it's good to go.Funny thing is that my dad also had the same problem with his 8hp honda
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
I had to clean the pee hole out every day on honda's at a place I worked. If it was not done they would over heat/steam up and shut down.
I hate honda's, oh and every other motor. They all suck.
I hate honda's, oh and every other motor. They all suck.
spring fever
Well-Known Member
Try a salt-away flush-especially if you are able to use a bucket and recycle the stuff.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Yup, Honda's have a problem with those small passages clogging up with salt and debris.
you can disconnect the hose at the engine and unscrew the brass nipple from the block and ream it out.
I just drilled it slightly oversize and the flow has been better.
Helps to flush with fresh water after each use .
you can disconnect the hose at the engine and unscrew the brass nipple from the block and ream it out.
I just drilled it slightly oversize and the flow has been better.
Helps to flush with fresh water after each use .
To your actual question, calmsea: yeah, you may have gotten lucky that there might be no permanent damage due to the overheating. Maybe it was short enough to not warp the head or seize a piston etc. But I think the only way to tell is to go out and run the kicker hard for a long time to get it up to high temps and see if it still performs ok. Maybe those small engines actually don't warp that easy as it's such a compact size that it is actually quite stiff and rigid. But that's just a wild theory. Maybe you have an overheat emergency switch on this kicker that killed it as it got too hot? Not sure, maybe some others here know those Honda kicker features better than I...
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
A plugged up tell- tale hole will not cause an overheat, it is just an indicator... nothing more. Since you got a good stream of water after you poked the hole, I would say it wasnt an overtemp. issue. You said it smoked, sounds like a fuel problem. I seriously doubt you overheated it.
Hmm Isn't the cooling stream interrupted when the pee hole is plugged? Or are you suggesting that the actual cooling stream exits somewhere else and the peehole stream is just as you said an indicator via bypass? But the motor did get unusually hot which I noticed as I took the cowling off to figure out what was wrong. Smoke/steam came from the engine block. And after it cooled down it started and ran fine (in the driveway).
trophywife
Crew Member
The tell tale is simply a hose clamped to a fitting from the block allowing you see that the pump is working. Even with the tell tale plugged there is still water circulating through the block and dumping through the leg. From my experience, if the tell tale is plugged the water trapped will heat up more than the water that is moving within the engine...that water will create some stream which can escape past the blockage and exit by way of the tell tale. It looks like the engine is hot when in fact it is just the water in the hose producing the steam. Once you free the blockage the steaming stops.
Thanks, makes me feel a lot better. Seems then it did not harm the motor after all. Wondering why it did stall though and didn't want to start again. Maybe there is something parallel going on as IFL suggested.
Can't wait to get out again and test it. Damn wind!
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
Not very often do Honda's have impellor probs. Overheating issues are usually caused by salt buildup and/ or thermostat issues. But, like I said, from what youre telling me, it sounds like a fuel prob. That said, it may be in your best interest to actually verify that its not overheating.
spring time
Well-Known Member
I would take it out for a test just not in a bucket and run it for a while under load just to make sure its not your impeller or something else I would hate to screw up a fishing outting on this problem
claymcpher
Member
the tell tail is just an indicator that the water pump is doing its thing, the rubber impeller should be changed every 2 to 3 years anyways. the water that is pumped up goes thru the engine and mixes with the exhaust on exit to cool it from burning up the engine, personaly I would pull the thermastat out clean the salt, change the engine oil and impeller and take it for a good run
Reel Knotty
Member
Peronally I remove the thermostats from my engines when I have a kicker/main combo. The only boats I've left them in on are single engine units I've had where I run with it revved and troll at idle. Mind you Mid 80's engines are the newest I've owned. I just find they clog with salt, fail, and suspect they shorted your waterpump life by restricting the flow from them when closed. My personal experience is I do less repairs all round without them.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
Remove the thermostat? Really? wtf.. Yea maybe remove it to clean or replace it, definitely dont go without one.. unless of coarse you dont mind shortening its life by half!
Man, you really gotta watch where you get advice on the internet...
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Reel Knotty
Member
Given the posts by IFL and pro, I'll look into this more. What you say sounds more than reasonable. All I can say is I bought my previous boat, 15.5 hourston with a 1980 Merc 50 and 1978 evinrude 9.9 in the spring of 1998??. Used it all season with no trouble. That fall, had buddy (professional mechanic) over for beers and we decided to look over the engines. We found neither motor had t stats. His advise was also, "get them in there". I did that and first run out of the harbour the merc overheated. started coming back on kicker, it was smokin hot by the time I hit the ramp. Pulled the stats and used boat till 2006 when I had to sell for marital reasons. Kept the kicker and ran it as my main on a couple smaller boats I've had over that time. I've had no problems at all with it and the plugs look near new when I change them out yearly. Last year it was checked over and 100 psi in each cylinder. So, am I just lucky? Did the previous owner do some sort of mod I haven't found yet? Dunno.
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Obviously the previous owner took them out because he was having overheat issues. His remedy was to remove the t-stats instead of spending money to fix a problem. Think about your car or truck, especially a diesel ....would you jump in it and within 30 seconds have it turning 4000 to 5000 rpms? (diesel 2000 to 2500 rpms) No you warm it up or take it easy until it comes up to temp. Your engine without the t-stats never gets up to its proper operating temp. Another part of the cooling system in outboards that gets ignored often is the pressure relief valve. If this salts up or sticks the engine can't dump the excess water and pressure that the water pump generates at higher rpms. The engine block can only handle so much water flowing trough it...this valve dumps off the excess. The water usually spits out of the mid section of the leg just below the engine cowling.
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