I would like to know the proper way to start an outboard motor without
actually starting the ignition of the motor. I am doing this for two
purposes: (1) Do a "load test" on a battery to see how much life the
battery still has remaining. (2) Check the water pump in the lower unit
without risk overheating the engine.

According to the book "The 12-Volt Bible for Boats", the author
suggested the way to do a load test on a battery is by using the
starter as a load without starting the motor. What he said to prevent
the motor to actually start is "disconnect the primary ignition wire
that connects your ignition distributor to a small terminal on the
ignition coil to be safe." I don't understand this in the context of
an outboard motor. Did he mean turning off the "kill switch" (lanyard
stop switch)? Did he mean unplug the wire from all the spark plugs?

I keep having problem using flushing earmuffs to flush the lower unit
of the outboard motor. I cannot see the telltale water stream coming
off from the outboard motor. I can get around with this problem by
running the motor in a small water tank. However, using a flushing
earmuffs is surely more convenient. I want to try a flushing earmuffs
kit that is specifically designed for my outboard motor (Mercury Marine
Outboard). But I want to avoid overheating the motor in case the
flushing earmuffs kit doesn't work. Therefore, I am looking for a way
to start the water pump (in order to see the telltale sign) without
actually starting the motor when I am testing the flushing earmuffs
kit.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

On 25 Nov 2005 07:11:15 -0800, "
wrote:

Did he mean turning off the "kill switch" (lanyard
stop switch)? Did he mean unplug the wire from all the spark plugs?

================================

For your purpose either choice will work, anything that allows the
motor to "turn over" without actually starting.

Harry's advice regarding professional testing is good however.

Jay, if you want to load test your battery, yank it out of the boat and
take it to an auto parts supply store that handles batteries. The store
is sure to have a real battery load tester, and you can get a reasonably
precise answer to the question of "battery health."

I am afraid that the salesman will tend to bad mouth the batteries in
order to sell their new batteries. And the batteries are inside a
console where I have a hard time moving them out and moving them back.
I think I will check them in place instead of bring them to the store.
Hopefully people whose batteries are in more accessible place will take
your advice.

I don't know what Merc you have, but I have had several, and once I
hooked up the muffs and turned on the water(you don't need or want full
pressure from the average household water system), I'd start up the
moter and in a few seconds water would come out the pee hole. If water
isn't coming out that hole in short order, you probably have a shot
impeller or a clog somewhere in the system. To the best of my
knowledged, water is not going to come out the pee hole under the
powerhead unless the engine is running and the impeller is pumping water
up to the powerhead. The newer, larger Mercs have a way to pump water
into the powerhead without using muffs.

Thanks for telling me that I must start the engine in order to test the
water pump. Now, I can concentrate my effort in getting water into the
motor.

For some reason, I just don't have much luck with the flushing earmuff
adapters. I can see one of the reason why I have a problem is that
area where the water intake holes are have an slightly depressed area
facing the forward area. I guess that depressed area is for helping
water to enter the water intake holes. Unfortunately, when I place a
flushing earmuff adapter over the water intake holes, water tends to
come out from that depressed area. I believe this reduces the water
flow entering into the water intake holes. Next spring, I will play
around with different water pressure level, different mounting
positions...etc.

Jay Chan

Did he mean turning off the "kill switch" (lanyard
stop switch)? Did he mean unplug the wire from
all the spark plugs?

For your purpose either choice will work, anything
that allows the motor to "turn over" without actually
starting.

Great! I will use the kill switch to prevent the engine from starting
while I do a load-test on the batteries.

Thanks.

Jay Chan

With my 1993 Merc 150, water doesn't come out of the pee hole until
2100-2200 rpm, using the ear muffs, even with a brand new impeller.

Ron M.

With my 1993 Merc 150, water doesn't come out of the pee hole until
2100-2200 rpm, using the ear muffs, even with a brand new impeller.

Sound like this is a common problem with flushing earmuffs adapter, and
I will only run the motor at idle speed (around 1000 rpm) when I am
flushing the motor or running the motor to winterize the fuel system
anyway. Therefore, seem like this flushing earmuffs adapter is not
suitable for my motor, and I should be using a small water tank. Oh
well...

Jay Chan