Bad but good day at the dock.

[Chachie]

River finally came down enough to get the old Cobalt Cuddie in the river. Followed shortly by the sea pump impeller shredding to about 30 chunks. Good thing was it happened in the marina whoooo It happened as soon as I fired it up to warm up. Could have been a real bad day!!

[cmattj]

River finally came down enough to get the old Cobalt Cuddie in the river. Followed shortly by the sea pump impeller shredding to about 30 chunks. Good thing was it happened in the marina whoooo It happened as soon as I fired it up to warm up. Could have been a real bad day!!

Not bad considering you mentioned it sat for 10 plus years.. this will give you a chance to back flush and change the hoses and belts.. let’s get crazy and change all the fluids she’s a special boat and reading Nola’s upkeep you may way to see what he has done.

Sitting is worse than useage. Keep us posted pal

[Big Block Power]

Just make sure you get all of the chunks. Not sure why that wasn't changed before you dunked her?

[Chachie]

I changed everything else. It was pumping water during testing at the shop. My bad. Lesson learned.

[Big Block Power]

Yep every 2 years. Unless it's a alpha drive they go about as long as yours did as long as the boat is used. May want to pull the tstat and check for pieces.

[Chachie]

Yeah I back flushed the hoses yesterday and the thermostat is getting checked today. I found most of the big chunks stuck in the pump housing. The good thing was as I was at idle when it happened and I caught it right away so I thank god I wasn't going down the river.

[nolaboater99]

Guys, because these boats have the center-mounted engine (Merc Jackshaft model) they do not get cooling water for the motor in the traditional way through the outdrive. There is an engine-mounted pump, like an inboard engine, that pulls raw water though a thru-hull on the bottom of the boat. That is the pump Chachie is referring to.

There is still a pump in the lower unit of the drive but the hose that connects the outdrive to the gimbal housing is deleted and the port through the gimbal housing is blocked off. I was told by Cobalt that that pump should stay functional as the water it pumps is used to cool the upper gear housing. I got that info 25 years ago. For me, I think I am going to just add a drive shower that would perform the same function and have no moving parts. Next time I have the lower unit off I am going to remove the impeller in the outdrive.

[Chachie]

rebuilt the pump today. Cleaned all the hoses and thermostat. Fired up and ran a cool 145.
Nola that drive shower looks pretty cool. I guess we'll try it again this weekend.