Steam from exhaust?

[finchturf]

2006 340 w/ 8.1's. Boat has ~250 hours on it - was all freshwater until this year. Both engines have 12-13psi of water pressure at cruise - engines run 170 or under as well. Steams a good bit from both sides. No alarms - exhaust doesn't appear to be getting too hot? I had an I/O boat prior - so there was no exhaust above the water line. Normal?

 

[ardeprint]

Sounds normal to me. Mine steams while undr power specially in colder water. At idle very, very, very little to no steam.

 

[finchturf]

Same here. Very little steam at idle - decent amount under power. The way the exhaust is routed - it seems impossible to me to have it not create steam somewhere in the system?

 

[Bermuda Shorts]

What color steam? If its blue you may be slightly burning oil through the rings. If its white it could be water or antifreeze.

 

[finchturf]

Its white - clearly just steam. Just wondered if it was normal. I had an I/O boat before - so it didn't have the tell tales like the V-drive boats do... I have no reason for concern from an operational standpoint - just an observation I was curious about. I guess I wonder if everyone else's do it?

 

[Scottzzzy]

Yep, same here. No steam at idle, but underway and expecially at higher RPM's there is some. Much more noticable in the late fall and winter when the lake turns colder.

Had me freaked out a bit at first too!

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

It is normal, but just keep an eye on your coolant levels just for piece of mind.