Sterndrive-boating basics?

[Arminius]

How's this thing work (compared to a familiar big outboard)?
First time starting my first 2003 sterndrive in a tub last week. New impeller, oil and filters. Gauges said it worked fine but it is different and advice will be appreciated. 5.0 L MPI, OM600590, Seawater cooled; Manual, Single Point Drain system. There is no piss hole so is there anyway to see water flow from the pump in sterndrive? My diagram indicates if I turn the round blue handle, water should come out of little drain tube way under it.

How do I handle weeds? My outboards would lose power and honk. Shut her down, raise the motor, and the weeds would usually fall off or I could reach them from swim platform. This 200BR has a full width 2' foot built in platform. Do I carry a brush on a long handle if I don't want to go swimming?

I had a Hydrostream pushed by a 220 hp EFI Mercury 2-stroke last. Trim down, hit it, trim up as speed increases and boat gets light till it's cavitating with the through the hub exhaust loud, then down a tad. Rough water required more hull in the water for stability. Got a feeling this heavy is going to be much less responsive to trim. 19" High 5 screw.

Then there's the matter of the primitive OBD port with no cheap Chinese smartphone adapters to read the codes. Is there a CEL? I read I can short A & B and count the continuity pulses on two other leads on a VOM, convert to 2 digit numbers, and check the chart. Leave shorted and swing the throttle to WOT and back to clear codes. Cars had these a long time ago.

Anyway, I bought this pristine 330 hr boat in the Fall, have dewinterized, happy it runs, and looking forward to putting it in water. I had anticipated rack storage so I wanted to get everything fixed first.
Any advice, basic or otherwise, will be appreciated. Freshwater lake use only. no fishing.

 

[Espos4]

200BR With the 5.0 is a great combo. Plenty of power for that hull.

Weeds, watch the water pressure. If it drops, that’s a sign that you picked up some debris and the water intake is clogged.

Just come off plane and shift to reverse for a few moments, that’ll knock them off.

Trimming the drive, just use your ears like you do.
couple of clicks up and listen and feel for the cavitation. You’ll quickly find the sweet spot.

 

[JimG]

Yep, no "piss hole"... used water comes out the exhaust/center of the prop. I've never ran one in a tub, but I will say you'll see lots of bubbles/cavitation in the water. Be careful though, as that water in the tub heats up, you will lose your cooling efficiency.

 

[BillK2632]

So in many ways, your Alpha I outdrive is basically an outboard lower unit connected to a v6 automobile engine instead of an outboard.

• Raw water pump works the same as an outboard, impeller is in the outdrive. You split the lower have of the outdrive to replace it - they easily last 3yrs on an Alpha I.
• No piss hole, so not an easy way to tell if raw water pump is working. A good way to check is is to check the tempurature of the exhaust manifolds on the engine - they get hot, but you can still lay your had on them. If you cannot, the pump is likely failing or there is an obstruction in the pickup. An infrared heat gun is handy, the manilfolds should be 110-130 deg, not much higher.
• Trim / tilt works the same as an outboard - just cannot raise the drive completely out of the water. The boat will run and handle very similar to an outboard.
• There is no CEL, the ECM scan tool is proprietary, not a standard ODBII like a car. You can buy them, but they are not cheap, most owners don't have them. (https://www.rinda.com/marine/marine.htm). There are ways to use the pinouts on the connector to decipher any codes.
• Maintenance wise, it's not much different than a car engine - change the oil, change the gear lube, change the fuel filter, replace the water pump impeller. There are also the outdrive bellows - rubber boots that seal where the input shaft and shift cables pass through the transom to connect to the engine. They require replacement periodically - 5-10+yrs depending on how and where the boat is used. On a 2003 if they have not been done, they are due. There is also engine alignment that should be checked periodically.
• Did you get a Mercruiser manual with the boat? There is a maintenance schedule in there - but generally the maintenance is annual/100hrs, except the water pump which is 3yrs/300hrs.

In 700hrs of use, I have found my Mercruiser 4.3 / Alpha I to be pretty trouble free - other than a carburetor rebuild I have not had any repairs that I would not consider normal/maintenance. It does not have the flash of a brand new boat, but it does not look or run like it is 20yrs old either! I say this to about everyone who has a smaller SeaRay boat of this vintage - they are solid built little boats that act like much bigger boats. The Mercruiser power packages are also solid - it's a SBC engine like runs in millions of cars and trucks and the Alpha I outdrive is just bullet proof. Stay on top of the maintenance and it will last a long, long time.

 

[scoflaw]

Ditch the single point drain system before you crack your block

 

[Lazy Daze]

Technically, there is a piss hole. But it's only visible when on a trailer - comes out the bottom of the transom plate. A little bit comes out the prop.

Opening the engine drain doesn't tell you if water is currently coming into the engine - only that water is already in the engine.

Running is similar to an OB, as others have noted - for best hole shot, trim down. For top end, keep trimming up till the speed no longer increases or the prop starts to ventilate (cavitate is a different thing).

Weeds - You can lay on the platform and reach in. Or, I do the same thing as mentioned above - a good shot in reverse usually does it.

 

[Arminius]

Thanks, more advice is welcome. This package should be fun and not everyone (actually, only me) was happy with the 2-stroke odor. Trailering will be different with tandem axles. Also, I will have to rent a truck if I want to take it over the mountains. Boat and trailer are 4500 #s (before incidental stuff like gasoline) while my XT5 is rated at 3500 lbs. Tow weight was the real advantage of the featherweight Hydrostream.

 

[Thornton69]

Don't run the engine with the leg raised and don't forget to raise it before pulling up the ramp.
Keep an eye on the exhaust riser temps if you're concerned with the raw water flow. You should be able to hold your hand on both of them for short periods under load.

 

[Arminius]

As to raw water flow (sea water cooled one-point manual system), the hand on the exhaust manifold seems to be the most common test. There is an raw water electrical sensor on my 2003 which would be the plumbing port (I believe) for a later model "Smartcraft" gauge. I haven't put it in the water yet (Virus closure) but ran it with the earmuffs on. Not a good test as lawn hose pressure kept the gauge down to 130 F rather than the 165 F with the tub. Opened the blue circular valve on top and saw good flow out of the little drain tube directly below, just above the hull. I have the full manual with color flow diagrams and this is clearly the most direct connection with the seawater pump on the Alpha 1. An engine full of water is above it so I guess it is not a definitive test of raw water flow. I opened one of the blue plugs on the thermo housing and the engine shut down immediately. I think this means the engine will automatically shut down if the seawater intake on the outdrive is clogged with milfoil. Definitely time to put it in the water!

 

[Lazy Daze]

As to raw water flow (sea water cooled one-point manual system), the hand on the exhaust manifold seems to be the most common test. There is an raw water electrical sensor on my 2003 which would be the plumbing port (I believe) for a later model "Smartcraft" gauge. I haven't put it in the water yet (Virus closure) but ran it with the earmuffs on. Not a good test as lawn hose pressure kept the gauge down to 130 F rather than the 165 F with the tub. Opened the blue circular valve on top and saw good flow out of the little drain tube directly below, just above the hull. I have the full manual with color flow diagrams and this is clearly the most direct connection with the seawater pump on the Alpha 1. An engine full of water is above it so I guess it is not a definitive test of raw water flow. I opened one of the blue plugs on the thermo housing and the engine shut down immediately. I think this means the engine will automatically shut down if the seawater intake on the outdrive is clogged with milfoil. Definitely time to put it in the water!

DON'T put your hand on the exhaust manifold - that can get VERY hot. We put our hands on top of the elbow.

Concerning the blue valve/draincock... that can sometimes be misleading regarding water flowing through the engine. The small tubes that lead from the block drains to the water manifold can become clogged. This is important, especially come winterizing time, because you may not get all the water out of the engine when draining it - the hose should, ideally, be removed from the block and the holes cleared.

Opening the main water drain is not definitive of anything, really. It could be telling you that water is flowing into the system from the outside source... or it could be telling you that water is draining from the system. Your t-stat housing contains a sensor for engine temp - removing the blue drain plug there may have tripped the sensor. But if the engine shutdown because of that, there would have been a warning beep and there WILL be record of it in the computer history. However, if memory serves, the computer will not actually shut-off the enigne - just drop the power to as low as 5%. But, possibly, dropping the power inadvertently caused the engine to shutoff.

 

[Arminius]

Thank you. It ran fine with earmuffs on but never warmed up-probably because I had the hose bib open too far. I am anxious to put it in the water as soon as our club reopens. I imagine I will depend on the temp gauge like everyone else and back up and/or crane my head under the swim platform to look for weeds on the intake when it beeps or power downs.

Meanwhile, I made inquiries about the engine electronics in another thread and Henry Boyd referred me to Service Manual #36, ECM 555 Diagnostics. I hope to learn more about the beep codes and clearing codes and incidental power reductions when my used copy arrives. My Motorola engine module has an ECM 555 S/N which differs from the earlier PCM 555 hardware. Lore re reading the codes with a paper clip and clearing the codes with the throttle don't apply. There are designations MEFI 1 thru 4 which are General Motors built modules which precede Motorola's PCM and my later ECM module. I read that codes and power reductions on the ECM are cleared with each ignition cycle although their history is retained. This is good although only the $400 Rinda scanner or Diacom Win 10 software seems to be able to access that history. I even searched the Pirate software sites. What do all those jailed hackers do with their time? I'll know more when I get my book.

 

[El Capitan]

You're gonna like the fuel consumption

 

[Arminius]

Thanks, more advice is welcome. This package should be fun and not everyone (actually, only me) was happy with the 2-stroke odor. Trailering will be different with tandem axles. Also, I will have to rent a truck if I want to take it over the mountains. Boat and trailer are 4500 #s (before incidental stuff like gasoline) while my XT5 is rated at 3500 lbs. Tow weight was the real advantage of the featherweight Hydrostream.

With the virus, I had the time so I put in a seawater pump pressure gauge: http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/seawater-pump-pressure-gauge.97281/