When I start up the outboard it takes awhile to reach operating temperature. In the mean time I see steam coming out of the "pee hole" for about 4-5 minutes and then the pee stream is weak for about 5 minutes and the water is very hot! I will stop the engine and then start up again about 2 minutes later and the pee is strong and the water is cool. I do this start up procedure before I leave for the ramp and I have the "motor flusher" on and the hose hooked up with water running. Is this normal? or should I replace the thermostat? (it is only 3 months old) Note: the outboard is a Nissan four strike 18hp. Thanks for any help.
Are you saying the motor is 3 months old, if so take it back to the dealer for warranty. I know nothing about the systems on Hatsu/Nissan but it could be normal. Try running the engine for a little longer to see if the Tell Tell outlet (pee stream) gets stronger. Here is what I think is going on, when you 1st start your engine your thermo is closed, no water from tell tell, motor begins to warm up and water begins to pee from the tell tell because the thermo begins to open. You shut your engine off which actually warms the engine up even more which allows the thermo to open all the way. (When you 1st cut your engine off about the next 2 min your motor will be getting hotter because you stop the cooling process) Then you crank your engine and it pee's fine. Just my .002
Thanks Creekrunner. Good observation. I thought about this myself and just wanted to here this from someone else. I just got back from fishing and the motor peed fine.
Try skipping the start-up procedure at home and drop it in the water for the first start of the day. Could be the water pressure from the hose is causing something that can not be explained.
