95 Yamaha 8hp water flow

[luffwoolly]

Hi, I bought a used outboard (longshaft) and replaced the water pump impeller. The old one looked pretty bad. When I started it up (at idle) water was steady out of the exit nipple but quickly slowed to a fast drip. With rpm the flow increased but still seemed weak. I pulled the lower unit off to check the flow tube connection. All looked good--metal tube with rubber sleave fit nicely into top of pump. Any suggestions? Shouldn't it be a nice steady flow?
Thanks for any help

[Ken]

luffwoolly,
Sounds like there may be some trash clogging the cooling water side discharge. Sand/dirt usually gets caught just at the nipple that the hose connects to. Disconnect the hose from inside the lower cowling and remove the plastic nipple and inspect. Also, run the motor (with the ear muffs) with the side discharge hose disconnected from the nipple - should get a good pee-stream if the water pump is doing it's job.
Good luck,
Ken K

[Ken]

[luffwoolly]

Thanks for your help,
I took a little fuzzy pipe cleaner and stuck
it into the pee hole(or nipple) and all kinds
of salt, and sand started comming out. Everything
is fine now but I wonder about other water flow passages in the head?

[Ken]

luffwoolly,
Yeah, all that junk will coat the inside of the entire water jacket system - not much you can do about it except to flush the motor out with either "Salt-Away" or " Salt-Terminator". I have the same problem. Just use the above products about every fourth flush - this should keep the deposits under control. If the deposit buildup gets bad enough, then you will need to dissassemble motor and clean out water passages. As long as you are not getting over-heat alarm, don't worry about it. When you flush the motor after use, especially in salt water, be sure to run the outboard at least ten minutes - enough time to get the thermostat to open and flush out the head assy thoroughly.
Good luck,
Ken K