That didn(39)t go so well,,,-gctid809855

[Car2n]

Launched my 1989 Avanti 2955 today.

Started the engine (single 460 king cobra) and it started and ran well but that was short lived.

It overheated very badly because the water was not being circulated. It got so hot that it was smoking at the manifolds and risers,crackling and popping loudly. I shut the engine off and it continued to stumble run for a good 30-40 seconds. The engine was run for about 5 minutes.

Brand new impeller (verified to be installed correctly) was melted and started to have the fins ripped off. It appears to have been run dry. It looks like it wasn't sucking or pumping water.

This was the first run of the season in the water. Never run on land with muffs.

Thoughts??

[Dave907]

Impellers can be "air locked" when a boat is out of the water and then put back in. Sometimes this requires that you prime the pump. How you do this depends on your particular configuration, but in general, a good idea is to disconnect the water intake line from the pump before you start the engine for the first time, ensure that water is flowing freely through the line, then reconnect it to the pump.

Dave

[brad4550]

Sorry that happened ...however and I hope not,if the engine needs major repair or replacement you sucked up someone's ice bag right!!"...just saying. Good luck Brad

[builderdude]

I'm not familiar with the cobra. Do you have an engine mounted raw water pump or is it in the drive? Raw water cooled engine or closed cooled? 5 minutes may have toasted the exhaust components but if she's closed cooled your engine may be ok. What did the temp gauge read?

[Pcpete]

I'm not familiar with the king cobra either but, does the raw water enter the system through the drive on your boat or do you pick it up via a thru hull and strainer system. If you have the thru hull pickup, was the valve open? Just throwing the stuff at the wall to see what sticks......