Well, we just had our first ever "breakdown" and had to be towed in. Thankfully I opted for the BOAT/US "Unlimited" Tow option... best $149 I ever spent. The problem started while we were cruising at about 1800 RPM/8 MPH. We heard a "rumbling" or "thrumming" sound from the engine, so we came to slow idle in gear. Quieter, but definitely something there. And then I noticed the temp gauge, instead of it normal just-below-175 degrees, was climbing steadily up to 185-190. We shut her down and checked the engine for obvious signs of trouble, but nothing visual. I am sure the overheat was real though, the risers were the hottest I've ever felt them. I thought about restarting it, but in its elevated temp state, I thought we might get vapor lock. So we called for help. We were only 5 miles from our marina, and the Vessel Assist got to us in 35 min.
My mistake I think, was not letting her cool way down, and retrying. I say this because after they brought us into the marina, we started her up to park in our slip. I let her run for almost 20 min. after that, watching and feeling the temp while flushing with fresh water/Salt-Away. She stayed cool as a cucumber. I even advanced the throttle in neutral to see if higher RPMs would show signs of trouble. Nothing! BTW we just had the raw water pump replaced a few months ago when we pulled the motor to replace the steering pin/seal.
So my theory is this. We picked up a piece of kelp, which somehow covered the outdrive intake holes. The holes would have kept suction on the kelp leaf until we shut it off- even in neutral. We have hit kelp before at higher speed (the Bravo 3 has a "notch" at its leading edge which can hold on to a kelp rope), but never has it blocked water intake- just caused a funny-looking wake. Since we were at much slower speed, I think it's possible the kelp wrapped around the leg. We will sea-trial it carefully just outside our marina before calling it okay.
Anybody ever have something like this happen? Any ideas on what else it could have been?
My mistake I think, was not letting her cool way down, and retrying. I say this because after they brought us into the marina, we started her up to park in our slip. I let her run for almost 20 min. after that, watching and feeling the temp while flushing with fresh water/Salt-Away. She stayed cool as a cucumber. I even advanced the throttle in neutral to see if higher RPMs would show signs of trouble. Nothing! BTW we just had the raw water pump replaced a few months ago when we pulled the motor to replace the steering pin/seal.
So my theory is this. We picked up a piece of kelp, which somehow covered the outdrive intake holes. The holes would have kept suction on the kelp leaf until we shut it off- even in neutral. We have hit kelp before at higher speed (the Bravo 3 has a "notch" at its leading edge which can hold on to a kelp rope), but never has it blocked water intake- just caused a funny-looking wake. Since we were at much slower speed, I think it's possible the kelp wrapped around the leg. We will sea-trial it carefully just outside our marina before calling it okay.
Anybody ever have something like this happen? Any ideas on what else it could have been?
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