Four Reasons Your Boat Motor May Be Overheating
Posted on: 3 April 2017
If your boat's motor is overheating, there are several potential culprits that may be causing this issue. Some of these issues you can troubleshoot on your own, but in other cases, you may need to hire a mechanic who specialises in boat services. If the boat motor is overheating, here are some elements you may want to check out.
1. Faulty Temperature Gauge
Before getting too worried about your boat's motor, make sure that the gauge is giving you the correct information. Unfortunately, gauge's can sometime stop working or give the wrong reading, and if you want to avoid an unnecessary trip to the boat mechanic, you want to ensure your temperature gauge is working correctly.
Simply use an infrared thermometer to take the temperature of the motor. Then, make sure the reading agrees with the gauge. If the gauge is off, keep that in mind when you look at the gauge in the future, and consider getting the gauge replaced. If the gauge is working, you need to explore other reasons that your boat motor may be overheating.
2. Build-Up on the Drive
In other cases, there may be build-up on the drive. This part is in different locations depending on whether you have an inboard or an outboard motor. Locate your drive and make sure that it is clean. In some cases, algae can get wrapped around this area or seaweed may cling to it. That can prevent the healthy flow of air through the boat motor, which can lead to overheating. A thorough cleaning of the drive and any other dirty components can help with this issues.
3. Worn Impeller
Many boat motors have an impeller. The impeller lets water go through the boat motor, and the water cools the motor down, If the impeller is not working correctly, that can also cause your boat motor to overheat. This is one of the first issues many boat services professionals check, but as explained above, you may want to explore other issues before assuming that the impeller is the cause of your overheating.
4. Broken Radiator
In other cases, boats have cooling systems similar to cars. In particular, instead of letting water go through the engine, the boat may use a radiator for cooling. This is particularly common among saltwater boats to avoid the salt water from building up in the engine area. In these cases, you may want to have a boat services professional check that the radiator is functioning correctly.
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