'82 Chrysler 15hp outboard water

[SAMarine87]

I have an 1982 Chrysler 15 horse outboard I bought a few months ago for $200. It is my first boat project and boat motor. The motor would only run when starter fluid was sprayed into the carb. I cleaned out the carb and ended up taking apart the fuel pump and found a torn diaphragm. After replacing it I got it to run. I noticed the water would not spray out unless in gear or throttle applied. I pulled apart the lower end and examined the water pump and in looked fairly new. After reassembling it and running it again i noticed more water pressure coming out of two ports from the lower. Is this normal pressure and is the water coming from the ports normal. Any info would help.

 

[hoarder]

I can't say if mine has water shooting out like that or not, on my boat at rest its deeper in the water. The av plate is about an inch above the bottom of the boat and the transom is about 8" into the water at rest.
I wouldn't think there should be water pump pressure there but it could just be water drain back.

Do you get water out of the upper port on the mid section when it runs?

Those motors were basically unchanged from the early 60's as West Bend motors up until the mid 80's or so when Mercury ended production.


Here's a scan of the original shop manual from 8/80

 

[SAMarine87]

I can't say if mine has water shooting out like that or not, on my boat at rest its deeper in the water. The av plate is about an inch above the bottom of the boat and the transom is about 8" into the water at rest.
I wouldn't think there should be water pump pressure there but it could just be water drain back.

Do you get water out of the upper port on the mid section when it runs?

Those motors were basically unchanged from the early 60's as West Bend motors up until the mid 80's or so when Mercury ended production.


Here's a scan of the original shop manual from 8/80

The pictures are of the motor at idle. I feel it should have more flow out. Of the upper ports. Water pressure increases when put into gear and increases with throttle.

 

[hoarder]

They're a pretty simple, straight forward system, the impeller pushes water up through the motor and expells it both exaust tube and the relief ports.
I'd see what happens when you submerge the motor all the way, as it would be at rest on a boat.
The Chrysler models didn't have a thermostat, they didn't ad one until 1985.
If you really want to check it, pull the lower off, its four bolts and an allen screw on the shift linkage, then run a garden hose right to the water tube and see how much water flows then.
I often do that to unknown motors just to give them a good flushing out.

You can turn the driveshaft of the lower unit with a bucket to test the pump and watch where the water is going.

A few things to look for is a warped upper pump housing, you can check this buy simply sanding it a bit on sheet of glass and some wetdry paper.

I don't think they ever had any gaskets but some do like to put ever so little RTV on the pump mating sufaces but I never found it necessary.

I had my 86 Force running yesterday and it pretty much just sneezes out water from the upper ports, It does stream water out the bottom holes but in the water those are never exposed.

The av plate sits 1" above the bottom of the hull, the boat is 10-11" in the water at rest and maybe 5 or 6" in the water wide open.

I have found mud dauber nests in the pickup tube and in the lower units on those, even a few in the exhaust ports.

 

[boatyard]

Most of those motors don't have water pump gaskets. I like to finesse the fit of the housing and plate a bit by making sure its perfectly flat take piece of wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface, like a piece of glass and sand the bottom of the housing flat, and do the same with the steel plate.
There's also a small pinhole in the top of the water pump housing that lets it bleed off air on start up the needs to be clear as well, If it burned up an impeller I've seen a few get packed with old rubber or dirt and needed to be cleaned out with a small piece of wire.

I've also seen a few of the newer impellers their selling for those which are a bit shorter than the originals. They came new with an 8 fin impeller but all you can get now is a 6 fin, not a huge issue but I suppose it makes a bit of a difference.
Those holes at the bottom will spray out some water, but they also should be submerged.
On the boat, the av plate should sit about in inch above the bottom of the boat, so that would mean if the boat draws about 6" of water the AV plate is roughly submerged about 7" at rest
Those relief holes would be below the surface

They have no thermostat in those years, so if you take the lower unit off, try taking a garden hose and pushing water up through the motor. I have seen insect nests in the feed tube and in the upper exhaust tube. Since an outboard is not a closed pressurized system it don't take much for the water to be restricted. A few spider cocoons, webs, or mud dauber nests is all it takes to block the water flow or disrupt its ability to bleed out the air .