Flushing Saltwater From Honda Outboard

We've gotten our 10+ year old Honda 9.9 long shaft for our newly acquired 70's Cal 25, back from its initial inspection & lube servicing. Cooling water had only been dribbling but the tech said the engine wasn't overheating, just had some salt buildup easily blown out. It runs and pumps like a champ now, easily pushing us at hull speed with half throttle. Took our first real sail late yesterday afternoon in 2-5 kts within our small bay, up to 15-18 when we peaked out into the open Puget Sound. It's my first real sail on any Cal despite having been around many back in their hayday. I'm _mightily_ impressed, from responsive handling in very light air and slow speeds, to the kind way it takes gusts that are more than the hoisted sail plan is meant for. But back at the dock I couldn't manage to do a proper freshwater flushing. At the bottom midline of the shaft, just above the prop on each side, are two small black fittings that seem to be water intakes. The manual identifies them as such. There's no permanent hose connector shown as an option in the manual. I've got a cheap 3rd party clamp-on hose connector with rectangular rubber pads, for supplying fresh water, and we turned the hose on full power. But when the motor was tilted with the prop just above the water, it wasn't pumping water, and when we tilted it the rest of the way down leaving the hose running hard, it pumped normally again but the stream still had a noticeable salty taste. I saw just above the lowest cavitation plate there are a couple more small holes near the fwd side of the shaft. We tried putting the clamp over those but still got salt water output. Fortunately we're docked at the head of an inlet fed by fresh water, so the water is only mildly salty. Still I need to be able to rinse the motor. Any ideas what I'm missing here? It's hard to believe there's enough volume inside to hold more than 5-10 seconds of salt water before the fresh should be coming out.

ddaye2563 wrote: > > > But back at the dock I couldn't manage to do a proper freshwater > flushing. > > At the bottom midline of the shaft, just above the prop on each side, > are two small black fittings that seem to be water intakes. The manual > identifies them as such. There's no permanent hose connector shown as > an option in the manual. I've got a cheap 3rd party clamp-on hose > connector with rectangular rubber pads, for supplying fresh water, and > we turned the hose on full power. But when the motor was tilted with > the prop just above the water, it wasn't pumping water, and when we > tilted it the rest of the way down leaving the hose running hard, it > pumped normally again but the stream still had a noticeable salty taste. > > I saw just above the lowest cavitation plate there are a couple more > small holes near the fwd side of the shaft. We tried putting the clamp > over those but still got salt water output. > Maybe some salty folks have better advice, but most outboards use a rubber impeller that seals against the pump housing and flexes to displace the water at one point in its rotation. This is basically "in series" with the cooling water intake and outlet, so I'm guessing that your flushing hose didn't have enough pressure to push past the impeller vanes. Why not see if there's a Honda web site with flushing instructions? Chris Campbell

The location on the Nissan 9.8 outboard is very hard to get to from out boat. Another guy suggested getting a plastic garbage can and placing it around the prop as it sits in the water. Fill the garbage can with fresh water and run the boat until only fresh warter comes out of the engine. This is what I must do. Here is a photo of my set up online: http://www.stirlinglaw.com/cal28/cal28photos/Cal%2028%205.jpg I just run the engine in neutral, no damage to the garbage can. Bruce Stirling From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of ddaye2563 Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 12:02 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Flushing Saltwater From Honda Outboard We've gotten our 10+ year old Honda 9.9 long shaft for our newly acquired 70's Cal 25, back from its initial inspection & lube servicing. Cooling water had only been dribbling but the tech said the engine wasn't overheating, just had some salt buildup easily blown out. It runs and pumps like a champ now, easily pushing us at hull speed with half throttle. Took our first real sail late yesterday afternoon in 2-5 kts within our small bay, up to 15-18 when we peaked out into the open Puget Sound. It's my first real sail on any Cal despite having been around many back in their hayday. I'm _mightily_ impressed, from responsive handling in very light air and slow speeds, to the kind way it takes gusts that are more than the hoisted sail plan is meant for. But back at the dock I couldn't manage to do a proper freshwater flushing. At the bottom midline of the shaft, just above the prop on each side, are two small black fittings that seem to be water intakes. The manual identifies them as such. There's no permanent hose connector shown as an option in the manual. I've got a cheap 3rd party clamp-on hose connector with rectangular rubber pads, for supplying fresh water, and we turned the hose on full power. But when the motor was tilted with the prop just above the water, it wasn't pumping water, and when we tilted it the rest of the way down leaving the hose running hard, it pumped normally again but the stream still had a noticeable salty taste. I saw just above the lowest cavitation plate there are a couple more small holes near the fwd side of the shaft. We tried putting the clamp over those but still got salt water output. Fortunately we're docked at the head of an inlet fed by fresh water, so the water is only mildly salty. Still I need to be able to rinse the motor. Any ideas what I'm missing here? It's hard to believe there's enough volume inside to hold more than 5-10 seconds of salt water before the fresh should be coming out.

I had a Honda 5 on our previous boat. It had a flushing attachment that screwed into a hole on the lower unit. On ours the screw was missing, so you could see the threads. The hole was about the size as the gear oil drain and fill. I gave the fitting to my father for his Honda 10 when we sold the boat. I don't think his has the fitting in the same location. I'll try to see if he figured it out. Bob From: "ddaye2563" <dd… [at] daye1.com> To: <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 3:01 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Flushing Saltwater From Honda Outboard > We've gotten our 10+ year old Honda 9.9 long shaft for our newly > acquired 70's Cal 25, back from its initial inspection & lube > servicing. Cooling water had only been dribbling but the tech said the > engine wasn't overheating, just had some salt buildup easily blown > out. It runs and pumps like a champ now, easily pushing us at hull > speed with half throttle. > > Took our first real sail late yesterday afternoon in 2-5 kts within > our small bay, up to 15-18 when we peaked out into the open Puget Sound. > > It's my first real sail on any Cal despite having been around many > back in their hayday. I'm _mightily_ impressed, from responsive > handling in very light air and slow speeds, to the kind way it takes > gusts that are more than the hoisted sail plan is meant for. > > But back at the dock I couldn't manage to do a proper freshwater > flushing. > > At the bottom midline of the shaft, just above the prop on each side, > are two small black fittings that seem to be water intakes. The manual > identifies them as such. There's no permanent hose connector shown as > an option in the manual. I've got a cheap 3rd party clamp-on hose > connector with rectangular rubber pads, for supplying fresh water, and > we turned the hose on full power. But when the motor was tilted with > the prop just above the water, it wasn't pumping water, and when we > tilted it the rest of the way down leaving the hose running hard, it > pumped normally again but the stream still had a noticeable salty taste. > > I saw just above the lowest cavitation plate there are a couple more > small holes near the fwd side of the shaft. We tried putting the clamp > over those but still got salt water output. > > Fortunately we're docked at the head of an inlet fed by fresh water, > so the water is only mildly salty. Still I need to be able to rinse > the motor. > > Any ideas what I'm missing here? It's hard to believe there's enough > volume inside to hold more than 5-10 seconds of salt water before the > fresh should be coming out. > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > >

We flush our outboard in a 5 gallon bucket works great Dave Paulson Channel Islands Ca ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Stirling To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 2:55 PM Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Flushing Saltwater From Honda Outboard The location on the Nissan 9.8 outboard is very hard to get to from out boat. Another guy suggested getting a plastic garbage can and placing it around the prop as it sits in the water. Fill the garbage can with fresh water and run the boat until only fresh warter comes out of the engine. This is what I must do. Here is a photo of my set up online: http://www.stirlinglaw.com/cal28/cal28photos/Cal%2028%205.jpg I just run the engine in neutral, no damage to the garbage can. Bruce Stirling -----Original Message----- From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of ddaye2563 Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 12:02 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Flushing Saltwater From Honda Outboard We've gotten our 10+ year old Honda 9.9 long shaft for our newly acquired 70's Cal 25, back from its initial inspection & lube servicing. Cooling water had only been dribbling but the tech said the engine wasn't overheating, just had some salt buildup easily blown out. It runs and pumps like a champ now, easily pushing us at hull speed with half throttle. Took our first real sail late yesterday afternoon in 2-5 kts within our small bay, up to 15-18 when we peaked out into the open Puget Sound. It's my first real sail on any Cal despite having been around many back in their hayday. I'm _mightily_ impressed, from responsive handling in very light air and slow speeds, to the kind way it takes gusts that are more than the hoisted sail plan is meant for. But back at the dock I couldn't manage to do a proper freshwater flushing. At the bottom midline of the shaft, just above the prop on each side, are two small black fittings that seem to be water intakes. The manual identifies them as such. There's no permanent hose connector shown as an option in the manual. I've got a cheap 3rd party clamp-on hose connector with rectangular rubber pads, for supplying fresh water, and we turned the hose on full power. But when the motor was tilted with the prop just above the water, it wasn't pumping water, and when we tilted it the rest of the way down leaving the hose running hard, it pumped normally again but the stream still had a noticeable salty taste. I saw just above the lowest cavitation plate there are a couple more small holes near the fwd side of the shaft. We tried putting the clamp over those but still got salt water output. Fortunately we're docked at the head of an inlet fed by fresh water, so the water is only mildly salty. Still I need to be able to rinse the motor. Any ideas what I'm missing here? It's hard to believe there's enough volume inside to hold more than 5-10 seconds of salt water before the fresh should be coming out.