Is blowing the water out of the water boxes a cause for broken timing chains?

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

To actually accomplish removing ALL the water from the mufflers you would need to add physical drains to them and remove them after you use the boat and remember to reinstall them before using the boat hell I can't even remember to install the drain plugs on the outside let alone inside the boat. So I guess they are S O L on that

 

[swatski]

Out here in Arizona most of the lakes have Quagga Muscles, the State of Arizona recommends you flush and drain all water from the boat.

https://www.azgfd.com/PortalImages/files/fishing/InvasiveSpecies/DeconProtocols2014(McMahon-Dahlberg) Feb2014.pdf

I forgot about that! I think we will all face these issues sooner or later with all the invasive species around.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

I forgot about that! I think we will all face these issues sooner or later with all the invasive species around.

It's been going on here for quite a few years, I always pull the drain plug, blip the engines, then later when I get home run them on the hose for a few minutes.

 

[Matt Phillips]

invasive species: that'w why before putting your boat into Lake Tahoe, you have to take it to the inspection station and they put the hose with 140 degree water in it.

Now there was the "resident expert" at the station that said I didn't blow the water out of my water boxes and it is possible to get it all out of them. I was like...hhhmmm...you're the first person to EVER tell me that but it's your kingdom and I'll agree with you rather than argue.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

invasive species: that'w why before putting your boat into Lake Tahoe, you have to take it to the inspection station and they put the hose with 140 degree water in it.

Now there was the "resident expert" at the station that said I didn't blow the water out of my water boxes and it is possible to get it all out of them. I was like...hhhmmm...you're the first person to EVER tell me that but it's your kingdom and I'll agree with you rather than argue.

I ran into one of those experts at Lake Powell, I was not amused at his expertise, I told him my engines were flushed after I was in infested waters, bilge drained, and it out of the water for over 3 weeks before bringing it to Lake Powell. He still wanted to do their own washdown, huge waste of my time following the procedures.

 

[Ronnie]

Getting all of the salt water out of the engines and exhaust system is another reason to blow the water boxes out. I just do it out of habit as I boat primarily in brackish water, been doing it with pwcs for over 25 years now and there is little or no risk of freeze damage here in ncal where it hasn't snowed at sea level since 1976.

Getting all of the water out for invasive species inspection purposes would be why I would be more steingent about blowing the water boxes out but only if I wanted to boat in the reservoirs of Santa Clara county. Their inspection process is very strict, if any standing water is found on the boat you fail the inspection and cannot try again for at least 48 hours. They also notify the other reservoirs in the county that you failed so you can't simply try again there a few hours later. When I say any water I mean any, a wet anchor line will earn a failure as will moisture at the exhaust opening. I have not boated there in years because of this but clearly recall parking the boat outside the entrance with numerous other boaters to wipe down our boats (some used shop vacs) prior to entering the park and getting in line to be inspected.

 

[njmr2fan]

I've given up revving my engines after flushing. If i break a chain it'll be at WOT on the lake.

 

[dan144k]

I pull the intake grates and weld in a weed deflector to reduce the amount of weeds that can be pulled into the pump

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC
Could you share a picture of your weed deflector? just curious.

 

[Sotally Tober]

I ran into one of those experts at Lake Powell, I was not amused at his expertise, I told him my engines were flushed after I was in infested waters, bilge drained, and it out of the water for over 3 weeks before bringing it to Lake Powell. He still wanted to do their own washdown, huge waste of my time following the procedures.

What was the inspection procedure for putting the boat into Lake Powell? Were they strict about any standing water or moisture? I ask due to the fact that we will be taking the boat out of Martinez Lake (Southern portion of the Colorado) and the same day transit north and launch the boat into Lake Powell that evening. Both stretches of the river are infested with the Mussels.

 

[scokill]

I've found that even after revving some at the ramp that I can start the engines at home and water will still come out. When I'm done for the season I will start a few times over the course a few weeks until no water comes out. I'm always concerned about #3 when changing plugs but have never had a spec of rust.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

What was the inspection procedure for putting the boat into Lake Powell? Were they strict about any standing water or moisture? I ask due to the fact that we will be taking the boat out of Martinez Lake (Southern portion of the Colorado) and the same day transit north and launch the boat into Lake Powell that evening. Both stretches of the river are infested with the Mussels.

That was probably 6 years ago, we have been riding jet skis since then and just recently got a boat again, so I am not sure how they are these days. They never even checked our jet skis or asked about them. We are spending a week at Lake Powell next month, will let you know.

 

[Spooling]

Just thinking a bit about this. If you wanted to get more water out of the waterbox, could you siphon it out of the exhaust by either using compressed air or one of those shake siphons?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Siphon-Spray-Blow-Gun-9045734/203153526

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

You could use a wet vac also however timing chains are weird I have one that hatched at 360 hrs and one that is still running strong at 520 hrs, I never blow the water out of the boxes I just let the engines run for about 30 seconds to get the excess water out.

 

[gmtech16450yz]

It's gonna be a little while until I'm up to speed on boats, but I do know engines. Free revving an unloaded engine is never "good" for ANY engine. If you could see what happens to things like the timing chains and tensioners when you quickly rev an engine you'd think twice about hammering these engines out of the water.

The thing you have to remember about these engines in this application is that there is pretty much no flywheel or crank inertia. That means they rev REALLY quickly. So if your tach goes to 4k, or even your digital display for that matter, believe me that engine saw way more than 4k. I can show you logs of engines where giving a quick jab to the throttle resulted in almost twice the peak rpm as the tach indicated. (RPM logging in a diagnostic scanner sampling at 100hz, not the super slow digital readouts or the even slower tachs in these boats.) These engines can get to redline way quicker than the big throttle levers can be moved back and forth.

And yes, that's very hard on valve trains. If you're going to float a valve or break a chain, it's most likely going to be from high or quick rpm changes than anything else. There's a LOT of resistance and load in any valve train, even a little 4 banger. Try turning a cam with nothing but the valve spring pressures on it, it's not easy to turn. That doesn't even bring in the loads created by the engine itself. Certain GM overhead cam turbo engines had a habit of floating valves and tossing the lifters out. They'd only do it on the exhaust valves, never the intake. Why? Backpressure in the exhaust from the turbo. There would be so much pressure trying to hold the exhaust valve open that the springs couldn't get it closed fast enough. When this happened was also interesting, it almost always happened on a missed shift in a manual trans car. Autos almost never had the issue. High, quick rpm changes. Not good for valve trains.

Does this mean your engine is going to blow up if you give it a quick rev out of the water? Of course not. You can do something that "could" be dangerous a zillion times and it's fine. We do dangerous things everyday like getting in our cars and driving on public roads. Knowing the risk levels, chances or possibilities of something happening is the point of this kind of thing. I'm just trying to explain the physics behind it and that there IS merit in the idea of quick revving your engine out of the water being more risky than not. (I'm not addressing the water in the exhaust issue whatsoever here btw because I don't have that knowledge or experience yet.)

All that being said, do I give my engines a quick rev when I get the boat out of the water? Yep. But I'm the kind of guy that changes the cam in his 2017 Chevy before it's first oil change! That's actually a good example. Putting a bigger cam with stiffer springs in most any engine definitely increases it's chances of issues or failure. I realized the risks involved and was ok taking them because the benefits of taking those risks were worth it to me.