Port side engine overheating

[Lawman25]

2006 SX230HO port side engine is overheating. Had the boat out Labor Day weekend, hadn't had it out since Mid June. Shortly after pulling away from the launch I looked back and noticed smoke and then noticed no water was coming out of the side discharge. Shoved a zip tie in there, which is how I've cleared every other blockage in the discharges. No luck. Went back to the launch and got @OperationROL on the phone. Pulled the clean out plugs and checked the impellers and everything else I reach and didn't find anything blocking anything. Got in the engine compartment, and pulled the hoses off the Y fitting. Water came out all hoses and water kept coming from the intake. Honestly not sure if water should be coming through the intake when the motor is shut off or not.
Went about my evening on the Milwaukee river on one engine, it was all no wake anyway.
Fast forward to today, finally had some time to work on it. Hooked up the flush adapter, everything still good on the starboard side, hooked it up to the port side and same thing, no water coming out the side discharges and within 3 minutes smoke was coming out at the back so I shut it down. Stuck some weed whacker line in the discharge and the only thing I noticed was it went in the starboard side much further than the port. Not sure how the lines run inside the boat. In the rear side storage compartment, the one where the lid opens up and towards the outside of the boat, on the back wall, I removed the white disk that gives access behind it, couldn't see past the large diameter hoses that I'm guessing are from the blower in the engine compartment, but I reached past them and got to where the discharge outlets are and I only felt one hose. Not sure if they're both wrapped in one of those flexible plastic sleeves (I'm not the most technical guy so forgive my terminology) but I felt around to see if one had come disconnected but wasn't able to find anything.
So right now I'm a bit stuck and looking for suggestions. I saw a similar post and someone commented that if water isn't coming out of the side discharges it shouldn't matter and that shouldn't cause the engine to overheat, and it was an admin on this site. Makes no sense to me, because for one if they didn't matter why are they there, and if the water isn't discharging doesn't that mean it's just sitting in the cooling system, rising in temperature, and no longer cooling? I'd like to solve this on my own and hopefully get some more time on the water this year. If I take it in my season is over, we all know how it goes, we'll get to it when we can. Also, the closest dealer to me, Nielsen's in Lake Villa, IL is terrible.
Thanks for any help

 

[Brad_Ct]

You normally will not get water out of the pissers until you are at higher rpm’s. There are two for each engine, one comes off the top of the thermostat housing and the other comes off the exhaust pipe at the front of the engine. They are there to prove you have water flow at those two locations of the cooling system. You also will not get any flow out the thermostat housing hose until the thermostat opens. I would pull the thermostat and put it in a pot on the stove with a thermometer and see if it opens and if it does at what temperature.

 

[buckbuck]

Start with this video.

 

[buckbuck]

Most of the cooling water exits out the stern. The pee holes are only for indication of flow. I suspect that you have something small wrapped around the impeller that you can't feel. I doubt you have a serious issue.

 

[buckbuck]

Did you get an over temp warning while on the hose?
How is the water pressure at your house? If you clamp off the cooling line between the jet pump and the Y fitting you will get maximum water flow to the engine/exhaust. If you don't clamp the line a great deal of water flushes backward out the jet pump pick up screen.
By the way, what you are seeing is steam and not smoke.

 

[Lawman25]

You normally will not get water out of the pissers until you are at higher rpm’s. There are two for each engine, one comes off the top of the thermostat housing and the other comes off the exhaust pipe at the front of the engine. They are there to prove you have water flow at those two locations of the cooling system. You also will not get any flow out the thermostat housing hose until the thermostat opens. I would pull the thermostat and put it in a pot on the stove with a thermometer and see if it opens and if it does at what temperature.

If the thermostat never opens will the water not flow through? I'm assuming not, but not my area of expertise. Also, thanks for the reply

 

[Lawman25]

Most of the cooling water exits out the stern. The pee holes are only for indication of flow. I suspect that you have something small wrapped around the impeller that you can't feel. I doubt you have a serious issue.

I just got back in the house from being underneath the boat and didn't see anything on the impeller. Water was coming out 3 places in the back. The jet nozzle, a hole where the nozzle is mounted to the boat where it looks a bolt should be, and on the right side out of that black rubber thing, the one that looks like the black rubber in my sink over the disposal

 

[Lawman25]

Did you get an over temp warning while on the hose?
How is the water pressure at your house? If you clamp off the cooling line between the jet pump and the Y fitting you will get maximum water flow to the engine/exhaust. If you don't clamp the line a great deal of water flushes backward out the jet pump pick up screen.
By the way, what you are seeing is steam and not smoke.

Would it have been an audible alarm? Once I started the motor I jumped out and was looking in the back and sticking line and zip ties in the side discharges, from my previous experiences the water pushes anything blocking the lines to end and it's easier to break up. Once I noticed steam coming out the back I jumped back up in the boat and shut it down immediately, didn't check the dash.

 

[Scottintexas]

Forget about the side discharge they are no part of the problem only an indicator there is a problem

your Overheat light on the dash should come one

I would pull the thermostat to see what it looks like and is working properly

 

[Scottintexas]

I might also disconnect some of the cooling water feed lines to the head and exhaust to see if water is flowing freely