overheating,, caused by intake plug??

so i went out with my moomba LSV all day yesterday and it was fine then we took off and went to a different lake to finish the night riding.. it was a shallow boat landing and we had to push out over a sand bar, well we drove around a while and noticed nothing but when i went to ride i noticed white smoke out of the exaust and we overheated very quicly, we shut it down and let it cool down then just putted back to the landing. when i took the boat out to the lake today the same thing happened. i was crusing at about 25mph and it quickly overheated and almost seemed to bog down, like i lost RPM's, i shut it down quick and once agian putted to the landing..

i was wondering if this could be a intake problem and if so what would be the best way to flush out your intake..

I think your first step is to check your impeller, do you know when it was last replaced?

Like deepcove said... check the impeller.

As for the bogging down, not sure which engine you have, but most the "newer" engine's have a safety feature which drop your motor down to a couple of cylinders allowing you get home, but at slow speed. In theory, protecting your motor from further damage. Personally I still wouldn't run it if it were that bad.

As said check impeller.

Remove raw water intake hose from raw water pump and make sure it's not clogged.

Remove both exhaust tubes and make sure they are not blistered on the inside.

Drain oil and look for water to make sure you did not pop a head gasket.

Those are the first things I would check.

Also check the trans cooler to make sure there is no small gravel or debris clogging the honeycomb element that can cause restriction. More than likely you did not damage the engine, but your impeller is probably toast. After an overheat, it is a good idea to check your complete cooling system to make sure there is no blockage from the bottom of the boat, all the way to the engine circulating water pump.

You probably do not need to drain the oil, but pull the dipstick and inspect level and color of oil. A milky color will indicate water, as well as a rise in level

If you're motor got HOT change the oil it's cheap. The same thing happened to me and I had two poped head gaskets,blistered exhaust tubes and bad impeller. When I checked the dipstick there was no indication of water. I changed the oil because it got hot and that's when I found the water in the oil.

Either way, it does not take long to find out there is water in the oil....

i checked the water intake hose and it was all clear, i however do not know how to check the impeller i feel that could be the problem...

i also removed the water hose going out to the engine and tried to blow the water that was in the hose through and it didn't move, so is that possible that there is a jam there or would water only be alowed through there when running?...

Look in your owners manual, it should have a good description of an impeller check/change procedure under the cooling system section.

my water hose running from the intake under the boat goes into the stern drive area and a caseing that doesn't look like you can open.. there is also a water hose running out the other side of that to the engine.. i don't know if that helps at all. i took some pics but am not able to upload them right now ill keep trying..

Follow the hose from the bottom of the boat to the housing where there is two water hoses coming out the same side, not the trans cooler, which will have 2 waterhoses and 2 transmission lines coming from it.

Chris - The raw water intake goes from the lake to the v-drive (caseing) to the transmission cooler (common area for plugging) to the raw water pump (impeller) casing. You can disconnect the hoses at multiple locations to check for blockages and run water through the system with a garden hose.

The impeller is located on the back of the engine running off of the engine circulation pump (where the fan would be on a car) there are 4 small screws/bolts that you remove to access the impeller. You will have to lay on top of the engine to reach around the exhaust/muffler. There have been several good how-to postings with pictures on this in the past you might find with a search.

it could be worse...

Chris:

Like everyone else has said, you should check the impeller before you get too carried away. Better yet, change the impeller. The parts (the impeller and a gasket) should cost about $20 and it is the same amount of work to inspect as it is to replace.

The water pump should be easy to find. It will be to the front of the engine (which is to the back of the boat on a V drive). It has a belt on it and two large hoses. You shouldn't need to remove the pump, you should be able to remove the plate at the back of the pump.

You may need to disassemble the back compartments to get access, and then you may still need to be a contortionist to get down to the pump (it will be towards the bottom). The plate will probably be held on with four to six small screws. Take the plate off then reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull the impeller out.

If the old impeller looks just like the new impeller then that wasn't the problem, look for an obstruction.

If the old impeller is missing a bit then you probably found the problem. To get the new impeller in you will need to give it a twist as you push it in. Be sure to twist it the direction it will want to turn. You may need to watch the pulley as someone "bumps" the starter a bit.