[C320-list] Dinghy motor stopped "peeing"

[Bruce Stumpp]

Thanks to all who replied, the motor is "peeing" again.  It turns out the
impeller was in bad shape and not pumping water.  I'm a newbie to outboard
maintenance and didn't realize they had a rubber impeller - much like my
Yanmar which I've replaced several times.  For anyone interested, I drained
the gear lube, removed the propeller and two bolts behind it, removed the
plate and there was the damaged impeller.  The manufacturer recommends
replacing them annually and the parts department suggested at least every
two years.  The mud that I was concerned about was actually blocking a drain
hole and that pretty much took care of itself.     

Bruce Stumpp
Adventure, #647
Frog Mortar Creek, MD

#130 At 04:48 PM 6/28/2007, wrote:
>I have a Nissan 3.5 outboard and it stopped "peeing" this past weekend. 
>I've heard the small exit hose can get clogged so I removed it and ran 
>a wire through but found it to be clear.  Also ran a small wire into 
>the opening where the hose was connected but it appeared clear.  There 
>is a small hole in the rear of the housing near the prop which I assume 
>is where the cooling water enters the unit. When I push a small wire 
>into that hole the wire gets covered which something brown that appears 
>to be mud.  So my thinking is the cooling unit sucked in a bunch of mud 
>and is now clogged.
>
>
>My question is, how do I clear this out?  There are a couple of bolts 
>that appear to hold the lower unit on.  Is it relatively easy to remove 
>and reinstall the lower unit?  Is that what needs to be done to clear 
>the cooling system? Does that require any gaskets?  Thanks in advance 
>for any experiences/suggestions.