Thread: Hot alarm

could be a lot of things. water pump weak or a plugged water jacket or passage, a lean fuel/air mixture condition could cause the motor to get hot. could be a weak temp sensor, too. was the water pump peeing? maybe get a temp reading on the head and see just how hot it's getting?

It was peeing. I took it to the shop but wanted some ideas on what it could be. Thanks!

Hopefully it's something simple/inexpensive. Water temp can be deadly on a outboard. Running to cold can be as bad on one as running to hot. Need to really make sure to let them warm up before running them at higher rpm's. I have as smartcraft gauge on my Merc so it's easy to tell when it reaches the right temp and thermostat kicks in and cools it back down. Takes about 3 minutes or so in the colder water and air temps to get to 140 and then kick in and take it back to the 130's.

Thanks for the good information.

Cricket, I had a four stroke yamaha that was doing the same thing even after paying a shop to change the water pump. I finally ordered a new water pump kit, took the lower unit off. I took out the thermostat while the lower was off. Then ran a water hose through the stat housing and flushed the water jacket just in case there was something blocking the water flow.
After I installed the new water pump and reinstalled the thermostat, it ran like a top. Never overheated again.