What is this hose?

[Wakeman22]

While getting started on my ballast install I found this hose and have a question about it. What is this hose? I presume it is the raw water pickup. What is the direction and how does the water flow after this location? I also see a slight to moderate kink in the hose midway and the worst is just before the fitting. "no comments about kink and hose", this is serious. I am not sure that you can see it in the pic or not but it looks as if it is 1/3 the way closed down.

What do you think? Should this be fixed? I am also going to install a heater and have the "y" conection that goes into the raw water intake hose to help with better flow at idle. Would this hose be the place to install it?

[Iwndr]

Ok it's difficult to speak of kinky hoses on here without getting yourself in trouble but If it is kinked as bad as you say I would change it out. What is causing the kink? is there an obstruction or is it just too short. It looks like it is your raw water pick up on the way though the Vdrive. You are probably ok but as long as your in there doing your ballast install you might as well change it out with a longer hose.
It will be cold water so I do not think it would work for your heater intake and I wouldn't want to mess with anything before your cooling pump

[skippabcool]

While getting started on my ballast install I found this hose and have a question about it. What is this hose? I presume it is the raw water pickup. What is the direction and how does the water flow after this location? I also see a slight to moderate kink in the hose midway and the worst is just before the fitting. "no comments about kink and hose", this is serious. I am not sure that you can see it in the pic or not but it looks as if it is 1/3 the way closed down.

What do you think? Should this be fixed? I am also going to install a heater and have the "y" conection that goes into the raw water intake hose to help with better flow at idle. Would this hose be the place to install it?

That is the raw water intake. The flow is from thru hull which is about 12", guessing, back from the kink and then forward though the v drive then headed back to the transom on the starboard side then into the impeller.

The heater could connect on the port side of the impeller. Many have said that you should not connect into your raw waater, though several have done it, because it is taking away from the engine. I would play it safe and not y off of it, in imo

I don't know if the kink is an issue.

[Wakeman22]

What is causing the kink is that the hose is too long and is pushing itself into position therefore bending the hose and thus kinking itselef. It is a hose with a spiral going down it to aid in not colapsing under suction I imagine.

I may have termed the heater inlet wrong. What the "y" does and some have installed them I am just not sure where to do the install, but on the return side of the heater, it goes to the cooling intake side to suck water through the heater system at idle so that more hot water can be run through the heater since water flow would be down at idle. This in turn aids in more heat/hot water going through the heater and this relates to the amount of hot air temp coming out the vents. Maybe this "y" should go into the hose just before the empeller. I was thinking that if I was in this area and cut the hose to install the "y" it would help release some of the presure kinking the hose.

This "y" fitting does not take from the raw water it just is a way to circulate more water through the system. Any others used this setup?

[robert theisen]

To me it looks like the hose is kinked because it's not pushed all the way on the nipple.Loosen both clamps and slide it further up on the threads.Then make sure your clamps are installed on the flat part of the nipple[not the threaded part]Good Luck.