New Tige V21 RE and i have questions..

[COTige21V]

Just wanted to first say hello, I am a new Tige owner, 1999 Tige 21v Riders Edition. Couldn't pass up a deal with new interior, 324 hours and a good boat. Second wanted to thank this forum for being here and all the awesome owners helping each other.

Now on to the questions i have.

1. When i bought the boat the previous owner took it out one time during summer after winterizing (last year). He took it to a shop for a good inspection before selling it. I ended up being the lucky buyer. But he said the shop left two plugs that he did not know where they went. One was a blue plug that i found was to the seapump filter water strainer type thing.. the clear piece by the VDrive. The other one was a pipe style brass fitting with a square end on it, that i could not find where it went?

2. Going through the boat and winterizing it is where i am familairizing myself with this boat as it is my first V-Drive. It is definitely different than anything i have worked with. Mostly stern drives and direct drives. Never a V-Drive. But ready and willing, just a learning curve. As I readying myself to take off the Seawater pump as to be ready to put a new impeller next year i am wondering something i have wondered with my past boats. Has anyone ever converted the manual seawater pump to an electric pump? I was thinking about using a 20gpm coolant pump that i have laying around from my Audi, wire it to the ignition switch witb a relay linked to the oil pressure switch. That way the electric water pump would only pump water when the engine was running and as soon as it was not running. Just one of those wondering questions.
i just think the weak link of the rubber impellers could be fixed. Rather than a stainless setup using silicon impeller.. why not go electric?

3. Before i winterize i wanted to run the boat with a fake a lake and hooked it up, got water going and the boat woukd not suck up water. Which also got me going on to the impeller as well. Though the previous owner had the shop it was at as previously mentioned replace the impeller. I thought maybe i was missing something. But there was no water in the engine or hoses. No blockage either. I disconnected hoses and blew through them. Anything i coukd be missing?

Anyway, thanks for a great forum. I look forward to posting and talking. Appreciate you all.

[chpthril]

As to the impeller v's electric. Is your electric pump ignition protected? You would not want an automotive grade electric motor in the closed bilge of a boat. 2nd, Impeller pumps are self priming. Most other pump styles are not, so they have to be connected direct to the water source as they push water, not suck it.

as the lack of water. As noted, impeller pumps are self priming, as long as there is no air leaks on the inlet side. Did you find where that brass plug goes? Id also make sure the trans cooler is not packed full of debris.

[COTige21V]

Thanks Chpthril, i did disconnect the in from the seawater pump and was able to blow in it up to the filter container (no idea what that is called) and then it was clear from that container down to the inlet at the bottom of the boat.

I do think it has to do with the impeller. I will know tomorrow when i take it off and inspect. I am thinking about getting the Blue run dry impeller.
not sure and that makes sense about the automotive electric pump. Wonder if any electric water pump would work?

[freeheel4life]

1) You say "Sea pump filter" sounds like you are describing a strainer but Tige never included one OEM on your boat(to my knowledge). If you have a strainer it's been added by someone at some point. If so is it between the thru hull fitting and V drive??

2) Don't go down that road. Impellers and their housing pump bodies are fine. They just don't like things like sand getting run thru them or sitting for long periods(in my experience). In tank electric fuel pumps and other electric motors have the same problem. Park your car for a year and see if the in tank fuel pump survives. Boats do worse the more they sit.

If you service your Merc impeller it will make it easily 100 hours or every other year. They are thicker rubber vanes then some others and will take a set when they sit.

3) As chpthril stated, there a suction side and a pressure side. If there's air on the suction side then it can't self prime. The brass plug you mentioned likely goes in your V drive which is on the suction side which is causing fake a lake to not pickup....

Just a bet

[COTige21V]

Freeheel4life.

I will check that brass fitting tomorrow. I figured if there is any air or unplugged drain holes it would not get suction. Just couldnt figure out where all the drain plugs could be. I found all the blue ones. That brass one threw a curve at me.

Thank you for the input! I really like bouncing these ideas off people rhat have more expeeience than myself. I just ponder often. Haha.
ok so if all my lines are empty / drained do i need to prime them through the strainer or somewhere? Or is it really that there is probably somewhere that isnt allowing suction. Thanks again!

[freeheel4life]

If you are servicing the impeller anyways one way to test would be to roll under your boat and tape over your thru hull fitting. Then run some water back down the suction hose. If there's an air leak the water should flow out it....in theory.

[COTige21V]

Replaced the impeller today and still no suction. Didnt have a lot of time so this weekend i will try and find where there is leakage. Old impeller was bad and housing cracked, i was hopeful but no dice. Checked all over the VDrive for that brass fitting and nowhere was unplugged. I have inspected all over this engine and VDrive for a missing plug. Man oh man.

[freeheel4life]

I'm assuming you replaced the plastic housing since it was cracked. You have a real good seal with your fake a lake?? Can always remove the hose from the strainer and run the hose right into it....

[COTige21V]

Freeheel4life i did the kit with housing. I got real intimate with that engine. It is a simple system and much easier than working on my Audi S5 lol.
i did find the drain plug and like your bet was. It was to the VDrive. Saw the front facing drain plug and it was there and good. What i didnt see was the one on the backside and that is where thay brass one was. Of course the threads were all corroded so tomorrow will i am at my shop getting it cleared out to make room for the boat i will grab my tap and clean out the threads. Should be good tomorrow, i will chime in after testing it.
i greatly appreciate your help! After that i can finally get moving on building the sound system

[freeheel4life]

Heck yeah man!! Nice work!! I'm fairly certain that will be an NPT pipe plug....just FYI as most tap sets won't have NPT taps