Saving Old Seagulls

...I took my '72 40+ longshaft out for it's first spin on the water today behind my little glass 10 footer, and it stopped pumping water every now and then.

It ran to the point it was only blowing steam and I would stop the old girl, wait a minute then restart and she would be fine for another ten minutes or so.

It wasn't weed, and it has never been a problem...any ideas?

Should I put my pressure washer up the outlet and see what happens?

...well I bit the bullet, things like this niggle a tad, pressure washer in outlet on head...water out of the bottom of the tube which I assume is the intake, the one behind the prop.

Other way round and into what I assume to be the water intake....water out of the two holes on the bigger tube (exhaust?) and then out of the outlet on the head.

Perhaps you knowledgeable Gents can point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
seems a bit odd to me. When you say water out of the exhaust holes I got a bit lost. The water should go in the two slots above the oil filler bung and come out the hole in the block. In reverse it should go in the hole in the block and out the two slots. So, are you sure it comes out the exhaust? If flushing from the slots and water came out of the drive tube holes, two little holes half way up the smaller drive tube then there must have been a blockage. Have another go with a hose pipe both ways a few times and then run it in a bucket, I bet you get a little pile of rust left in the bucket, or even a big pile! The pipe inside is quite small and can be blocked by gear oil sludge, rust, snott and other unmentionables that collect in the lower waterway. Also try the old pokey pokey thing with a net curtain wire into the two inlet slots.
Good luck,
Philj

There's only one 't' in snot . . .

I think your going to have to strip the exhaust system it sounds like you have a problem with the water delivery tube inside the exhaust tube.

The water delivery tube has been known to split on rare occasions due to vibration.

Sounds to me if water is passing out or the exhaust, rather than the inlet on back flushing.
You have a sealing problem as well stripping down to eliminate other items before attempting the head and waterway issues first. But it sounds as there could be more to this than just loss of water pressure. If you split your gearbox at the water pump, clear the water pipe, de-coke the exhaust, de-scale the head. During assembly with everything else sorted now this is a part that’s not in the manual!

Make sure you have a good fit where the copper water pipe fits into the casing, in the water pump housing. Just put a nail punch up the pipe in the casting. Give it a couple of light taps to flair the copper and ensure a good seal.
Give it a go, my 40+ with the outlet extension pumps water on tick over. 12 “of 8mm copper scrounged from a plumber flared out to fit the outlet, a few carefully chosen bends it just brings the syphonic qualities into play

That's right Graham & how can it possibly get there?

Split in the water delivery pipe,
Lose water pipe retaining nut,
Loose fit of water delivery pipe in water pump housing,
Crack in water jacket around exhaust port.

All this means splitting the engine from the leg & removing exhaust tube for inspection.

Thanks for the help guys, as soon as the manual arrives and I can see where to split the gearbox and where the water pump is, I'll give it a go.

...all sorted, split the drive unit off and the water delivery pipe retaining nut had come undone and the tube was loose inside the exhaust.

All assembled, new gearbox oil...it's now pumping water like a fire engine, even at just above idle.

Thankyou for all your invaluable help. I'm now one happy bunny.

Special thanks to SOS for the prompt delivery of the spares.

The vast majority of Seagulls have the water delivery pipe retaining nut secured with "lock wire" , a couple of turns around the thread & twisted & then once under the nut to keep in position!

"And here is one I did earlier..............."

Probably should get round to putting all these in one place at some point...............

Peter