454 owners

[Lowflyn]

Curiousity question - at what temp do your engine typically run at. Mine maintains 125F. I think it's too cool and takes a long time to reach that. Only one thermostat available, this one tested good. Tried an automotive 180 - no change. The setup does use an exchanger on the oil - I was thinking of by pasing it and see what happens....

[Planetwarmer]

You are suppposed to use a 160 deg thermostat, I believe. Maybe your gauge is wrong.

[BUIZILLA]

salt or freshwater use?

[silverghost]

I have a 454 MK IV in one of my boats .(Not a Donzi)
It has freshwater closed cooling with a heat exchanger.
I run at 140*.
It is rock solid at this temp unless you slow down suddenly from a high peed run . Then it may jump-up 5* for for about 34-40 seconds.

Does your engine have a bypass relief valve along wih the thermostat housing assembly ?
If-so it may be malfunctioning ?
Also check your themostat in a pan of water on the stove for proper opening temp.

Check the elecrical connections your engine's temp sensor and gauge.
Poor connections can result in low readings.
The gauge or its sender may also be bad.

Your oil cooler's~heat exchanger is NOT at fault here. I would not remove it.

[Lowflyn]

All good suggestions -
The photo shows the water inlet on maifold, should look familar. This alum manifold is automotive and has the usual thermostat location "horizontally"
as most auto's do. Tried a 180 - no change, from my gage. The original thermosat mounts vertically right at the inlet from the water pump. I've changed sending units (thermocople) and tried different locations from very front of manifold (original location) to the rear of the manifold - no change. It might very well be the gage - I'll have to pickup something to test with - not sure if I can find a dirrect replacement of any of my gages - kind of old...

AND NO - I do not want to change all gages to match one replacement...

I do not have any bypass relief value, I have checked the thermosat in boiling water "old school mech" here - I know that one :), I've gone through all wiring when I pulled the engine - I forgot what this thermo is rated at at, I believe 160 - I'll check it again. The boat is mostly used in salt - Da Pacific, is only 20min away - yet same results in fresh water. Luv running this boat on the River..
I'd also luv to have this engine running at 160 - I believe it would run conciderably better - maybe 2 to 5mph better top end - "just" from better heat\efficient fuel burn...

This boat is so close to being choice mechanically - It already is visually. Even removed and adapted from the fixed seat mounts to alum swivel posts - So very nice to be able to "twist and shout" in the seats :)

History - I have not been envolved with boating since I was a kid with my fathers boats. He was big into it - from sailing to CC power and he "hated" fiberglas" - all wood. I really believe that he believed that fiberglas would NOT float!! Yet it was me - the youngest son - that maintained them all....

I purchased\traded a bike for this hot rod - One Hot Rod for Another - Well it could have been an airplane... I was searching.... traded was a BBC Venum Pro ~$25 to 30K - hence trade - I've spent another $10K with repairs, mods, safety equipment - geeeezzzz $320 for an up to date "legal" Marine automatic Fire Extingusher.... I've spent far less for a full system on my TA dragster - BUT NOoooo - I couldn't use that system :( This also reflects on my statements of "marined" parts and the costs for said parts.... It's like gas prices - just shouldn't be......

PS - engine photo is pre\during engine pull... yet it shows the water inlet manifold.

PPSS - I just have to share these photos - the fiberglass guy, I hired, to move exhaust pipes up - well He had a helper :) Enjoy - and YES - she did actually get the job done!! He didn't do sht.... except - Like me - watch Her!!

PPPSSS - Did you notice how low the exhaust pipes "where" moved from ???? I've not seen any pic of any 22C with exhaust at water line!! And it looked original on my boat- How can that happen?? A cx requesting to the manufacturer at original build????

[gcarter]

Maybe I missed something, but did you try a mechanical gauge?
On eBay, the online store "Great Lakes Skipper" has a "Gaffrig" (and I don't know why-it's not a Gaffrig gauge- it's a Marshall) all-in-one temperature gauge that screws into a female 3/8" pipe thread. You can screw it into an available port and leave it there.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LIVORSI-GAFFRIG-BOAT-TEMPERATURE-GAUGE-gauges-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4a8ccacc23QQitemZ32018 9680675QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear

[f_inscreenname]

Al 4 of mine run at 160* and when running hard will go up to 180* but will come back down after I pull back a little.

[justleft]

What is the temp of the raw water coming in ?

I know on my Porsche and other hot cars it will take forever to warm the
coolent/oil on cool day without a thermostat on the external oil cooler.

What is your oil temp ? Does anyone even make a oil thermostat for boats?
The thermostat on the Porsche would adapt nicely but it is a bit spendy.

[gcarter]

Here's a couple of oil T-stats:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CTR-22-480/?rtype=10

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-14581-xtreme-remote-engine-transmission-oil-thermostat-180-degree.aspx

[Lowflyn]

thank you gentlemen - looks like I'll be busy this weekend - trying differant testing methods....