thru hull water inlet for engines.

randy342

Does anyone have thru hull water inlets in 342.
what is best location??
would like to do with engines out???

Handymans342

Mine are next to each other close to the rear of the boat near the low part of the bilge. 1 1/2 inch. 

Black_Diamond

I find this thru-hull engine cooling thing interesting, I have no such thing on my 342 (350MAG MPI B3).  I can see it for inboards, but how can you be pulling water though the outdrive and a far less restrained thru-hull? 

randy342

Handyman,how did you block off old inlets?
Could u send me a picture? 
Would really help.
thanks, new guy on block.

randy342

Black_diamond,  i use my boat in the river a lot and had a lot of problems with over heating from grass & sea weed.
installed thru hulls,solved problem. (On myOld boat)
hope to do same on this boat.

Handymans342

Well I don't have mercury engines but my raw water pump sucks water thru the thru hulls and drives then thru the motor.

rasbury

I have both- you would have to think that it pulls from what ever is the least resistant so I see what your saying black...I would guess at idle it would be pulling from the thru hull easier than the foot- when your running at higher speeds and your pulling 30 gallons per minute, it's going to pull it from wherever it can?

LaRea

Right - it'll draw water from the path of least resistance, which is probably the thru-hull most of the time.  But a Bravo 3 can feed more than enough water to cool even a big-block engine.  (My 496's don't have thru-hulls.)

Dual intake is a mixed blessing.  If the outdrive pickup gets clogged, the thru-hull provides a redundant path, so that's good.  But it also adds risk because thru-hull fittings can fail.  It also adds complexity, and of course cost (which is probably why most builders skip it).   Do the benefits outweigh the cost/risk -- yeah, probably.

Also, on the 342 it's almost impossible to reach the valve levers way back between the engines.

RANDY342: I'm sure you have already read all the "don't do this" guidance for installing thru-hulls.  There are a lot of mistakes that can end badly. 

Are you going to add raw-water strainers?  To me, that's a bigger benefit than dual intake, but it does make for a complicated and expensive upgrade.

rasbury

I'm not sure I understand, but my service manual shows like three different style of risers- I think that may have something to do with which have dual pick up or not. Mine has the dual with a strainer. I am also a half closed loop so the raw water cools only the risor/manifold and the heat exchanger.

randy342

At present,my water intake comes from the out drives only.
i have had problems in the past with other boats not cooling.
however i think i will leave them alone  for now.
aditional  holes in my boat does not excite me at this point.
thank u for your input.
need all the help i can get.