Re: Installing a telltale

[DAN ANDERSON]

Well let me see how many holes I can shoot into the article written by Iboats. No ill will towards them, but they got caught up in a motor design change & either didn’t notice it or didn’t know it was important. The bulletin they show is for 1986 (CD) 1987 (CU) & 1989 (CE) motors. These are 56 cu in motors that don’t even have a powerhead (49 cu in) like shown in the picture. It is true the 60hp motor continued to be made as a 49cu in motor till 1989, but did not suffer from the problems early 56 cu in motors did. (The reason for the bulletin in the first place). Putting the over board telltale in the top of the block would definitely add to over cooling. At least they do recommend the factory fitting in the pan. That fitting has a small hole which keeps a small amount of water from being expelled. Since they have a tendency to become clogged people do away with them and just stick the hose out of the pan. This is unacceptable. Remember the more water you let escape here, the more cold water you let into the system to over cool the motor. The thermostat no longer controls that.
Now the 56 cu in motor tells/shows you to put the elbow at the top of the exhaust area of the block. That can’t be done on the 49 cu in motor because of differences in design. The exhaust cover on the 56 cu in motor is actually just a water cover. If you take it off you don’t see inside the motor, only the water jackets. Because they got the models crossed or confused it hurt the article a lot in my opinion. Of course this is just one model, but there is enough confusion on this model engine already.
The main thing to take away from this is you have to think about the whole system before drilling & changing things to make improvements. Our aim is to make our engines more environmentally friendly while we protect them from costly repairs.

Dan in TN