Will Sea Strainers Help?

[MoreyMcC]

Hello All, I boat mostly around the California Delta, My new to me boat has Mercury racing 525s with Bravo1 outdrives and Sportmaster lowers And low water pickups. More than once since I’ve had the boat I have run into shallow water and clogged the lowers with mud and weeds, resulting in the motors shutting down and one time overheating. Other than avoiding shallow water, will Sea Strainers help if I do get shallow?

 

[Rotten deal]

It won’t help on the actual drive being packed with crap but will stop it from going in all your coolers and engine. So yes you need one . Last time I ran in delta I had to clean strainers 3 times. Its typically from docking at places like windmill cove. Check when you pull out.

 

[MoreyMcC]

Right On! Thank you

 

[n2otoofast4u]

I ran water PSI gauge on my IO for this very reason. You could see that effected before shit hit the fan. Windmill, Moore’s, and a few others are dicey to get in without churning stuff. I always park on the outside.

 

[steamin rice]

Like was mentioned, sea strainers will help but not if the intake holes in the drive are getting plugged up. Also watching water PSI is good idea as well. If your engines are 525EFIs, then you can install small smartcraft monitors which will give you water PSI, fuel consumption, and a bunch of other data form the engines. They are about the size of a normal gauge so you don't necessarily do complete retrofit of your dash.

Marine Monitors, Displays and Control Interfaces

Multi-Function Versatility - Digital displays provide easily configurable vessel control and the flexibility to view the information you need, exactly how you want to see it.

www.mercurymarine.com