Suzuki 70 overheat damage?

[popI]

Big oops.This engine is so quiet that our inexperienced crew failed to realize they forgot to switch it off for trailering. It ran for perhaps 5 minutes until the youngest member realized it was beeping and shut it off. (don't know whether it ran the whole time, or just the overheat alarm sounding.) Afraid to do anything! Should I just dip the leg in the water and and start it, and check for water in oil, or does this demand a professional post-mortem?

[BigNige]

Happened to me though not for the same reason. I was flushing the engine (50 HP Suzuki) from a dustbin , standing right next to it talking to someone and didn't hear the buzzer going off. I don't know how long it ran like this but certainly for a few minutes. No damage seems to have been done and I had a service by Suzuki just last week and the diagnostic log reported the temperature alarm but the technician said that the engine was in perfect condition. It certainly runs as well as before so put it in the water and give it a go. If it's damaged it will be tight and difficult to start.

Also on this engine I have found on a number of occasions that the water pump doesn't prime. Lifting the leg and putting it back down then restarting has always rectified the problem but now I look over the stern frequently when motoring.

I find the engine buzzer (and theChartplotter alarm) very difficult to hear especially when motoring and am in the process of installing some relays to drive a pair of 12V air horns that I can hear when the engine overheats or from the beach when the anchor drags.

[popI]

Thanks. I will try it. Haven't had the problem with the pump before. I'll have a strategy to deal with that in the future if it happens.

[Highlander]

If you ran the lower unit for more than a min. with no water your water pump housing usually "plastic" & impella may have suffered some form of damage as it is only made from Rubber ! & should be replaced or at least inspected every three yrs

J

[Billy]

Similar thing happened to me years ago with my 140. Tied the boat to the dock, lifted & secured the rudders & centerboard, the raised the engine so the boat would be ready to pull out on the trailer. Like you said, it was so quiet I forgot the engine was running. I went up to the dock, got the truck & trailer, waited in line and then back down the ramp. When I went to untie the dock lines I noticed the prop was doing a slow rotation and realized I had left the engine running out of the water. No buzzer yet. I jumped on board, lowered the engine, and the water started shooting out the telltale. Relief. Hard to believe the engine didn't overheat, but then it was only idling.

I theorized the water was staying on top of the impeller and keeping it wet. The water could not drain because the impeller was still trying to throw it up and yet the retained water could not go any farther because it didn't have new water to push it. Anyway, 4 years later I changed the impeller and it still looked almost new. Haven't done that trick again either. And no problems with the engine.

Possibly your buzzer warned before there was damage. I'd probably hook up the water hose and try it------but that's me. Good Luck.