Engine overheating help!

I have a 1978 ski tique with the ford 302 and the last time I took it out the temp was jumping around alot and even got up close to 200 before I shut it off. I took off the thermostat housing to change the thermostat itself and found that there isnt a thermostat in it. Also another problem I noticed is that when I crank up the motor the right side manifold is way warmer than the left (drivers side when I say left). And more water is coming out of the exhaust on the drivers side than on the problem warmer side. Anyone know what my problem could be?

Thats the right way. The correct 143 deg. one will be a highflow and look a bit different.   

Do you have a water strainer in the suction water line? Its between the water pickup in the bottom of the boat and the transmission cooler if there is. If not you might want to pull the transmission inlet water hose and see if there are pieces of weeds or other debris partially blocking the ends of the tubes.

Then there is the question of what condition the water impeller is in?

Might try connecting a water hose and run it in the driveway.
This will provide pressurized water and will/should keep the motor
cool even if the impellor is defective.

If the water hose keeps it cool, would point to impellor being the
issue.

I tried running it with the hose pipe and it seemed to do ok, no over heating, and an even amount of water was coming out both exhaust. But then i took the suction hose loose from the intake and stuck it in a bucket to run it as it would normally run in the water, and it started to run hot again; port side hotter than starboard, less water coming out port exhaust. I disassembled the port manifold and the gasket was blocking one hole for the water, which i fixed. I checked everything and all holes were free of clogs. Reassembled and started. Port side ran a little cooler, but not much.

And it will overheat idling

Thank you for letting me know i ruined the gasket.

Are you talking about the raw water pump?

THEKING00 wrote: Are you talking about the raw water pump?

Yes, the bronze one driven by a belt. That's the one pumping the cooling system. The other is a circulating pump for the block.

BuffaloBFN wrote: Yand it sounds like you need a new impeller.

Or a pump rebuild, you will know when you have it apart. We see it a lot down here with our "brown water", happens when ran dry too.

you need to inspect the mating surfaces on the impeller housing, not just replace the impeller.

Update

I took the RWP off today and checked everything out. I noticed many small pieces of rubber that looked like pieces of the impeller in the suction line, and a few pieces jammed in the suction port of the RWP. I figured the RWP was shot, but when i disassembled it, the impeller looked new. I cleared all the pieces of rubber out of the suction hose and the pump. I started the boat up and now shes pulling A LOT more water than before. I only ran for a min because of the gasket issue, but there was pretty much an equal amount of water coming out the port and starboard exhaust. The engine is still running warm, but that could be due to the incorrect thermostat, which will be replaced this week.

The question im stuck with now is, where did the pieces of rubber come from? When i purchased the boat about 3 months ago, the previous owner told me that he had just replaced the RWP. Is it possible that the pieces of rubber are just remnants of the old pump that the guy didnt clean out?

No, the blades are not still bent out the housing. The surface of the pump cover and housing seemed ok, of course i didnt know exactly what to look for as far as damages. I just looked for gouges and scrapes on the housing and in the inside of the pump cover.

Careful when you install the new impeller. The holes would not aligned perfectly and that can lead you into screwing the bolts wrong. Being made out of bronze it will strip the thread easily. That was my first lesson learned. I had to install Heli-coil. My trick is that usually one hole aligns. Put one of the bolt in by hand as far as you can, then you move it and align the other holes, install screw by hand, don't over tight them.

THEKING00 wrote: the automotive store.

I will give you a hint where your problem is, neither "the" nor "store"...

not given,
Ohm out the sender at several temps to make sure you have the correct Ohm range to match the gauge. What range did you get?

Hopefully you didn't shop at Autozone!!!