Patent ID: 6109987
Filing Date: 2000-08-29
Classification: B63H,F01P,F02B

Abstract:
An outboard motor powered by a water-cooled internal combustion engine, said outboard motor including a power head in which said engine is contained and which is surrounded by a protective cowling, a drive shaft housing and lower unit depending from said power head and containing a propulsion device for propelling an associated watercraft through a transmission for driving said propulsion device from said engine, said engine being provided with a cooling system that includes a cooling jacket which extends around a body of said engine, means for drawing coolant for circulation through said cooling jacket from the body of water in which the watercraft is operated, passing the drawn coolant through a cooling jacket flow path from an engine cooling jacket inlet and for discharging the circulated coolant back to the body of water from an engine cooling jacket outlet, and a flushing cooling jacket port formed in said engine body at a point that is approximately midway along the length of said cooling jacket flow path between said cooling jacket inlet and said cooling jacket outlet for flushing said engine cooling jacket.