HELP! 05 24v Pink water in bilge limp mode.

[Jonnyyea]

Ok, I didn't see my specific problem on here, hoping someone has some insight because my mechanic is backed up. Was on our 5th launch of the year today and everything was going great. After about an hour of surfing my boat cut out and went into what I believe is limp mode. The temp was running hot about 200 I think (like an 1/8 inch off max) and when I hit the bilge there was pink water coming out. We had been surfing for about an hour with 3,000 lbs of ballast. I checked the coolant reservoir which was low so I put 2 bottles of water in. Emptied the sacks and it seemed to be running fine although it was still reading hot (we didn't surf again cause we were out of water and concerned). What was the pink water? How do I keep from happening again? What should I put in the radiator and reservoir? Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 2005 Tige 24v Riders edition with a 6.0 litre. Never had any issues before.

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[boatwakes]

Pink water is coolant most likely overflowing into the bilge from the overheat. Start with your impeller, backflush the raw water system prior to installing the new one and go from there.

[Jonnyyea]

Pink water is coolant most likely overflowing into the bilge from the overheat. Start with your impeller, backflush the raw water system prior to installing the new one and go from there.

Thanks! My mechanic is doing the impeller now. Do you know anything about the closed cooling system? I put car antifreeze (EG) in the reservoir because it was empty... Any chance that could have mixed with the marine antifreeze (PG) in the radiator and caused the problem? Honestly, looking back I feel stupid, but the tech that dewinterized it just told me to put antifreeze in the reservoir and I didn't think twice about what kind to use so I just grabbed peak 50/50 from the auto parts store... Now that I've done some research I feel like that could be part or all of my problem? I've owned several boats before, but this is the first one that uses antifreeze in the cooling system!

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[boatwakes]

No, the antifreeze is the same between cars and boats you just don't want to mix red/orange Dexcool brand with green regular antifreeze, the two are not compatible and will gel in the cooling system. Generally the 6.0 uses Dexcool red/orange so find the source of the coolant leak first and go from there.

[Jonnyyea]

No, the antifreeze is the same between cars and boats you just don't want to mix red/orange Dexcool brand with green regular antifreeze, the two are not compatible and will gel in the cooling system. Generally the 6.0 uses Dexcool red/orange so find the source of the coolant leak first and go from there.

Thanks for the info! Mechanic swapped out the impeller today and filled up the radiator which I guess took 3.5 gallons so it was really low if not empty... He said he ran it and it was right at 175 which is normal. We'll try and surf it tomorrow and verify it's all good. I'll keep an eye on the bilge for antifreeze. Possible it could've vented the coolant when it was hot? Or is it supposed to vent it back into the reservoir? Probably released out The radiator pressure cap? The reservoir was dry... We poured 2 bottles of water in the reservoir on the lake which was bone dry when we were overheating but I filled at the beginning of the season. I'm rambling now, but hoping to have a good surf run tomorrow and be all good.

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[boatwakes]

It sounds like you've got a coolant leak somewhere and if the boat continues to lose coolant but not into the bilge the most likely suspect is the heat exchanger (round bundle on top of the motor). The coolant that leaked into the bilge when it was hot may have vented out the reservoir but more likely leaked from some other source. In 20 years I've only had to change 1 circulating pump on those engines but that may also be a point source. Keep us posted