Outboard engine not pumping water that great

hi, i have a 50 hp 4 strock suzuki engine and the water is not being pumped out correctly. i think there is a build up of salt, when i turn the engine on i get a trickle of water, i then use 100lb line and run it into the 'pee' hole, this seems to help, i can feel grit coming out in the water (like hard salt), the engine then pumps water fine for a while util it ends up as a trickle again and then i have to repeat the process of trying to unblock the hole with the 100lb line

anyone got any suggestiions? is there anyway i can unblock the pipe permantly? should i take her out of the water and pass fresh water through? would a real good run out of the engine unblock the pipe permantly?

thanks

I would check your impeller to see what kind of shape it's in.

we had the same problem last year. we pushed up a thin piece of wire. it would work grand for a few minutes and then the flow would die off again. i always suspected the impeller so this year i decided to change it. do you know when your impeller was changed last ? anyway the impeller seemed ok but when i removed the plate under the impeller i was in for a big shock. the side wall had coroded away as you will see in the picture. i had to build it up (no experience in this) and today the water is flying out of her in great force.
sometimes the impeller might be disintegrating or the vanes of it might be suffering from fatigue resuting in less pressure.
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I would check the impeller and housing to be sure you can eliminate that. Replace the impeller.

In my own experience Suzukis suffer from this. On my own engine it can be the same and there can be very little water coming out the pilot hole and some thick line poked in will clear it for a while but then it happens again.

It seems to be an issue with the rubber hose that goes from the head to the pilot hole. On my engine there is a tight turn near the join and this can close in and cause the blockage to build up easily.

Dont forget though that most of the actual cooling water (on my engine at least) goes back down the leg or out the exhaust port so just a trickle coming out the pilot hole (pee hole) doesnt always mean its the impellor or mean that no cooling is going on. Out on the water now I pay more attention to the water flow sensor than the pee stream.

I would suggest:

A good long flush out with fresh water.
Replace the impeller, make sure there are no leaks around the hoses, check the seals etc while you have the impeller out back flush the system by running water or air down from the pilot hole. That solved it for me.
See if that works, if not then its a blockage in the waterways above the impeller or a close in one of the rubber hoses.