The first of September I had some friends on the boat all day, and far from home. The next morning I went down to do some clean up and polishing then planned a quick ride at sunset. Well when I went to start the engine all I got was the engine turning but no start. I have never had a problem starting the 2007 Honda 90, so this was a little un-nerving. I'm lucky this happened at my slip and not in NY Harbor.
The problems were #1, a corroded 10 amp fuse on the engine (The bottom fuse). I noticed when I was trying to pull the fuse it seemed stuck. when it finally came out, one of the prongs just fell off into the water. It had corroded off leaving a good amount of gunk stuck in the fuse block, it was also blown. At first I thought the problem was just a rare, not very explainable occurrence. As clean and polished the engine looks I never expected what I found next.
After I pulled all the fuses and replaced the bad one (I put dielectric grease on the fuse connections) the engine started up first time. I think that fuse controls the fuel pump. Well I stood there admiring what a good job I did and how lucky I was to be doing that job at my slip and not in any shipping lane when I noticed problem #2,a small drip at the bottom of the engine near the bottom spark plug. It took about a second to recall the subject of this thread and find the leaking T-stat cover that was mentioned. If I hadn't read your experience with this problem it may have turned into an even bigger deal down the road...or channel.
I'm getting the part from Boats.net, when I asked on the phone they told me the part # on their site was the Aluminum cover , but they see a different # on their screen and sent me the wrong part, no problem the correct part (11-19315-ZY9-000) is on the way no problem.
If I was paying more attention in July when I read your experience I would have gone out , checked, removed and replaced that part .
If you have this engine make sure you have spare fuses on hand and do some preventative maintenance, spend the few dollars and change that cover.
Mike B
Remembrance