1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling structure for an outboard engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel supply system for an outboard engine is provided with a vapor separator, which separates fuel vapor generated from the liquid fuel, e.g., gasoline, by heat ambient, and releases only the vapor into the atmosphere. Part of engine cooling water is used to cool the vapor separator in order to suppress generation of fuel vapor.
A cooling water system for this type of engine is provided with water checking ports, which are provided on a cooling water passage and which enable checking of engine condition. The water checking ports are in most cases disposed downstream of the engine, so that the cooling water, after cooling the engine, is used to collect water samples downstream of the engine.
In conventional systems, the cooling water passage leading to the vapor separator is separated from a passage for the water check port, so that the piping system is long and complicated. Even more disadvantageously, because the piping system is long and complicated, the piping must be fixed to the engine at several points using clamps, etc., undesirably increasing the number of parts and the number of assembly process steps.
Moreover, when the outlet cooling water after cooling each part of the engine is utilized as the water sample for the purpose of checking, the response to the engine condition is too slow to enable proper monitoring of the engine condition.