For a motor you own or one on a boat your are considering buying?
The reason I ask is that no matter what the PO tells me I'm changing the water pump. Thus I'd run compression cold, if good, hook up to hose run hot compression, if goo, buy the motor, then change the water pump. You should not be starting the motor so a few short cranking bursts for the first pass buy or no buy, should not overheat the pump or damage the housing. jh