1980 165Hp Merccruiser general questions.

[GM165]

I just picked up a 1980 Crestliner Nordic 19 with a 165 Hp Merc I/O. Starts and runs fine on muffs. Have not splashed it yet (need to have my kicker gone through fiirst for backup), but is there anything special I need to know about the motor? Seems pretty straightforward.

Where would be a decent place to get a manual (Not Seloc preferrably). On line is fine if I can download it.

Should be able to splash this weekend and see what it does.

One thing I am wondering. I would like to run the boat in the winter. I know it is tougher to do then running an outboard. Our local lakes don't freeze, but it does get below freezing. Some of the best fishing can be when the lake cools off. Is there some way to modify the manifold etc. to blow out and winterize it quickly? If life goes like it did when I had an outboard, I will be out every couple of weeks so fogging won't be an issue.

Thanks

 

[Fishermark]

Is this the straight six 165 or the four cylinder? If you do not know the history of the boat, then I would suggest changing the impeller and doing a pressure test of the drive.

Oh yeah - welcome aboard!

 

[GM165]

Straight 6, GM 250. Impeller was (supposedly) done last August. I do trust the seller on this.

 

[dozerII]

Winterizing for using late in the year is pretty simple and can be done at the lake when you pull out at the ramp. One plug on the block, one on the bottom of the manifold and possibly one on the Riser/elbow. Once you remove them prod around with a little screw driver to make sure they drain, shouldn't take more than 5 minutes, then drive home which should shake out the last of the water. As Bondo says air don't freeze. Once you get home make sure to trim the drive all the way down to let it drain.

 

[GM165]

Hmm. I was thinking it was harder than that. Still thinking I might fix up something to blow the water out. Carry a pancake air tank and run 5 psi of air through once all the plugs are out, but this makes me feel better. I'm used to trimming the motor down when I get home. Just haven't had a boat in about 3 years.

 

[GM165]

If I switch to electronic ignition, is there an advantage between the ignitor and ignitor II? And is a coil upgrade needed?

 

[dozerII]

I just used the Ignitor with the coil on my Mercruiser 120 and it works just fine, I think from reading on their web site the Ignitor II is more for High Performance.

 

[Davcar]

If I remember...the Ignitor 2 has something in it to prevent damage to the unit if you leave your key on by mistake. The #1 doesn't have that. I went with the #2( just because of the key left on issue) and used my stock coil. Works great.

 

[Grub54891]

I used the regular igniter,however,when removing the points plate,leave the points exactly as they are. Put them in a ziplock,or moisture resistant container and keep them onboard. If per chance the igniter goes south,you can re-install the points plate and get home rather easily.
Grub

 

[generator12]

I agree with both Davcar and grub. The points in the bag saved me once when I had an intermittent ground and the electronic unit couldn't handle it. And the Ignitor II has the safety feature mentioned above - a good thing to have for me, for sure.

I put this Pertronics system into a four cylinder 170 and noticed an immediate improvement in starting, idling, and mid range performance. I recommend it highly.

 

[GM165]

Thanks.

 

[GM165]

So splashed the boat today. All went pretty well. Spent ~$400 on the kicker (Honda 10hp) so if anything went wrong I could get back. One time I tried to run it, wouldn't stay running. From the looks of it I should have spent a few bucks on the Honda fuel tank as well as it seems to be leaking so the motor was sucking air. But it wasn't needed.

Motor ran flawlessly. Better than I hoped. Fuel gauge doesn't work, but I was told that. Speedo didn't work but those silly things rarely do.

Only issue is the tach seems off. I was going pretty much WOT and ~35mph (by gps), but the tach read 1900 rpm.It moved from idle to 1900, but that seemed the max. Stock tach with the boat (all the gauges look the same) so I'm not quite sure where to start looking.

I meant to pull the distributor cap and see if it was still points, but forgot.

Might get out fishing tomorrow. I have a second fuel tank for the kicker (buddy had one for some reason) so I'll see if that works better. Otherwise, can you plumb a Honda B100 into a main fuel tank without issues (will ask in the Honda section).

Any help on the tach would be appreciated. Will search for a bit here to see what I find.