Re: Mercury 115hp/Cee Bee Avenger 1981
Ok, first things first. Your motor takes a 50:1 fuel/oil mix. Use a major outboard mfr's oil or quality aftermarket. Mix per the chart on the bottle of oil. Try not to use Gasohol; regular unleaded or midrange non-alcohol fuel is better for the motor. If you only have Gasohol in your area, Mercury Marine doesn't recommend using premium.
One thing to know about your motor is that it'll only tilt up with the control box lever in Fwd gear. With the lever straight up (Neutral) or pulled back (Reverse), hooks in the lockout mechanism on the motor will plant themselves on the Tilt Pin and prevent the motor from kicking up.
So, with the motor tilted up you should always leave the shift lever in Fwd. Then, lower the motor down fully to its operating position, at which time you can shift to Neutral.
Conversely, when you're pulling into shore or getting ready to put the motor up, the control must be in Fwd.
What I like to do is, when coasting into shore (very slowly of course), you're idling in fwd gear and when you need to tilt the motor up, just turn the key off, leaving the shift in Fwd. Then you can easily pull up the motor and put it on the lock which holds it up.
As for a starting ritual, Inline Mercs definitely need that! Lower the motor into position in the water. With the fuel connector plugged in, pump the primer bulb until it firms up. It'll be quite hard, give it one more squeeze for good measure!
Ensure the gearshift lever is in Neutral. Raise the fast idle lever to the straight up position. Note that sometimes this is either way fast or not quite fast enough; be prepared to throttle the lever down if the motor races. If it's not quite enough, increase the speed setting on the lever.
A word on the choke; it's operated on-demand, in other words it only works when you push the button (or push the key in, depending on the style of your control box). I'll assume your choke works by pushing in the key.
So, while pushing in the key, turn ign to the 'Start' position and let the motor crank until she fires off. Be prepared to move the fast idle lever as required, with your free hand. Let off on the choke and if the motor wants to die, choke some more. When she's had enough choke she'll start to slow down, this is a clue to release choke and let the motor warm up for about a minute on fast idle. Don't let the motor race wildly, a speed just above normal idle is adequate for initial warmup.
Once the motor will idle smoothly in neutral with the fast idle lever fully down, you're ready to go. Shift from Neutral to Fwd with a quick snap of the wrist and increase throttle to plane out. Don't shift slowly as you'll hear gears grind and that's not good! A hearty 'clunk' when you shift in gear is way better than 'grind........grind.......grind.......SLAM'!
When you're throttling back off plane, don't just pull back on the throttle real fast; the boat'll slow way down and you'll get a backwash of water over the motor. Just slow down nice and gradual.
Regarding trim of the boat/motor underway, without Power Tilt-n-Trim, not possible except by shifting weight around. You can, however, manually adjust the attitude of the boat with the Tilt Pin. Best accessed when the motor is up. You'll see a series of holes in the motor brackets, viewed from the sides.
The pin is moved inwards or outwards in the holes to adjust. Inwards (closest to the boat) will drive the bow down and usually the boat will take off real fast out of the "hole". Moving the pin outwards picks the bow up, increasing speed to a certain degree.
If you move the pin too far out, the bow will start jumping up and down (aka 'porpoising'). Also the bow will pick up way high when you take off.
The best position for the tilt pin allows the boat to pick up smartly from a stop, and lets the bow ride high enough for a decent run of speed without porpoising.
Try either the 2nd or 3rd hole from 'full in' and see how that works. You'll note the pin has a little 'lever' on the end that swings over once the pin is in place. This keeps the pin from falling out so make sure the 'lever' is bent over after changing the position of the pin!
Every hull responds differently so you'll just have to try it and see. Likely the previous owner has already figured out where it runs best so that's a good place to start!
Needless to say, this is the most basic of instructions. I'm thinking someone at this site should be able to guide you to an owner's manual or generic boating safety information. Otherwise you can do a Google search and I bet it shows up many results for books on Amazon, etc.
Always carry a fire extinguisher and enough flotation devices for driver and passnegers. And of course Boating and Alcohol (other than what shows up in the fuel!) don't mix!!!
If you check in your area you'll probably find an organization giving boating safety courses, good idea for folks just getting acquainted with boating.
One last thought, if you have no idea when the P.O. changed the impeller, have it done as soon as you can. You'll save thousands of dollars in replacement of melted powerhead due to a defective chunk of rubber that's about $24 retail ! Also pick up some carbon-cleaning treatment from the dealer, aka "Ring-Free", "Carbon-Guard", and similar. Or Seafoam at your local NAPA and other places ( check it out at
www.seafoamsales.com ). Keeping the rings of an outboard carbon-free is right up there with water pump maintenance as far as keeping your engine happy goes. It'll thank you for it!
HTH & Happy Boating.........ed
