1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

[solracmd]

Hi all,

Just picked up a old 12 ft aluminum boat with 6 hp Mercury. After doing basic diagnostics on the engine (checking spark, compression, fuel) I got it started relatively easy (considering it was sitting for quite some time). On a separate thread I was tailing I have a better understanding/feedback on what to expect with water flow (to ensure cooling) since water was coming out of the exhaust tail just not that much when idling. I did not know if that was normal. Thoughts?

Also, possibly gonna pull that flush valve/screw out and see if water comes out more smoothly. Again, tryin to set expectations since I don't want to burn it up. The engine appears to not have been used much and want to keep it for a long time. Other considerations include any regular/proactive maintenance suggestions. Changing lower gear oil is probably on the short list. Sorry if some of these are basic questions/items but, this is the first outboard I have ever owned.

Thanks in advance for your input

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Replace the impeller and lower oil before anything.

http://store.oldmercs.com/category_s/1215.htm?searching=Y&sort=13&cat=1215&show=10&page=2

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

ditto. about lowerend fliud to see if there is water in there. 25 bucks for the impeller.
Good luck.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Thanks for the feedback folks ....for lower oil I believe all I need to do is loosen/remove top and bottom screws (above and below bullet) to drain oil..... then to refill, I reinstall bottom screw and fill up with oil till it shows dripping out of top screw hole .... correct?

PS. I need to read up on the impeller change a bit more separately

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

My youngest Mercury is 37 years....... Take care of all the basics before doing any attempts on starting and she'll serve you well.

Remove both lower unit screws and let it drain for @ 30 minutes. When you have her running just warm it up on a hose and it drain much quicker.

Get "QuickSilver/Mercury" Lower Unit Lubricant and a filling pump. Dont try to save a buck, new lowers are hard to find.

With both screws off, but near by and the lower level with the ground. Insert the filling hose into the lower screw hole, filling from the bottom, slowly. When the oil starts to come out of the top screw hole give it two more pumps to dislodge the bubbles and insert the top screw. This will create a vacuum lock that will allow you to insert the bottom screw without loosing much oil.

Run her a bit heavy on the factory 2 cycle oil, keep up on maintenance and she'll treat you well.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Sorry for delay in responding (Turkey season opened up ). Appreciate the feedback on changing the oil. I bought the gear oil yesterday.

As for the impeller, if anyone can provide good details on that replacement that would be great. From the earlier parts link I see it is $25 buck (well worth it) and it looks like it is circular/star pointed in shape. I think I am looking at the correct part.

Also, based on its function it looks like I would unbolt the lower unit. Probably should not change the oil until I perform the impeller change, is this correct?

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Pull the nuts and bolts out of the lower at the cavitation plate and pull it down. The impeller is on the drive shaft under the pump housing.
Unbolt the housing, grease the drive shaft and slide the housing off. The impeller has a small drive key in it Do Not Lose this. Slide old impeller off apply a bit more grease where the impeller sits and install new impeller. Make sure you get the key way back in properly. We put some grease on the impeller and a bit in the pump housing to lube it during initial start up. Slide the housing on in a twisting motion and bolt down, do not over tighten, then reinstall lower.
For start up, submerge the lower into water, start and look for the water coming out of the “tell tale”. If it is not coming out in about 7 seconds , TRUN IT OFF and check your work.

Yes is the star looking thing and you can do the oil at any time, its seperate from the water pump.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Thanks again for the excellent details .... stay tuned for next update

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Finally getting around to doing the impeller work. I tried to remove the fresh water flush screw but it was frozen tight .... oh well, so much for that. I was curious to see if water woiuld flow when engine ran. So, back to the impeller, there is only one nut/bolt holding the lower.... had to run back to house to get rubber mallet since it is not sliding off yet..... figure i would provide an "active" update

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Latest Update .... found other nut/bolt near water inflow screen duhhh .... slid off lower without much difficulty. Inspecting parts n pieces i see several items i could question would affect water flow at the tell tail (one of the main reasons I am doing this other than maintenance). It looks like short copper stub/sleeve that meets with longer upper run is just pressed fit loosely onto pump top piece (I guess thats all it needs to stay in place?). Next, there is a rubber bushing at the top of the pump housing that appears to float at the top area of the pump housing... is this suppose to be "set in" tight recessed into the top of pump housing? ... possibly the prior owner had done some work and never re-assembled correctly. Lastly, when I look at the impeller it looks fine however, it is seated "offset" in the housing... is this correct? I will try to attach 2 pics .... one on the rubber bushing and another of the impeller seated ..... thanks in advance for feedback!

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

The water feed tubes are normally loose.
The rubber on the drive shaft should just sit on top of the pump. I give it some Vaseline to keep it pliable.
Change the impeller. I have heard many times "It looked fine"..... Impellers are cheep compared to an engine, change it every other year.

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

I would like to see a picture of the motor when you get it done.
This is my 1963 500

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Appreciate the feedback ... will definitely take pics as I get her painted up (might take some time though ) .... I did not see any response on the impeller being seated "off set" in the pump housing .... was that normal? ... see pic I included for actual view .... thx

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Yes, offset is normal.
As the impeller is turning, the water enters the small "chamber" as it's expanding, ie the rubber finger is straitening out. As the "chamber" starts to collapse, ie finger bending in, the water is pushed up the water tube. This flexing of the fingers is why its important to change every other year. Once the finger stays bent, you loose pumping ability.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Makes sense now that you have explained. The only thing that bothers me then is, that I really cant find any reason why the water flow from tell tale is non existent when idling and/or under power at slower RPM's. Water then starts to spit a bit when increasing RPM's and, under higher RPMs (50% throttle and higher) is spitting/flowing more consistently. Should I be expecting more? .... as always, thanks in advance for feedback

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

There is a pin that fits in between the impeller and the drive shaft. Is that holding tight? I had one, that was worn just enough, when running it would slip. Check for freeplay between the impeller and shaft.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

I have yet to pull out impeller as I am waiting on new one. So, I will definitely check on the pin (interesting comment about it slipping... that would explain a cause).

Curious, when removing old impeller (including parts to get to it .... i.e. rubber bushing, top of pump motor ..etc) is everything suppose to be pulled over the top of the shaft. Reason I ask is that there is a bulge at the end and just wanted to be certain before I try to pull off since it will need to be worked/stretched. Also, what kind of grease would u suggest I use when re-assembling.

PS. Have included a couple pics of the disassembly for reference

 

[bgc]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Everything slides off the top of the shaft. I use wheel bearing grease on the shaft.

 

[solracmd]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

Hey folks, here is the latest status. New Impeller delivered this week. Slid off everything quite easily, the bulge at top of shaft was an o-ring I had not originally noticed. I actually noticed the o-ring was ripped so I replaced. Not sure what type of seal it provides but, guess that was the right thing to do. Definitely applied grease as was suggested during re-assembly of pump and made sure to turn impeller while installing (was a bit tricky). The key way lined up so that allowed me to replace cover and tighten. When reassembling the lower I had to turn prop a bit while in gear to ensure engagement.

Today I performed a start up and tell tale test and the results were Excellent! The water flow came out almost immediately and the improvement was 300% (especially at low RPM's) BGC, thank you greatly for all the coaching!

Bottomline, everything that you said about the impeller fingers being bent and impacting water flow was the culprit. I will definitely be replacing every other year. Next step is to enjoy the engine and do some fishing. After a bit I will then start on figuring out how to paint and touch up.

 

[chum1]

Re: 1965 Mercury/Kiekhaefer - 6hp - Health Check & Cleanup

I would like to see a picture of the motor when you get it done.
This is my 1963 500

That is a great shot