Merc 140 all seem to have issues WTF?

[HT32BSX115]

I bought a nice 20' deck boat dirt cheap a little while back because the PO "winterized" it by filling the motor with antifreeze right up to the oil cap...

"Redneck Winterizing"!

 

[Silvertip]

When you look at private owner boats, take a look at their personal vehicles, their yards, and their houses as well. If any or all of these are not well kept you can bet the boat has seen the same treatment. We have a generation living among us who view cars, trucks and recreational vehicles as simply modes of transportation. If something breaks they have no clue what to fix or what they did to cause the problem. They rely on service agencies to keep things running. So when winter comes it may be December before they even give the boat a thought and only then because there is snow on it and it is visible through the kitchen window.. I would wager a large percentage of our population cannot tell you at what temperature water freezes.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I agree that todays increasing population of folk do not understand the manual choke, small engines, a manual transmission, maintaining anything with a piston, a type writer, point type ignitions, the philosophy and science behind the 4-cycle engine, how to actually cook without a microwave or instructions on a package, felling a tree with an axe, hand tools, power tools, or a welder.

 

[airshot]

I live in an area of fairly new homes, most within the last 15 yrs. Most have a motorhome and a boat sitting in the yard. Thru the winter the motorhome is covered but the boat sits outside, uncovered filled with snow and rain and most of these boats are within the same 15 yr span as the homes. Lots of people must have a lot of money to spend and not have to worry about any type of maintenance. I know of one person whose boat sat outside, uncovered for at least 4 years then he put it up for sale. Their ad read...well maintained and stored inside.....

 

[Part-time]

No Title

I'm just wondering what the "for sale" ads would look like for these two???

 

[joetheis]

Sometimes I feel like God put me here (or I say, "My Father jumped my Mother"), just to bring old neglected P.O.S. in yards back to running condition!
Be it cars, trucks, bikes, and now boats.
I'm a sucker for the forgotten about boat WAY back in the back, Yeah the one with the tree growing out of the **** pit!
My wife has to slap me once in a while, or I'd have them all!
Joe

 

[Silvertip]

Another aspect of the "why so many 2.5/3.0 engine problems" is the fact that there are so many of them. These engines have been standard power plants for entry level boats for decades. The very high number of these engines and clientele means there would be more issues when compared to other power plants. Entry level tends to draw the first time boat purchaser and since they generally have zero to near zero boat maintenance experience (and likely the same level for their cars) the boat takes a hit from a maintenance standpoint. The problem with the motoring and boating public is that they do not understand what warning lights and gauges are telling them. An alarm to most people tells them we need to head back to the dock. In reality the boat is telling the operator "I have a problem NOW -- not next week or tomorrow." They continue to run an overheated engine or one low oil pressure and breath a sigh of relief when they get to the dock. But they can't understand why the engine now consumes oil or has a rod knock or seized up on the way in. Idiot lights replaced gauges for a period of time because nobody understood what the gauges we telling the operator. Idiot lights didn't help either so we are back to gauges but I'm betting it is more for the "cool factor" than a warning system. Yes -- I've had to deal with more than one person that needed a head slap.

 

[Richmond2000]

I would add the boat "problem" is worse because a used boat does NOT come with instructions (assuming they would be read) and for most "seasonal" stuff you stop using it and take it in for servicing in the spring to give it a tune up before you go out BUT by then the damage is done
there is a KIJIJI ad in my area a guy wants a boat mechanic to tune up / repair his NON RUNNING / NON WINTERIZED boat says in the ad "engine might need rebuilding" - I want to e MAIL and say DUDE you cracked a 4K engine block and rebuilding is NOT what is needed send all IN CAPS BOLD
as ONE can NOT face slap with E mail

 

[Silvertip]

"One can NOT face slap with Email" -- but some folks in these forums have pretty thin skin and may disagree with you.

 

[Richmond2000]

"One can NOT face slap with Email" -- but some folks in these forums have pretty thin skin and may disagree with you.

not just here but MOST forums

but back on topic as far NORTH I live I assume MOST PEOPLE DO winterize there engines as it is NOT common to see cracked blocks on 4 pots OR ANY boat for that matter

 

[H20Rat]

When you look at private owner boats, take a look at their personal vehicles, their yards, and their houses as well. If any or all of these are not well kept you can bet the boat has seen the same treatment. We have a generation living among us who view cars, trucks and recreational vehicles as simply modes of transportation. If something breaks they have no clue what to fix or what they did to cause the problem.

I'd argue it is not generational... I've bought A LOT of powersports toys. Snowmobiles, jetskis, boats. It's rare that a year goes by without something new showing up in the driveway and something leaving. For the most part, younger owners tend to not get their hands greasy, but are far, far more likely to have it serviced at a dealer. The older, stubborn guys are the ones you have to be careful of, especially 60+ and retired. They know just enough to be dangerous, and are too stubborn to actually learn the correct way. (old dog, new tricks...)

I've seen some horror stories in boats that were owned by older gentleman who thought they were improving it. Ranging from extremely unsafe fuel systems to electrical wiring that a barn spider would be proud of, if it actually held together at least, and everything in between.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I'd argue it is not generational... I've bought A LOT of powersports toys. Snowmobiles, jetskis, boats. It's rare that a year goes by without something new showing up in the driveway and something leaving. For the most part, younger owners tend to not get their hands greasy, but are far, far more likely to have it serviced at a dealer. The older, stubborn guys are the ones you have to be careful of, especially 60+ and retired. They know just enough to be dangerous, and are too stubborn to actually learn the correct way. (old dog, new tricks...)

I'm finding that kids around here - a small farming town in Idaho - generally know almost nothing about wrenching/fixing/building/maintaining their ****. They know EVERYTHING about the tricks to get a few more kills on Battlefield, even older kids that own cars and trucks don't have a clue how they work.

I battle this tendency daily with my 15 yo son. There are no jobs for a 15 year old in farm country any longer - the Federal government made sure of that with insurance and labor laws. So I bought him, from a farm owning friend of mine, a '92 F150. Needs everything gone through since it is 23 yo, but generally a very nice 4WD vehicle that even looks good. When I was a kid I paid for my own truck working a horse ranch job and learned how to fix it since it was pretty much a piece of junk. I have to force this kid to get out and work on a really nice set of wheels. I berate myself for buying it since it is obvious it holds a much different place in the hierarchy of his life, mostly because it wasn't his money. It is very weird since the kid has been welding and wrenching on stuff with me since he was a little over belt high. It's just not as important as sitting at a computer.

The world has changed, right in front of us, and we're just slow catching on.

 

[Bondo]

The older, stubborn guys are the ones you have to be careful of, especially 60+ and retired. They know just enough to be dangerous, and are too stubborn to actually learn the correct way. (old dog, new tricks...)

Hey,.... I resemble that remark,......

just ain't retired,..... not gonna either,.....

'n I know what ya mean 'bout motivatin' a younger lad,....

My Love's son, I taught to cut, 'n weld, etc,...
Set 'im up to build trinkets outa junk I had layin' 'round, 'n several trinket shops in the area were wantin' 'em,... Bad,....
All he had to do was build 'em, paint 'em, 'n he'd have had money in his pocket,.....

Nope,.... 'puter games were more important,....

 

[Rick Stephens]

No Title

All he had to do was build 'em, paint 'em, 'n he'd have had money in his pocket,.....

Nope,.... 'puter games were more important,....

Zactly. My kid was doing the same thing, making trellises for tomatoes and the like. Everyone wanted em. Nope - xbox.

 

[thumpar]

I have never understood the gaming thing. In my house there is a Wii for the kids, an atari 2600 packed up for collector reasons and a PS2 somewhere that hasn't been hooked up in years. I am a 38 year old computer tech. After highschool I had many friends get into gaming. They would talk about it like it was real life. The only games I play are trivia crack and mario kart with my son occasionally.

 

[Bondo]

I have never understood the gaming thing.

Ayuh,.... Ditto,..... as a teen, I was bummed out when they took out a pinball machine at the local bowlin' alley to put in packman, 'n asteroids,....