Mercury 150 Tell tale

[McFish]

I have just bought this motor (1993 150 V6 2.0 Black Max) and have been unable to get a tell tale with flush muffs on or in a barrel of water. There does seem to be water coming from two holes directly above the hydrofoils and tell tale has cold air coming out from it. I will try to put in the water and check again but was wondering if anyone could give me any suggestions. I was under the impression that the engine was running fine for previous owner so had not thought about changing impeller.

[KCLOST]

You first do need to pull the lower unit off and service the water pump (replace the impeller).. Second, I would replace the t-stats and poppet valve assembly. You have no idea when these parts were last replaced so do it now...They are all critical to the proper operation of the cooling system...

[ronnieboy]

be sure to replace top and bottom water tube seals, they cause lots of problems if they dont seal.

[studlymandingo]

DEFINITELY don't run that motor without figuring out the tell-tale. You can backflush the tell-tale to see if it is clogged. But if you personally do not know the motor, it is cheap insurance to replace the water pump assembly, t-stat, and poppet. Much less expensive than pistons and cylinders.

[WillyBWright]

It won't pee until the thermostat(s) opens.

[McFish]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have taken the engine back to the dealer i bought it off and told him to replace impeller and t-stats and poppet. He had told me that he would give the engine a full service prior to delivery first time around however it appears his mechanics just fitted the engine and sent the boat to me!!Hopefully i will get her back in full working order within a week or two. Thanks again for the advice and compliments on a wonderful forum, i have only discovered it and i will be eagerly advising all angling/boating buddies to log on from this side of the Atlantic (UK and Ireland).