Hello,
New to iboats but have been reading this forum for some time now. I just bought a boat (my fifth boat but first i/o or sterndrive as merc calls it) ant it's old. I've been going through this boat and finding lots and lots to fix and upgrade and so forth. It was an electrical nightmare with rats nests of wiring that I dont even want to try to describe. (hurts to much) Most of that is fixed and corrected now.
Lots of other cosmetic fixes done and still to do to get her ship-shape but thats ok. I like puttering around and a great way to learn the boat. One area that looks like it was done right was the engine and outdrive. The previous owner told me he had all tune-ups and drive train related work done at a marine shop and as far as I can tell, everything looks well cared for there.
I've been doing a lot of researching and reading these forums and others to familiarise myself with my engine and outdrive and have learned a tremendous amount. I also see what I've got myself into. I know I'm going to have questions that my research cant find answers to from time to time and this looks like the best place to get them answered.
Engine is chevy 250 cid inline 6 165 hp ser 4163414
Sterndrive is mercruiser pre-alpha ser 4193153
btw I don't have a manual yet and that's one of my questions. Where can I get an oem manual. Judjing by enveryones opinions on Selco and Clymer, I don't even want to bother with them. I have been told I can't get an oem for that old a boat. Any one know?
Rpm's on the muffs are 900 and in the water 700. Is that normal and if not, how do I adjust the rpm's??
I can grab the sterndrive by the cav plate and lifting straight up I can feel slight movement. Also, grabbing the upper and lower gear housings with both hands, I have a slight bit of side to side play. I cant really see where the movment is in either situation. Grabbing the leg down behind the prop shaft and then lifting up as if I were hand tilting the drive unit, I can lift it about three inches although it takes great force to do it. Can anyone tell me if any of this movment is normal??
Last question: I have trim tabs by the boat levelor co. Previous owner said they had never worked. That was because the steering cable head had knocked off the fluid resevoir and I found it under the deck plates filled with a dozen years of crud.
I re-located the pump/resevoir a few inches higher on the transom and fabbed up some brackets for the tank as the old brackets were broke. Filled er up and everything worked fine in the driveway. Took it out on the water and again everything was good. What a difference. The question is this. When I bring them up from the down position I hear a lot of gurgling and look in the tank it is blowing bubbles and churning in there. When I send em down, gurgling again but no air bubbles or churning. As I said, they do work. Should I worry about the gurgling / churning thing??
Thanks for any help
Al
New to iboats but have been reading this forum for some time now. I just bought a boat (my fifth boat but first i/o or sterndrive as merc calls it) ant it's old. I've been going through this boat and finding lots and lots to fix and upgrade and so forth. It was an electrical nightmare with rats nests of wiring that I dont even want to try to describe. (hurts to much) Most of that is fixed and corrected now.
Lots of other cosmetic fixes done and still to do to get her ship-shape but thats ok. I like puttering around and a great way to learn the boat. One area that looks like it was done right was the engine and outdrive. The previous owner told me he had all tune-ups and drive train related work done at a marine shop and as far as I can tell, everything looks well cared for there.
I've been doing a lot of researching and reading these forums and others to familiarise myself with my engine and outdrive and have learned a tremendous amount. I also see what I've got myself into. I know I'm going to have questions that my research cant find answers to from time to time and this looks like the best place to get them answered.
Engine is chevy 250 cid inline 6 165 hp ser 4163414
Sterndrive is mercruiser pre-alpha ser 4193153
btw I don't have a manual yet and that's one of my questions. Where can I get an oem manual. Judjing by enveryones opinions on Selco and Clymer, I don't even want to bother with them. I have been told I can't get an oem for that old a boat. Any one know?
Rpm's on the muffs are 900 and in the water 700. Is that normal and if not, how do I adjust the rpm's??
I can grab the sterndrive by the cav plate and lifting straight up I can feel slight movement. Also, grabbing the upper and lower gear housings with both hands, I have a slight bit of side to side play. I cant really see where the movment is in either situation. Grabbing the leg down behind the prop shaft and then lifting up as if I were hand tilting the drive unit, I can lift it about three inches although it takes great force to do it. Can anyone tell me if any of this movment is normal??
Last question: I have trim tabs by the boat levelor co. Previous owner said they had never worked. That was because the steering cable head had knocked off the fluid resevoir and I found it under the deck plates filled with a dozen years of crud.
I re-located the pump/resevoir a few inches higher on the transom and fabbed up some brackets for the tank as the old brackets were broke. Filled er up and everything worked fine in the driveway. Took it out on the water and again everything was good. What a difference. The question is this. When I bring them up from the down position I hear a lot of gurgling and look in the tank it is blowing bubbles and churning in there. When I send em down, gurgling again but no air bubbles or churning. As I said, they do work. Should I worry about the gurgling / churning thing??
Thanks for any help
Al
.....