tell tale

After reading all the posts on how to add a tell tale I decided to do so this afternoon. It took me longer to get the parts together then it did to actually put it in. I may add a second brass fitting at the bottom of the hose and tap the cowling to keep it nice and tidy looking back there. Here is a quick pic I snapped before I lost all day light.

Re: tell tale

Do you know the history of that engine? Does it run well? Looking at the head, that engine has been grossly overheated at some time. Have you checked compression ratios?

Re: tell tale

Frank Acampora said:

Do you know the history of that engine? Does it run well? Looking at the head, that engine has been grossly overheated at some time. Have you checked compression ratios?

Click to expand...

Looks like it has new seals..... Maybe rebuilt?

Re: tell tale

Pretty Cool.

Re: tell tale

Yes the engine had no fire in 1 and 2 cylinders when my friend bought it a year ago. He found the carbs were gummed up since he and i and the other buddy of mine are reg auto techs we all got together and rebuilt the carbs, he then decided to just do a whole new rebuild on the top end. Changed all the fluids and the impeller. I did some work for him on his car that he didnt want to do and in exchange he gave me the boat. It has good compression dont remember the numbers though. It fires up on the first or second crank no problems. I have had my hand on the block while it was running after about a half hour and it was cold enough i left my hand on it for a few seconds. I get a good solid stream out the back but i couldnt tell when i was at wot so i added the tell tale as a piece of mind thing. I dont know why he used the blue rtv silicone but he did and it isnt bothering anything as of yet and cant see why it would so i am leaving it for the season then i may change to the paper gaskets. It will all depend on how it runs for me this year. The color changes are the grease and oil stains he never washed off of it. The main thing i want to repair on it is the spark plug boot he decided to electrical tape over a crack on. But it isnt shorting out so it isnt a huge hurry of mine.

Re: tell tale

The plate is a cover for the water passages in the head. The paper gasket has some webs inside for strength and to keep it even around the sparkplug holes. These webs do tend to collect water behind them and corrosion starts there.

If the blue RTV is sealing and there are no issues with it, you may want to just leave it. Perhaps just trim the ragged outside edge.

Re: tell tale

Ok thank you frank, i was thinking that was all it was, a water seal. And since it wasnt leaking i wasnt to worried about it. I was planning on trimming off the excess but for a boat given to me for about 2 hours work, i wasnt complaining too much. It takes a little water on but not too much and the only soft spot on the floor is the back left corner behind the removable gas tank. I can be in it for about 5 hours and it drains water for about 30 seconds and is done. Not shabby for me to have stumbled on if i do say so myself.

Re: tell tale

I have done the same mod but I added a T at the top of the engine and threaded a temp sender into one side for a dash mounted temp gauge - so now I have a telltale and a temp gauge. It's an easy mod once you remove that SS screw (hint: try an 18V impact screwdriver)

Re: tell tale

Yea that is another project for later this year the screw came out rather easily in the grand scheme of things. Need a new prop before i need any more new gauges.

Re: tell tale

Your tell tale post reminded me to check why I d/n see a good stream (from a glance) while fishing Tuesday night. The rear exhaust had a good stream (from a harder look). I remembered I d/n feed the clear plastic tubing out the cowling?s side and it was pinched between the aluminum base and cowling. Seeing your loop, I?ll see if I can drill the approx 5/16 hole through the side of the aluminum just below where it was pinches (w/o any restrictions or use plastic vacuum hose fittings). There is no end to things to do at the start of a season. jow

Re: tell tale

Here's mine - I have since increased the size of the T from a 1/4 to a 1/2" so that the sensor has room for the water to flow around it.

Tested it today and it gives a good steady stream at idle - not too much so that it soaks a passing boat

Re: tell tale

I'm adding a tell tale to my 40hp force. just a thought I ordered a tell tale grommet from boats.net for $1.98 to make it look orginal and clean. I just found one off of a comparable merc i'm sure the grommets are all the same.

Re: tell tale

@steve what kind of fitting is that at the bottom for the outlet. @fire where did you find the grommett. I like both of those ideas and cant find the fitting like you had and or the grommett to make it look nice.

Re: tell tale

The pipe I used is the 1/4" ice maker pipe and the connector in the shroud is one of the quick connect pieces that you get in Home Depot or Lowes. It pushes onto the end of the 1/4" pipe and has a thread on the other side - about 3/8" from memory. I drilled a slightly smaller hole in the shroud and screwed the piece in until it just protruded on the outside and then hot glued it on the inside to keep it in place. Works a treat!

It looks a bit like this

Re: tell tale

Heres a link to the fitting i ordered.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Merc2/Mariner/40%20%283%20CYL.%29/0G760300%20THRU%200T979999/Bottom%20Cowl/parts.html

Its number 60.

Its a fitting off of a comparable 40hp mariner. I just wanted it to look stock like the factory put it there. Its going to be hard enough drilling a hole through the cowl i might as well make it look nice!

Re: tell tale

Well i think i am going to end up leaving a little bit of hose sticking out of the end of the housing for awhile. It doesnt look to bad since it is a clear hose. Even had a couple of comments on how good it looked from a couple newer force owners. One even had me show him how i did it. He said he was wanting one since he didnt have a tell tale, i thought the newer motors had those. The new black 125hp motors dont know what the year was.