25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

[friderday]

Serial #5787366. Thinking about purchasing this engine. Very clean. Couple of downsides: skeg is broken off, but more importantly, won't stay running unless feeding carb fuel. The PO had it in storage for 6 months. Didn't drain fuel so carb prob clogged. Thinking it needs fuel pump rebuild kit too. Any thoughts on this one. Will post a couple pics in minute. Asking $500.

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

so it is really clean but PO can't keep it running without spraying fuel directly into carb. Fuel rebuild? Diaphragm bad? Any thoughts?

 

[racerone]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

1981 and $500 seems a tad high as far as I am concerned.

 

[Guest]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

so it is really clean but PO can't keep it running without spraying fuel directly into carb. Fuel rebuild? Diaphragm bad? Any thoughts?

Looks a little to beat up imo

 

[JustJason]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

Get it fixed up, make sure it runs. Make sure it pumps water, and make sure the lower unit is sealed and there is no water in it..... Do something with the skeg even if its a skeg guard..... And then you have a 300 motor.

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

I checked compression...118 & 120. Dropped a bit of lower unit oil...no milk. Pisses like a racehorse. Only thing that concerns me is the inability to stay running without spraying it with fuel in open carb. Is it normal for there not to be some sort of air baffle or cleaner in front of the open carb front?

 

[oldman570]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

500 is high for that motor when it needs a complete fuel system repair, and the skeg repaired. The compression is fine for that old of a motor. It is not electric start and that is another dealing point in your favor. Tell the seller all the faults and see if you can get him down below $300.00, as the repairs will cost close to the difference of what he is asking for it. It would be better if it were electric start with battery charge ability. Will take some time to repair everything and most shops will not even work on motors that old. Motor is not worth what he is asking, as it sits. My book shows it to be a 1981 year motor.JMO
Oldman570

 

[dazk14]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

Is this a fresh or salt water motor.

Markets can vary significantly in price. We would sell it running, tuned, for $750-$850 without much trouble.

Those were robust motors and made for plenty of years, so used parts shouldn't be a problem.

New compression on those were generally 125 as I believe they were chrome bores, so you want to see compression close to that - you're OK.

Are you able to do the carb? Kit will be ~$50 (does pump and carb).

What are your other options in the area? That's a very important question. Finding a reasonably priced used outboard with "good bones" can be time consuming. Is a 25, fairly ideal for your use?

Many guys on here tend to drive hard bargains, as it could be their 10th motor, or knowing how to do repairs, they wait for a cheap fixer-upper and enjoy the hunt... and there are other reasons.

What you have there appears to have good bones, but $500 would take some of the fun out of it. Depending on the above answers, $350-$400 gives you some room to work with from my view.

Hope that helps.

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

Thanks all...I ended up being able to negotiate to $400 for this. Brought it home (4hrs away) & noticed something I missed yesterday in plain view. If you look at pics above, you will see a piece of mono fishing line around the fuel filter. I got it home & started fiddling with it. Turns out, that mono is holding a nipple fitting into the fuel filter. Once I secured it a little better, it purred like a kitten...ran for about 15 minutes here at the house on the ears. Still pissing good, head not hot..so far so good. Completely drained lower unit after running. No milk. Put some fresh fluid in. Will throw it on the back of my son's boat this wknd as mine is still in dry dock(see my Larivee thread). Fingers crossed, all I'm gonna do for now is order a fuel filter. Will clean carb as well. Prob order rebuild kit for future use depending on what I find, but I really think the fuel starvation was due to the air leak at the filter. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

Just an update about this motor. Although I have not had a chance to order fuel filter yet, I was able to get this motor on the back of one of my boats to water test. First thing I noticed was that it was jerking, almost as if it was having a seizure. Could not get completely on plane...just not full potential as far as rpm's. I cleaned the carb(not dirty at all). Also pulled fuel pump...diaphragm in good shape. Put a couple new plugs in & wow....runs super. Started on the first pull. Think it's gonna work out ok. Just have one other question...is there a way to tighten the steering on a tiller motor? All my other tillers don't move as "freely" side to side. In other words, there would be no possibility of letting go of this one at any mildly elevated throttle as it turns so easily to each side. Is there a way to stiffen this up?

 

[oldman570]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

I believe that that motor has a screw/bolt near the mid point of the steering tube that you can tighten up the friction of the tube so the steering is harder to turn. A trip on the water and adjusting the screw to your liking is the best way to get it right. It is between the transom brackets. Use a marine grade grease and give all the fittings a few shots to keep things from seizing up and working. You can use a air gun and blow the fuel filter clean, on the tube type filters. used on most of those motors. Super gluing the filter fitting into the filter housing will usually work to repair that trouble.
The O ring seals on the LU drain and fill plug screws should be changed often as they are crushed after being used and will still leak water from use. I have two of those motors, and they have treated me to some very great times.
JMO
Oldman570

 

[friderday]

Re: 25 hp mercury tiller...what year is this?

Thanks, oldman...yeah, I found the nut for the steering tension late last night. It was covered in grease, so totally missed it before. Thanks for the tip on the fuel filter nipple..I just might do that. Right now, I just have it snug with a tie wrap, but I'll give the superglue a try. Good to hear you've had good luck with this motor. It runs sooo very good now that it has new plugs. It was missing something terrible before. Think I'll take for a spin today & adjust the steering(try not to drop my ratchet in the drink). As far as the LU goes, I'm pretty religious about checking lower unit oil. Will definitely keep an eye on those o rings. Thanks again...