I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

[BWR1953]

Time for an update.

I got nothing! :doh: :lol:

Well, very little. But things are picking up.

Last week I had multiple doc appointments (more coming this week too) and was running the roads.

But the delay was mostly due to researching parts for the Mercury 50 and trying to figure out what I should order. Went round and round about that and never did order anything! That's because I decided that I need to take the motor apart and figure out what I actually need, rather than just guessing.

And that led me to not doing anything because the motor was outside and not in the garage and I can't move it by myself or even with the help of my wife and the boy. My old buddy is pretty puny lately, so I couldn't get the engine moved and was stuck.

That's when I started doing the tool box repair in my Good Stuff thread. At least I made progress there!

But I was sitting out there last night thinking about next steps and decided to text my young neighbor friend to see if he could bring the engine inside for me. Didn't get a reply but about 10 minutes later he and his brother showed up with an ATV and trailer and were loading the thing up before I could get outside! Coooool! :rockon:

So the Merc is in the garage and ready to be torn into. Pretty soon. At least it's in reach now! :lol:

 

[Watermann]

How's the wiring look on the Merc? Take into consideration my Merc woes lately. I wish I would've replaced all the fuel related items sooner. First thing I did was order a water pump kit

 

[BWR1953]

Getting the motor inside the building was a good first step. Next was to rig up some temporary casters so I can move the thing around. Done!








Yeahhh... that looks to be around the right sized motor to me! But my wife and the boy are already terrified. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

How's the wiring look on the Merc? Take into consideration my Merc woes lately. I wish I would've replaced all the fuel related items sooner. First thing I did was order a water pump kit

Haven't started the tear-down yet. Soon though!

I have indeed been keeping up with your thread and Merc stuff. I do believe that you need another 2" of pitch to get you into the sweet spot. :heh: Of course, I'm talking about your boat reaching the big Five-Oh, right? :noidea: :loco:

I'm hoping to get out there tomorrow to get started on the Mercury. It's gonna be a new experience for me. I've done my share of car hot rodding and even replaced the prop shaft on an old 1956 18HP Johnson back in 1985. And had electrical issues, replacing the coil packs, etc. Got it running okay but then I got a better job and bought a brand new boat and didn't mess with my boat motors after that, other than routine stuff.

It'll be an interesting undertaking for me.

 

[BWR1953]

So I was just cruising craigslist and there's an excellent Merc 50HP like mine, except without PTT, listed for $1275.

I've got $200 in mine, including PTT, so I guess I have some "headroom" left over. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Okay guys, what the heck size is the bolt head at the tail end of the lower unit? I'm trying to get it off and none of the sockets I have will fit.

I've tried everything from 3/8" to 9/16" SAE and 9 - 12mm metric. I'm confused.

 

[strokendiesel002]

Well... It appears to be a 12pt bolt, and you've got 6pt sockets there my friend...

 

[BWR1953]

Well... It appears to be a 12pt bolt, and you've got 6pt sockets there my friend...

Yeah, I saw that. What size 12 point?

Gotta go buy one. Or some.

 

[strokendiesel002]

Guessing here, but probably 1/2" or 9/16"

 

[BWR1953]

Well guys, as you can see in the pix, the KF is "patiently" waiting for me to stop doing "patient" stuff! Another doc appointment today. They said I'm fine, just getting old! Another appointment tomorrow and 2 more the day after that. Four last week and more this week and another a week from now. I'm losing count! LOL! :lol:

Anywho, my ol' buddy Charlie has some 12 point sockets to loan me and I hope to put them to work on that Mercury motor this week. Sometime!

At least I spent some time in the garage next to the boat tonight! :laugh:

 

[BWR1953]

Well whaddaya know? Honest to goodness real progress! :lol:

I ended up just buying the 12 point sockets I needed (the correct size was 7/16") and got the lower unit off the motor yesterday. Yay! :sneakiness:

A brief reminder from March 2016. I'd removed the prop from the engine and found plenty of fishing line wrapped around the base. And when I checked the lower unit oil, water drained out followed by oil. So I figured that the prop shaft seal needed to be replaced.

This morning I was checking videos online and saw that it may or may not be an easy thing to replace the seal. And it was looking like I'd need special Mercury tools. Hmmm... so I put the LU into the truck and headed over to the local Mercury repair dealer. Met a fine young man named Andy who helped me considerably with my decision making process. In short, I got educated! :congratulatory:

The dealer has another LU nearly identical to mine in the shop that they're working on for another customer. They're estimate to get in there and replace the seal was $450 - $500! :faint2:

HOWEVER! Andy advised me that the vast majority of the time that the prop seals are not bad. Instead, the problem is typically from "somewhere above" the prop seals. His advice was for me to pressure and vacuum test the LU to see if it truly needs the seal to be replaced. Gonna do that!

Andy inspected the LU and showed me where the water pump system had been abused, incorrectly installed and subsequently melted the components. And he said that the resulting leaks could allow water to get down below.

One other thing Andy helped me with was to tell me how to make my own pressure tester. Cool. Still have to get help with vacuum testing.

Anyway, I'm feeling better (again ) and back on the job once more!

 

[BWR1953]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... I'll be buying a new complete water pump kit.

Andy said that they had several customers come in requesting the same one I need and that they'll have 3 sets next week. I looked online and most of the "complete" kits don't include the rectangular seal and mine's melted so needs to be replaced for sure! Online prices for "good" aftermarket kits were close to the same as the dealer price for Quicksilver OEM parts, so I'll just wait.

Plenty of other stuff to keep me busy! :heh:

Complete kit:

 

[Watermann]

The nice thing about the merc LU set up is that the driveshaft seal comes with the water pump repair kit. I would replace the water pump with the kit and then pressure test the LU also replace the vent and drain plug washers too.

So how long has that water sat in the LU? The first thing you should do after buying an OB is drain the LU oil. Had t sat long enough to have the water separate or was it milky looking oil? Reason I ask is the bearings in the LU don't like water and will get damaged.

 

[BWR1953]

The nice thing about the merc LU set up is that the driveshaft seal comes with the water pump repair kit. I would replace the water pump with the kit and then pressure test the LU also replace the vent and drain plug washers too.

So how long has that water sat in the LU? The first thing you should do after buying an OB is drain the LU oil. Had t sat long enough to have the water separate or was it milky looking oil? Reason I ask is the bearings in the LU don't like water and will get damaged.

I found a thread here on iboats on how to fab up an inexpensive makeshift pressure tester. Gonna do that; hopefully tomorrow morning.

Ran errands this evening and bought a couple of the pieces I need, including a bicycle tire pump with gauge. And I've been pricing manual vacuum pumps with gauges too. Found a couple today at the local auto parts places while I was out. Didn't like the cost but I guess I'll have to pony up the bucks for the pump. Prices varied, even for the same unit, but $50 seems typical. That's a lot for a one-time use situation. And I did try the loaner-tool route but that didn't pan out.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how long the water was in the LU. The boat and motor had been sitting for a long time when I purchased it in Oct 2015. Probably at least a couple years before that.

I drained the LU in March 2016 and it's been sitting since that time as well. When drained, the motor was upright and some clear water came out, maybe a couple of ounces, followed by oil. The oil was not milky. Just dirty. Definitely separated.

I'll get more LU drain washers when I go pick up the new water pump next week.

And I goofed up another thing. :sour: When I took the LU over to the shop, I'd inadvertently left the bolt from the trim tab hanging loose in the housing. It fell out during transport and was rolling around in the bed of the truck. I noticed it while Andy was helping me but got distracted and didn't pick it up and put it in a safe place, then I forgot completely all about it till this morning. Now it's gone. :blue:

And we made a trip to the dump this morning. So it's not just gone, it's long gone! D'oh! :doh: Will need to get a replacement while I'm at the repair shop.

 

[BWR1953]

Hi guys. My family and I got bit by that stomach bug again last weekend. Slowed me down a bit since then. uke:

But I have made a little progress and need some advice.

I did pick up the new water pump kit from my local dealer and it has almost everything I need.

Oh! I also learned something important from the grizzled old Mercury repair dealer when I was there. He's been in business there for many, many years and has "seen 'em all" during that time. He said that if there's water and oil in the gear case, then the leak is caused by the water pump assembly, not the prop shaft seals. If the seals were bad, there'd be no oil in the gear case because it would all leak out! Makes sense to me. Am really looking forward to completing the repair and doing the pressure/vacuum testing to confirm the integrity of the unit.

Gonna go back to the dealer tomorrow and see if he has a water pump support plate like in the pic below, except not melted and all warped like the one in the pic. :twitch:

Bubbled up, warped and burned!



Okay, now to the real point. How on earth am I supposed to clean this thing up without tearing it completely apart? :noidea:

It's positively filthy!

Air compressor? Garden hose? Pressure washer? And do I really need to buy the special lubes as noted in the Service Manual? Or is there something else which could be suitable? After all, lube technology has changed in the 32 years since this motor was built.

 

[Watermann]

Someone sure liked to run their motor in sand

Since you have that water pump housing off before some cleaning, you need to be careful cleaning since the housing has the driveshaft seal inside it. You don't want to push sand down into the bearings at the top and the gear case. Let it dry out and shop vac most of the sand out even if you have to make a smaller nozzle to give more suction.

 

[BWR1953]

Someone sure liked to run their motor in sand

Since you have that water pump housing off before some cleaning, you need to be careful cleaning since the housing has the driveshaft seal inside it. You don't want to push sand down into the bearings at the top and the gear case. Let it dry out and shop vac most of the sand out even if you have to make a smaller nozzle to give more suction.

Yeah, the PO must have gotten really shallow and sucked up a bunch of sand through the intake. Pretty nasty! :sour:

I went to the Merc repair dealer this morning and ordered a new pump support plate. It'll be here late next week. The dealer said I could probably reuse the existing plate because "it isn't that bad." Sorry, "probably" isn't good enough for me. He's been in business there 36 years and if he gets stuck out on the water he can call the cavalry, get back to shore safely and make repairs in his shop quickly. Not me. So I ordered the new one and will install it when it arrives.

As far as cleaning... I showed the Merc dealer the pix and he said to clean up the current pump housing and put it back in place. Then clean and scrape everything I can reach out of there. After that, use compressed air to blow it out followed by soap and water.

We have a plan!

 

[Watermann]

Hey ask your Merc mechanic if he thinks you should back flush that powerhead since sand is probably in there as well. Don't know if your model Merc has a T stat or poppet valve in it but anyway what do I know... it probably isn't that bad

 

[BWR1953]

Hey ask your Merc mechanic if he thinks you should back flush that powerhead since sand is probably in there as well. Don't know if your model Merc has a T stat or poppet valve in it but anyway what do I know... it probably isn't that bad

Well, ya got me lookin' around and I just don't know if there's a thermostat or poppet valve on this engine or not. The service manual doesn't help and I spent over 2 hours searching the web tonight for answers. Got no help there either. Some said there is a t-stat and/or poppet while others said not.

May not be possible to do a back flush. I dunno. :noidea:

All I've talked with the Mercury dealer about is the water pump and lower unit so far, except I mentioned carb rebuild stuff a little.

It bugs me that I can't find detailed info about the cooling system for this engine. :grumpy:

 

[SeaR]

Hey Buddy - I've been outa the loop for a while: Just finished catching up on your (SC?) blog-to-date. Hope you guys are all well and that you don't have to see the dr ANY time soon!! Looks like you're winning battle after battle with the Merc. I KNOW you shall prevail

I've flunked retirement YET AGAIN, so went back to driving for Microsoft. I have had very little time between driving (professionally), commuting to our ops center twice a day (UNprofessionally!). Oh yeah - forgot about eating and sleeping (my ACTUAL favorite things to do). Anyway - enough about me