rebuild 1979 90 hp merc outboard or not?

[zursch]

I have a 90 hp 1979 merc outboard that has one cylinder with bad compression (I believe the mechanic said 100 as compared to 160 to the others). The shop tells me that it'll cost 400 to tear it down and see what is up. At that point, do I have the entire powerhead rebuilt or just the one bad cylinder? HELP at this point is badly needed.

 

[mbb]

Re: rebuild 1979 90 hp merc outboard or not?

Sorry to hear that. Ive got an old 1980 90 that I love. <br /><br />First try to decarbonize it and see if it improves<br />If it doesnt, well its probably not worth fooling with unless you do the work yourself. even if you spend $2000 to rebuild it, its still a $700 motor. Probably worth $250 for parts in the condition it is. Most experts say dont replace just one cyl, but if you could that would be what to do.

 

[steelespike]

Re: rebuild 1979 90 hp merc outboard or not?

On a motor that old I would think long and hard before I did total rebuild. You could put that money toward a new or newer state of the art<br />motor. You would probably get a good return on your investment in fuel savings alone.Sounds like the motor may be basically sound.I replaced 1<br />piston in a good sound 2cyl.50 evinrude.<br /> Its been 13 years with no problem.Keep in mind it was a good sound motor to start with.<br /> Good luck.