mercury outboards yay or nay

[hooklineandsinker]

hey raiders

looking at a boat that has a merc on her motor looks fairly new a 90s era have to ask what year it is

mates uncle said they are rubbish engines and are prone to break down i said its like a car treat the engine like shit and dont service enough then it will cause you grief

somewhere down the line

but are their any raiders that have an opinion or facts on this subject

cheers

mick

Edited July 24, 2011 by hooklineandsinker

[cut_loose]

I've had good and bad experience with Mercs mate

My uncle had one that broke down every 5 hours, it broke down 7 times in the first year which is totally wrong but i think it's the dealers fault for not finding the problem

My dads mate now has a Merc that just keeps going and going..

If you look after you engine it will run good, every brand has there duds

I'd go ahead and buy a Merc without any doubts mate

[RAYp]

Hi Mick,Tell your mates uncle to take his hesd out of his backside. Also ask him what motor does not break down,I have had three Merc and one Jonho over the years and I will gladly take a Merc anyday. Cheers RAY

[PM79]

We bought a brand new 4 stroke merc a few years back, runs like a charm.

[Flightmanager]

Any production run of a piece of equipment which is mass produced will have a failure percentage. This applies to ANY make of outboard ( or anything else for that matter ).

It seems , that everyone " knows" of someone who had nothing but trouble with the very model you are interested in . Oddly enough , their particular model is perfect in every respect.

Mercury are a well established brand , and generally speaking , produce a good quality product. The same can be said for Evinrude , Johnson , Yamaha , Honda et al . These manufacturers have also produced their share of lemons , designs that should never progressed beyond the drawing board.

Have a good close look at the engine. Outward appearances tell you much about the engine. Scratches , rust , bits of propeller missing would indicate that it may have had a hard life , and the possibility of it failing the first time you are out of sight of land are pretty good .

Take the cowling off , and see what has been happening to the engine itself. Oil leaks , burnt areas , corrosion etc would also be a warning sign. Is there a build up of salt on the engine , or is it clean , linkages lubricated etc. Any cracks in the High Tension leads? How about the electrical connections , clean and tight , or green with corrosion ?

If you could provide a model and year number , it would help a great deal in identifying problems with that particular model ( if indeed there are any ) .

Ross

[Geoff]

If you could provide a model and year number , it would help a great deal in identifying problems with that particular model ( if indeed there are any ) .

Ross

Ross raises some good points , all of which should be taken on board & checked out.

Contact Craig at Huett Marine , he should be able to advise information once you have the serial No. , model etc.

In respect to "mates uncle said they are rubbish engines".

Mercury did have a bad reputation many years ago when their engins were designed & built for the fresh water market , they had a lot of mild steel parts.

This was fine until people started using them in salt water & corrosion set in.

It has taken Merc many years to recover & there are some , perhaps like your mates uncle , who remember the problems of days long gone by.

Geoff

[Pongrass18ft]

hey raiders

looking at a boat that has a merc on her motor looks fairly new a 90s era have to ask what year it is

mates uncle said they are rubbish engines and are prone to break down i said its like a car treat the engine like shit and dont service enough then it will cause you grief

somewhere down the line

but are their any raiders that have an opinion or facts on this subject

cheers

mick

Hi mike ,

I have had johnson/Evinrude motors all my life until 4 years ago which is when i purchased my latest boat fitted with a Mariner/Mercury 2000 model saltwater series.

My experiences so far are yes i,ve found it to be very reliable no issues what so ever , very easy to service and maintain.(300-Hrs so far.)

I find the only downside to my current model is the exhaust system is noisy at certain RPM where as the johnson/Evinrude is much quieter through the RPM range.

Would i purchase another mercury , Yes . They have come along way since the old blue band motors of the past.

chris.

[piratesgold]

My father was a professional lobster and salmon fisherman in the uk and always used Evinrude, 8 -10 hours a day 6 days a week, and we used to hate mercury with a passion because the only other licenced fisherman in the area used one on his boat and had been caught poaching my fathers creels , so as kids, we hated him , his boat, his outboard, his dog,the makeof his car, his kids at school etc etc, but his mercury always ran fine, but he was just a git, so it was personal. There is a catch, my father used to wear out an evinrude motor a year, dispite carefull maintenance, and it turned out to be his choice of two stroke oil, a well known and respectable brand (this was the 60's and 70's) until someone suggested he change to 'quicksilver' two stroke oil, mercury's own brand, after which his evinrude's lasted more than two years . the boat was permanantly in the water, and the evirude motor never flushed with fresh water. It only let him down once, only because it wouldn't run with a net on the prop and the boat submerged in 4 metres. he thought he had lost the outboard when the boat was raised,as the transom bracket was broke, but it was hanging on the safety chain, so he could recover it for the insurance ! nothing wrong with mercury though, they were the 'big two' in the 70's, nothing between them

just anicdotal. But don't skimp on your lube, or consumables, especially if you are going 'offshore'

cheers, Pirate

Edited July 25, 2011 by piratesgold

[fishon]

ive owend a 2004 model 25hp shortshaft merc and currently own a 2008 model 40hp merc

i reckon the motors are awesome and never been let down once but i am real meticulous about maintenance

and only ever use xd 100 oil

but early model blue brown bands etc ive never owned one but have heard a lot of stories

but i reckon its really how its been looked after and continues to be looked after

and as stated above there are a number of duds that are made from all manufacturers but if its a 90s model and still going strong get it and look after it should be ok?

cheers

Edited July 25, 2011 by fishon

[piratesgold]

I have a very early 7.5 HP honda outboard, 4 stroke twin. These had a reputation of having a really crap gearbox, and mine came with a bust one. after getting a rare second hand box and, with new bearings and seal, fitting it, on my first outing there was poor power and hideous vibration and I thought u oh, yep, crap gearbox.

whilst I was messing with it one day, I found the cause..the 2 blade prop, it had a square leading edge as standard, and the vibrations and cavitation and shock waves it would create would wreck any gearbox. I had a look at another prop, and replicated the leading edge on the Honda prop with a grinder,(carefully, i am a fitter) and the motor was transformed to a 'you beaut', smooth, loads more power, excellent fuel consumption, nothing wrong with the gearbox at all. it gets me at 110kg (all muscle, but relaxed at present), on the plane in my 3.4 mtr dehavilland speed topper tinny, loaded with gear. so yes, even the best manufacturers can get things wrong, and create a lemon now and again, especially in their early days, all it takes is one dud part. And if you make a dud, the stink lingers. For example, the bloke who gave me the Honda, was at one time a Honda dealer, and he said 'never again', and bought Evinrude thereafter. nothing wrong with Honda these days, and probably was not in the following years model of the 'B75', which amongst other things had a new 3 blade prop without square edges, but the reputation had been damaged, 20 or 30 years later he still wouldn't poke them with a stick and bagged them out at every opportunity!, he loved the motorbikes though! so yes bagging mercury may be a reflection of past reputation, not recent reputation,

cheers, Pirate

Edited July 25, 2011 by piratesgold

[dunc333]

off course thumps up on the mercs from me

[hooklineandsinker]

thanks for all the replies

turns out the merc in question on compression test holds on cylinders 123 hold 120 and the 4th holds 85 so its no even worth the trouble

thanks again raiders ill keep looking

cheers

mick

[Brooker435]

Hey Mike,

Good thing you got the compression checked that motor's on death's door!!!! lol

Mate if you need a hand looking at boats id be glad to help but its up to you,

hows bubs by the way????

let me know when you can get a leave pass from the Mrs and we will get back into the jewwies once more,

Regards,

Nathan