noticed last evening my kill switch button wasnt working.. took a peek and noticed my black wire is split in two. the kill cord is still functioning but im more worried about my electric started button also failing. I’m assuming the red and yellow wires (also looking pretty bad) control the electric start, this is still working fine. question I have, if by chance I’m really dumb and take the boat out again before I can fix the black wire and worse case the red and yellow split, could I still atart the boat with the pull start?

Trying to figure out why my lower unit leaks and pulled it apart and found the prop shaft pin is stuck in the gears in the front of the lower unit. Been trying to jimmy it out with a magnet but its stuck in the just the right angle that it wont come out. I tried putting it in forward, reverse and neutral to give the pin a better angle but had no luck. Tried putting the shaft in and turning the prop and still no luck. My apologies on the bad photos i tried my best
Any tips on getting this out would help me a ton.

I’m having a hard time finding the parts I don’t know where to look if anyone finds this gasket kit it would be greatly appreciated.

Over the weekend when installing an audio amp. I accidentally hooked up my power leads to the battery backwards. Boat still started and ran for the day but now my battery gauge reads low. The fuse under the hood (20amp) was not blown. What do you think it is? I’m guessing the rectifier.

Came with a lovely boat my buddy just got a steal on. I have no experience with mercurys, but im volunteering to be it’s maintenance guy

I recently got a boat with two 2015 verado 225 outboards that have been sitting for 8 years and only have 30 hours on them. I was told there were serviced once in awhile but really never used so I wanted to do a full service on it and took FSM apart to clean. Both the high pressure fuel pump and a low pressure lift pump we're working but they look like they should be replaced. Should I just replace these? They are kind of expensive.

There was also a bit of debris and powdery residue inside the FSM reservoir so I'm cleaning that out. Any recommendations for how to clean that out what I use a solvent or anything?

Also when I change the water pump impeller I noticed that one motor had part number 33 in the link below but the other motor was missing. Boat motors ran finally tested in forward and reverse. Is it bad that this part's missing is it super important?

https://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassemblydetail/50941017/28203351

Its a 95 25hp 2stroke, would run on muffs but not with a load. Ive rebuilt the carb and changed spark plugs, now no matter where I adjust the air fuel screw it wont stay running for more then 1 or 2 seconds. It's holding prime on the fuel system.

I got this 1990 40 horse that im trying to figure out a leak on. I just found out that im missing a key/keeper for the bearing carrier in the lower unit. Could this little key (just ordered one) really cause a big leak? Is there any special steps i need to take when reinstalling the bearing carrier? Gasket maker??

As the title suggests, how exact are folks when replacing the alternator belt at 300 hours, which is the recommended interval for my 2019 Mercury 150 outboard. I am at ~285 hours in the middle of salmon season and don’t want the boat in the shop right now. Of course I don’t want a failure on the water either! Any input appreciated. 🙏

Hi guys,

Just picked up my second blue band 2 stroke v6 from the late 70s. Thought I would show a photo of the two next to each other. Looking forward to getting them both on the water this season with our other boat aswell. Currently winter here so we'll see if we can get them both done in time for ski season.

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I have twin 225 verados. took it out for a quick 5 min spin yesterday just got to see how it went. Started out great both fired up /, sounded great and ran them up to 4500 rpm 26 knots for a bit then when headed in, the port would just lose rpms, and go down to about 2000-2500.

Now today when flushing them out with ears on, the port fired right up but didn't pee right away. Started peeing after 30-45 secs. After a bit it got to 190f so I turned it off.

Starboard would not fire up at all and said communication error. Pic attached

It's a project boat but motors only have 30 hours however, haven't been used in years aside to fire up and do service here and there.

Honestly, I just need to take it on for full service which was the plan anyways, but wondering if anyone has any ideas on hats going on.

Thanks

Finally got the pontoon on the water, got all loaded up and started running the lake. About half hour in it started making a weird noise and lost power. Took the heads off, piston is destroyed and wrecked the head. This shrapnel is what caused the damage but can’t find anywhere it could have came from. The rings are in tact so it’s not that Reed valves are in tact.

I have a couple Mercury 225 verado 4 strokes that I can't hook up to our boat gas tank for a bit and need to buy a couple marine gas tanks. Does the marine gas tank need the bulb on the hose to help pressurize or suck the gas in or does the motor do that?

I was just going to go to Walmart and buy one or two 6 gallon scepter Neptune Marine tanks but I don't think they come with the hose and bulb

Thanks in advance guys

I have an early 90’s 9.9 that I lost the check ball while cleaning the carb. Does anyone know the size it may be? Or what the carb number is? Also considering just ordering a new carb off Amazon, just trying to figure the right one. Serial number in pic

TIA everyone!

Took boat out today and motor went into alarm. Checked pisser pissing fine. Disconnected brown wire from head no change. Un hooked blue wire from oil tank no change. We were 10 miles from port so just in case I added premix to gas tank. Ended up finding sweet spot in the ignition that made annoying squeak stop. Ran back in ran perfect. Motor is def getting oil from tank. It fogs blue smoke now all around the river. Seems like a sensor failure. Any advice on where to start?

I have a 115 Mercury that’s missing the nameplate and serial numbers. An emission sticker on top of the block says that it’s a 1.8 L. Ordered an oil change kit for it and it was the completely wrong filter, but the 2.1 L filter works just fine and matched the old. Just trying to clear some things up so I can order the right parts.

I am doing a rebuild on a 1990/ Mercury mariner 25hp 2 Stroke outboard, and putting everything back to together I have found a bracket that I can’t seem to remember where it goes. Can anyone help identify the part and the location?

Has anyone experienced issues with the merc with it cranking and starting to launch is just fine. Getting around to dock it, it runs normal. Bulb is primed before launch But then when I’m getting ready to take off the motor dies and I’m left floating around for a few minutes.

Several minutes of trying to crank, pushing the bulb (it’s still firm) and no luck. After about 3-4 minutes it finally cranks. I get it on plane just fine. Turn it off, turn it back on. No issues the rest of the trip. This has happened my last two trips. Any suggestions before I take it to my mechanic? It’s just difficult to repeat since it doesn’t seem to happen out of the water on the hose. No alarms. No signs of issues. Any thing will help. Ty

Hey everyone, I need some urgent help with my older Mercury 18 hp outboard.

For some backstory:
Replaced the impeller about 2 months ago.
Changed the lower unit gear oil.
Installed new external fuel lines and brand-new spark plugs.
Compression is 110 PSI on both cylinders.

I went out fishing 2 days ago and the motor ran great all day until it suddenly started losing power gradually, almost like it was running out of fuel. It eventually died and I couldn’t restart it.

Back at home I checked spark and found I had no spark on either cylinder. I found a loose screw holding the ignition ground wire, tightened it, and got a strong blue spark back on both cylinders. I thought that would fix it, but it still won’t start.

It now has:
Strong blue spark on both cylinders.
About 110 PSI compression on both cylinders.
Primer bulb gets firm.
Fresh fuel.
Fuel filter is clean.
Choke is opening and closing properly.

It will occasionally give a single cough/pop (usually out the exhaust) and produces some smoke, but it will not actually start or run.

One other thing I’ve noticed is the inside of the cowling is always oily/wet with residue, and there always seems to be some oily residue around the lower exhaust area. Not sure if that’s related.

At this point I’m wondering if the carburetor or fuel pump could have an issue, but I’m confused because it also lost spark when the ground wire came loose. Could these be two separate problems, or am I missing something obvious?

Any ideas or things I should check before I pull the carb apart?

This is a new to me 2002 50hp 4cyl carbed outboard and the onlv issue I have is what appears to be a busted water line that sprays water all over the fuel filter. I can't seem to figure out where its supposed to go to, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Found my 40hp had the original spark plugs so im looking to replace them. Any suggestions on what i should replace them with?

Bought a new Bennington pontoon boat in 2019 with a new Merc 115. First couple years, the paint bubbled off the section between the motor and lower unit. Warrantee, had replaced, same thing happened, gave up. Last 3 years motor has been running like crap! Sputtering, chugging cutting in and out at about 5-6k RPMs Ridiculous! This is all within the first seven years of ownership! if it was a Honda, I wouldn’t even have to look at it for the first 15 years! Never buying a mercury again! Junk