TOPIC: Started up the merc this morning

I added a cup or so of oil to a couple gallons of mix from last fall, so I knew it would be smokey. Disconnected the fuel after this and ran her dry.

What do you think?

WAHOOOOO!

Not Bad ! sounds pretty good , have to take a run over and hear it in person !

It would be great to have you come over when you get a chance Dave. Almost got that puppy wrapped, maybe a 1/2 hour in the a.m., she'll be done. Then it's power trim time.

Got a bit more work to do on my steering wheel. It is gonna be very cool.

Thanks for all the help buddy. There wouldn't be a video today without the help you gave me.

Frank

Frank, a couple questions if you will. (That's how we learn, right?) On my '62 700 the tell-tale is in the rear, yours comes out the port side of the lower engine cowling? Also, down on the gearcase on the same side I have a weep hole, but yours was shooting a steady stream out of there. Just design differences I guess. Anyway, good job amigo! It was great to hear a 6 banger run again, they play a song like no other.

You are correct Mark. Other than that, this is my only outboard, and I'm learning all the darn time! Trying to get power trim on now.

Frank

Top of the morning to you Frank. Good luck on the PT&T, I know you'll get it. The main difference in our two motors (for me anyway) is the water pickup point. The 700 is in the trim tab behind the prop. Makes it almost impossible to test run unless you dunk it in a barrel.

Didn't mean to distract you, get back to work. Coffee's ready!

Frank is that water coming out of the L/U correct? I have had a quite a few engines with this hole but never had one pee out of it before, I thought they were just a drain down hole? I have no personal experience of early (ish) 6's though.

Not trying to rain on your parade, just don't want you to have problems down the line.

Top of the morning to you Mark! I was working on the pt&t till about 4 yesterday and gave up. Getting a bad cold, makes me miserable, at least when it comes to doing something I've never done before! Got stuff I need to get the angle grinder out with a cut-off wheel and get on my back and cut stuff up under the motor. That will be fun. Messed up on the paint on my steering wheel faceplate, so that's getting redone. We'll see how the motor one comes out.

Too bad about that 700 water pickup point. Do you have a barrel to run it in? How do you get it in? I know a lot of guys use 55 gallon plastic barrels that can be cut down to make it easy just to tilt the motor up and drop her in. Good luck with it!

Frank

Alacrity wrote:

Frank is that water coming out of the L/U correct? I have had a quite a few engines with this hole but never had one pee out of it before, I thought they were just a drain down hole? I have no personal experience of early (ish) 6's though.

Not trying to rain on your parade, just don't want you to have problems down the line.

That is a drain hole for the lower unit. Usually they're plugged with gunk, that's how a lot of times motors left out in freezing weather crack their lower unit cases because that drain is plugged. It's fine, or at least it is on my '63 1000 (far as I know).

Frank

I didn't have a barrel, so I used the big plastic trash can that I have in my garage. (Hi-tech stuff, huh ). I put two 4x4's side by side then two 2x4's on top of them under the Merc to get the height up, tilted the engine and slid the can under. Lowered the motor and can, filled it with water and it worked fine. The problem came afterward when it was time to dis-assemble my "test tank". Can you say HEAVY? I poked a hole in the bottom of the can to drain it, (yes, it's ruined) and reversed the assembly process. Necessity is the mother of invention, ya know.

Yeah, necessity certainly is the mother of invention Mark. Outboard barrels need a drain!

Didn't do much today. Stayed home sicker 'n a dog, real bad cold. Got some work done on the trim, some on the merc faceplate.

Trim was a bear to get some stuff off so I could move ahead. Suffice it to say I got off what needed to be removed and started setting it up for trim.

Merc faceplate got sanded with 220 to get the etched in stains out, then cleaned real well, primered, and this pic shows it after some sanding with 180. I'll gradually get finer with grits as I get all the paint and primer off the raised portions leaving black metallic in the lower areas.

Here's a couple pics...

Frank

get a plastic plug assembly for a boat and install in the barrel for a drain.

Just a quick note, conventional wisdom for the inline 6 is not to run it dry. It would be running lean just before it quits and that is generally not a good idea on the inline.

Disconnecting fuel and letting an outboard run till it is out of fuel is the best thing to do. --We all know that fuel sitting in a carburetor will plug up the jets. This is worse with the fuel available today.

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And there IS PLENTY OF OIL IN A MOTOR even if one carburetor runs dry before another.--The lubrication of the motor is not an instant thing and they do have oil recirc systems !

Always an area for different opinions. I personally run fuel conditioner in mine when preparing for short term storage, then leave the carbs full of fuel. Not only does this avoid running one or more cylinders dry of lubrication, it keeps the elastomers immersed in fuel so they don't dry out over time.

To each thier own

When mixed fuel stops going into a cylinder, there seems to be a belief that there will instantly be NO oil in that cylinder ( judging from many post on websites ) this is simply not true. It takes quite a while for the oil to work its way out.

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Best to let the motor run dry of fuel at an idle.

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New elastomers from the factory are not shipped submerged in fuel.

I agree there is lots of oil, I was referring to the fuel air mixture being too lean. Often you will get a lean sneeze and the engine will try to run backwards, puts strain on things. If you were to remove the top of the merc carb after you ran it "dry" you would find about a tablespoon of fuel that will still evaporate and deposit gum and any other debris in the fuel bowl on the jets. If you really want it dry there is a drain on the front of the fuel bowl. As Chris mentioned fuel stabilizer will prevent the deposits caused when fuel breaks down and or evaporates.
A full fuel bowl with stabilizer will over winter even up here in Canada. An empty fuel bowl will collect condensation over the winter (here in Ontario anyway) due to the humidity changes.
Just my 2 cents