CONTINUOUSWAVE

pcrussell50

I wondered about that but it’s hard to say, because at the end of each day, I put the boat battery on a maintainer so it’s always charged at the beginning of a day anyway. I suppose I can watch the volt meter. If it gets up to the mid-upper 13V range while cruising at say 4000+rpm, can I assume it’s...

pcrussell50

On a 2000 Mercury 90-HP FourStroke with Yamaha powerhead: The tachometer is dead—no reading at all—nothing at all. During the last couple years, the tachometer would spring to life for a few seconds before dying. Now it doesn't even do that. The gray wire is properly and securely attached at the bac...

pcrussell50

On a 1987 Mercury 2.0-liter150-HP: In another thread I complained about a miss fire at idle, but the engine ran very nicely at medium and high RPM without a miss. It was suggested that the first culprit to look at might be the stator, so I got a new Mercury Quicksilver stator. Upon examination of my...

pcrussell50

Aaand... After yet another two year hiatus, stored with the fuel tank and carburetors drained and the drain screws loose, I filled the tank with fresh gas, (and my additive cocktail), closed the carburetor drain screws, pumped the bulb firm and she started almost as if she had been used yesterday. T...

pcrussell50

The spark plug wires are not exhibiting signs of decay. Some of the other ignition system wires, specifically some of the motor ones associated with the stator and timer base/trigger can turn rubbery.

-Peter

pcrussell50

I noticed that the original Mercury stators are coated in black plastic, and the stators sold by CDI are not. Any thoughts on the advantage of one versus the other? The outboard engine in question is used in fresh water only, but used in hot desert conditions, more than 100-degrees-F ambient. -Peter

pcrussell50

There is widespread evidence that the “rubberizing” of outboard ignition system wires is not in any way limited to 1987 Mercury 150’s.

Food for thought.

-Peter

pcrussell50

Good to know, thanks.

The engineer in me would like to understand the physical process at play, but what you have given is a start.

I have since learned that the timer base is susceptible as well.

-Peter

pcrussell50

“Tohsgib” ;)

Been slow here since “the change”. Didn’t you get a Donzi mini back then?

-Peter

pcrussell50

On a 1987 Mercury 2.0-liter 150-HP some of the stator wires have a “rubbery noodle” texture and flex response that is completely different from your ordinary under-the-cowl wires. I assume it is from age or degradation although everything was running fine like this for the past few years until a cou...

pcrussell50

Thanks Butch. That’s what I gathered. I found an online manual for it and I think the (basic skimmer style) transducer draws 200W RMS, (peaks are higher of course). Definitely worth paying attention to, when you’re out all day on a one-battery boat, and don’t have a dedicated house battery that is s...

pcrussell50

Great info, guys. Thank you. As you may have guessed by now, the boat in question is NOT a Boston Whaler boat. My Montauk (actually it's 1998 Alert 17) cannot go 55mph either. Nor can my 13 Sport. A couple more questions: The boat in question has only very rudimentary systems, only a tachometer, in ...

pcrussell50

I have an old but almost never used Lowrance basic SONAR. Depth and water temperature were what I use it for. There is an input for a paddlewheel speed sensor, which I bought off eBay. Are paddlewheel speed sensors only for trolling speed? Or are they good up to 55-MPH? Race-grade precision not need...

pcrussell50

That is a very great help, thank you. Who knew that Lowrance would keep such a list?

-Peter

pcrussell50

My 1998 classic Montauk (Alert 17) has (and came with) an old black-and-white large screen Lowrance SONAR. I'm away from my boat right now, so I can't say which model, but it uses the gray connectors that attach to the back, one for the transducer, one for the paddle wheel speed sensor. I am perfect...

pcrussell50

Discovered something: The fuel pump on my motor was missing some internal parts: a spring with a disc on the end, to keep the diaphragm under tension. I discovered those things were missing, by looking at the manual... Which I had not done up to this point, because I hadn't really needed to. I had b...

pcrussell50

My 1987 Mercury 1502-liter with oil system removed and using premix fuel runs strong and idles well. I love this engine, but: —if run at idle or low throttle long enough, the engine stops drawing fuel, empties the line, and dies. If I pump the bulb back up, it fires right up and runs great. —if run ...

pcrussell50

--I stayed up to 3 a.m. every night for a week in January 1987 to watch the live broadcast of the America's Cup race from Perth where Dennis Connor won back the cup with STARS AND STRIPES 87 (US-55)--the most exciting America's Cup race ever-- and many years later I had the chance to very briefly b...

pcrussell50

As to not garner any undeserved kind treatment, I am an American. It just happens that I grew up here in Australia, so a lot of my acculturation including my taste in sports :cough:cricket:cough: has come from here.

-Peter

pcrussell50

Not to mention an 8 hour drive in Australia does not make for a broad cross section survey except for the part of Australia btween Melbourne and Sydney since there is an additional 148 hours of driving to see the complete coastline of Australia. But I do get the point and appreciate others observat...

pcrussell50

Given characteristics of large and sparse, the ability to (at least try) to fix-it-yourself is probably the most important aspect of running 1970-era engines in Australia. We all spend our disposable income on things that are indulgences. This is a plausible hypothesis. I cannot disagree. Of the ab...

pcrussell50

I think you are equating buying a modern, computer-controlled, high-performance, low-emission, excellent fuel-economy, high-reliability outboard engine with being pretentious and sanctimonious. I think you are missing a subtlety. Based on my observations of two culturally similar locales, the econo...

pcrussell50

I am [in] Australia right now to play a cricket tournament. Despite being the home of legendary ocean and surfing culture-- that was largely exported to and adopted by Southern California--Australia is utterly devoid of sanctimony and pretension. New four-stroke-power-cycle outboard engines make up ...

pcrussell50

Also, I don't understand how you could get power from the ignition key circuit when the battery master switch was in the OFF position. Something is odd about that wiring, too. Sorry if my description was confusing. There is no power anywhere on the boat if the battery master is in the OFF position....

pcrussell50

1987 Mercury 150hp, two-stroke-cycle motor. Previously, I had the fuel gauge and sender system wired to the Perko battery master switch. So when I turned on the battery, the fuel gauge went live. At that point in time, I had nothing powered by the ignition switch except the ignition. That meant no t...

pcrussell50

What happened to your Mercury 90 FourStroke? It's a Yamaha, too. Essentially a Yamaha F100.

I have one on my 1998 classic 17. It's heavy, but otherwise very nice. On a utility boat like a Whaler, I don't mind the bulk. I have other boats with lighter more powerful motors for speed.

-Peter

pcrussell50

I have owned FISHNFF/Brian's former Alert 17 since early 2011. It was center console when he sold it to me, and looks pretty factory. I can say that I re-rigged it through the tunnel (due to some mouse damage) and there were no barriers to fishing (pun intended) transducer and trim tab wires, and th...

pcrussell50

When I travel abroad, I most often see Yamaha-brand outboard engines, but they are the fabulous, oil-injected, carburetor two-stroke Yamaha engines that used to be common here when they were introduced in the 1980's. They were sooo good that not only are the older ones still in wide use, but it appe...

pcrussell50

About 50-years from now, a c.1970 Evinrude two-stroke gasoline engine with a carburetor will still be running. I wonder how many c.2010 Evinrude E-TEC engines will still be running. This is not lost on third world fishermen, where feeding your family takes precedence over the vanity and luxury of l...

pcrussell50

I have had 2 strokes the past 15 years plus, mine smoke at first start up but while running the rest of day, start and stop there is no noticeable smoke but they are louder all the time while running than an ETEC or 4 stroke and burn more fuel but they are easier and cheaper to maintain. All perfec...

pcrussell50

If you're getting significant smoke while under way you may have a mechanical problem that will need fixing. Much above about five knots you should see nothing but a thin wisp of smoke, by which point you also won't be breathing it. When on plane you should see none at all and for sure not breathing...

pcrussell50

Even though Tony and I differed almost diametrically when it came to politics, and boy did we "joust" in these pages, it was all put aside in an instant when I wanted help finding a certain Whaler. He found one of the Whalers I now own, up in the bay area (I'm in SoCal) for sale, alerted m...

pcrussell50

The weight difference is not just a matter of elegance (less weight for more power is always more elegant than the other way around), it also matters for us owners of classic Whalers, where the weights of today's engines were unheard of back when our boats were designed. A 400-lbs 90-HP engine on th...

pcrussell50

$20,000 for a 50hp outboard is probably no big thing to folks who are ok with $300 hammers and $500 toilet seats... What I'm more curious about is what it will be used on? I do not know if it's possible to find any current motor in the world, that is so heavy for so little power. What kind of outboa...

pcrussell50

Have you managed to get an actual response from KENTFAB? I was almost ready to buy a [1972] 13-footer, pending hearing back from KENTFAB [about buying their transom lift product]. [I sent] multiple emails including, "I'm ready to buy. How do I pay you?" And, "If you're backlogged, I'l...

pcrussell50

Another note about full throttle: I think modern outboards with jewelled bearing (and by that I mean from late 1960's onward) can be run at maximum RPM for as long as you like, provided they are in a proper state of repair. Of course that would be forsaking fuel economy.

--Peter

pcrussell50

Along with the outrageous claims, that's why I've begun to think that article is more of a low rent infomercial.

-Peter

pcrussell50

Hmmm... the very first picture shows it mounted to what looks like a garden variety sport boat transom. And how do you reconcile this? Compared to petrol outboards, the Yanmar is lighter, smoother, more compact, It simply is not true. In. Any. Possible. Way. Even the most egregiously porky four-stro...

pcrussell50

http://newatlas.com/yanmar-dtorque-111-turbo-diesel-50hp-outboard/51675/?amp=true Says it's lighter than "conventional petrol" outboards... Yet... for it's 50hp it's 385 lbs (175kg). Yikes! I what world is that light for a 50hp motor? That's nearly triple my Yamaha 40 hp, and the same as ...

pcrussell50

The motor was touted as big displacement for the HP when released. How would you then pump up the HP with the same displacement without contradicting yourself? Not sure if more cubes could be added to that particular block. It may have been touted as big displacement for the power. A dubious enough...

pcrussell50

He could just say "well it's time to repower" instead of slamming a good company And even at that, "time to repower", is almost never a pragmatic decision, and is instead usually an emotional one. Most people repower because they want to, not because they have to. We just find e...

pcrussell50

But this is all a topic for another thread, as this thread just tries to help identify the several manufacturing epochs of Mercury engines that have all been give the same model name: 90 FOURSTROKE. The mission of this thread is to aid in distinguishing one 90 FOURSTROKE from another 90 FOURSTROKE,...

pcrussell50

I have not had the least bit of problem with my 2000 carbureted 90hp FourStroke that could be attributed to being a carbureted motor. Further, when I spent July of 2016 in a Mexican fishing town, (San Carlos), the local mechanic was gushing specifically , about how great the carbureted version is. A...

pcrussell50

I believe I was one of the original contributors to that thread [from the old forum]. I've been away for a while. But to summarize, I basically kept that thing going until 2015 with a cocktail of additives, completely draining the fuel out of the carbs in the off season and other care by a really g...

pcrussell50

When we last left off, it was late summer 2016. [See earlier posting for details.] The boat sat since then with the carburetors and fuel tank drained. Recently, I finally broke out our classic Montauk-Alert 17. I put in fresh gasoline, pumped the primer bulb firm--I had to pump a lot because the car...

pcrussell50

I have nothing to add to Jim's very complete answer except to add a data point by saying that I have the 150hp version of this engine and it already had the oil system removed when I bought it in 2014. It has been working very well with premixing oil into the gas.

-Peter

pcrussell50

1) LARGE smartphone (6" or larger screen)
2) real computer (laptop or desktop I use both)

-Peter

pcrussell50

Don't see him listed as LHG in the member list for the new forum...

Ever since Tony's passing, I worry when I don't hear from someone for a while.

-Peter

pcrussell50

West Marine not three months ago started carrying their own brand of hydraulic steering fluid for $19.99-per-quart versus $27.99 for Seastar brand. WM insists it's fully compatible. They also sold out of it very quickly, with no known restock date. The store manager speculated that the supplier or m...

pcrussell50

Likewise, good to hear from you. Sorry to hear you had an expensive failure. And sorry to lose one of my stalwarts on the carbureted "Mercaha" team. What did you replace with? E-TEC 90's seem like the lightest option for a classic Whaler that was never designed for the weight of a four-str...

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