Taking boat in for outboard repair...looking for info on what to expect

[ND4LIFE]

Late last summer I made the dumbest mechanical mistake I've ever made...ran my motor low on 2-stroke oil! Long story short I was at full throttle and on the way back to the landing. Motor had a sudden surge of loosing power. I pulled off the throttle immediately. I shut it off and pulled the cover off the motor and discovered a pretty much empty oil reservoir. I filled it up with my spare jug and started back up. Started OK but I could hear a 'tick'. Limped it back to the landing and loaded it on the trailer. Removed the engine cover again and started it up while it was still in the water and could definitely here a 'tick' when idling. Put the boat away for the winter as I just couldn't put money into with only a little open water fishing season left. I'm gonna have to face the music soon and get it into the shop to see how bad things are. Since the motor never seized I'm hoping it can be repaired and won't need to a new powerhead. I know nothing about 2 stroke outboards and was just looking for a little head's up on what to expect. I know that it can't be diagnosed just from the story but I was hoping others might be able to share their outboard repair experience and what scenarios I might expect. The engine is a 1998 4 cyl 125 HP Mercury. Forgot to mention that no alarm went off warning of low oil level so I will definitely get that looked at also (that and check my oil level before EVERY trip out). Thanks.

[prov1900]

Is that new enough that it would auto correct rpms to spare/save motor? Probably not as bad as you think, but nothing is cheap. I need a new water pump this spring. Simple, but $250...

Good luck and keep us posted.

[traveler]

You'd think it would be...I've ran my 95 2 stroke yamaha down low on oil a couple times and it will throttle itself back and just idle (roughly) to "save itself". it's been fine once I've gotten oil back in it though...no tick, so i don't know about his motor.

[hanson]

I had a motor that I "blew up" that developed that tick as well. In my case, the tick was pieces of piston ring bouncing between the piston and cylinder head. She overheated and broke a ring. The engine still ran with no power.

Quick check for you would be to visually inspect each cylinder through the spark plug hole or pop a small magnet in each cylinder to see if you pick up any pieces of the piston ring.

[SkunkedAgain]

I don't know how much oil your resevoir and tank hold, but the rule of thumb that I use with my snowmobile is that when I put more gas in it, the 2-stroke oil always gets topped off. That simple policy has meant that I've NEVER run low on oil because it uses gas faster than oil.

As for the repair, I'd worry most about where you take it versus how much it will cost. The second part is dependent on the first!

[Down Deep]

Tic Tic Tic is not usually a good sign. Drain your oil and dredge it with a mangnet to check for metal fragments. Doing this will give you an indication if there is any damage to the lower half of the engine. If you find anything you may be looking at a rebuild of the entire powerhead.

[fishnowworknever]

What about checking for compression after checking for metal fragments...or is that a bad idea at this point?

Down Deep -

Are you referring to the lower unit oil? Not sure where he would drain the oil besides the resevoir?

[gofishingtom]

Expect the worse..i did the same thing u did i was coming in from night fishing and my oil light and or beeping sound didnt go on..lost power and shut down but mine wouldnt start again took it in and was scored head so long story short new powerhead and 5500$ later..now i had a 175efi merc so yours might not cost as much...but be prepared for the worst and if it is less to fix then ur ahead of the game..my oil sensor was bad also and is suppose to go off when i get down to reserve oil..well my oil tank was dry and my reserve tank was dry which is located on the motor..as u have i have learned a big lesson about checking my oil tank everytime i fill up..so good luck and let us know what u find out

[Down Deep]

Down Deep -

Are you referring to the lower unit oil? Not sure where he would drain the oil besides the resevoir?

Drain the engine oil.

[boatfixer]

I pretty sure he has a 2 stroke so no engine oil to drain.

Problem with running out of oil like that is everything internally is dependant on that oil, crank, bearings, rod bearings, pistons, etc. It likely has affected all 4 cylinders. A compression test can show some damage. I like to use a bore scope to have a better look but tearing it down is the only way to really know the extent of the damage.

[SkunkedAgain]

ND4LIFE - About the best thing going for this motor right now is that you're being proactive. Getting that motor into the shop now should ensure that you're back on the water in time for ice-out.

[Down Deep]

I pretty sure he has a 2 stroke so no engine oil to drain.

I guess I should have paid closer attention to the original post.

[marine_man]

Getting that motor into the shop now should ensure that you're back on the water in time for ice-out.

I agree with all the posts here so far... this is one of the biggest though.. time is ticking to get this fixed.. you're in the period of time now where dealers are starting to ramp up for spring already (rigging boat show orders / etc)... the sooner you can get it in now the sooner you'll get it back vs waiting until spring will nearly assure you won't be on the water in spring.

marine_man