Spring motor maintenance

[cluelessfisherman]

Hopefully you folks can help me out a little here. What needs to be done to a 50 horse Merc 2 stroke for spring maintenance?

I had it winterized last fall at the local marine place so I shouldn't have too much to worry about.

I have very limited knowledge when it comes to this, so feel free to spell things out for me. I can change plugs, and I believe you do that after running for the first time as they get a little gummed up from the oil being sprayed in last fall. (I may be completely wrong) I know about the muffs and how to run it out of water. What I don't know is what and where to lube and also do I need to check anything with the trim - I noticed a spot of oil or something under the motor from sitting during the winter - my guess is it's trim fluid, but it might just be some 2 stroke oil.

Thanks!

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Clueless - -

[Guest]

Check your lower unit lube! Unscrew the top screw and find the oil level. If lube doesn't spit out, top it off and put in as much as you possibly can fit in there.

What happens is when you put the lube in in the fall the lube holds air bubbles/pockets inside. Always let the motor sit at least 24 hours after a fill, then re-check the level. It must be at or slightly above the top fill hole. (Make sure motor is all the way in down position too)

A mechanic told me that if more people did this he would not have to replace so many main bearings!

I re-checked mine last week before firing it up and found I had to add a lot of lube, when I filled it to the rim last fall.

Also pull the prop to make sure you don't have any fishing line wrapped up in there.

We've got open water here Clueless, hope you get a taste up north soon!

[iffwalleyes]

Just for curiousity how do you get more air from filling it in the bottom. You pump or squeeze till it quits bubbling air. I would think that you force air in by filling the top or do you crack the bottom so that the air can be force out. Because it would seem to me that you would be trying to force air into the motor they way you mentioned because were can it go when you have to top seal and filling and the bottom closed air has to escape somewhere.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes

[marine_man]

2 things:

CD, can you clarify your procedure? Do you only unscrew the top screw and force gear lube in the top, forcing the air bubbles out, or do you fill from the top while leaving the bottom drain plug open?

Secondly, the spot you see on the floor could be fogging mixture running through the prop hub.. this sometimes happens if the engine was fogged heavily, resulting in fluid dripping down the exhaust and out through the hub... see what kind of consistency it is for sure.. and if there are doubts take it to a dealer... they'll be able to pressure test your lower unit to see if a lower unit seal has been pushed out.

marine_man

[Guest]

Ok, this is getting confusing. The point is just make sure the lube level stays at or above the top fill hole at all times.

This is what I do, and has worked for me....A mechanic told me it is necessary.

IFF, your method is good, but you have to make sure if you are pumping lube upwards, there is a possiblity you will pump more air with it. That's why I said you have to be careful and bleed the air out before pumping lube. My pump/line/hose contraption has a lot of air inside of it that is trapped while I pump. I don't want any more air in the entire lower unit after I waited a day for it to settle upward.

"Do you only unscrew the top screw and force gear lube in the top" - Yes, only to top off the last tablespoon amount or so. ONLY after you have filled the lower unit once, waited 24 hours for the lube to settle. If the lube level is lower than the fill hole, then top it off with a little extra lube and then screw in the plug quickly. Bottom plug is tight. You are only topping it off from the top.

As long as lube gets to or slightly above the TOP fill hole, that's all that matters! How you do it, doesn't matter.

[iffwalleyes]

ok CD now I am with you I thought that you were saying you fill the whole lower unit like that. This would be tough but since you are just topping it off I follow you know.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes

[Guest]

[cluelessfisherman]

Thanks for the help guys. I just briefly looked at the motor and didn't find a top screw for the lower unit - I told you I know nothing about this!! No need to worry - I will get a little more time to work on it tomorrow.

Ok - heres a little more information about the mystery spot on the ground - I had just noticed a small area on the ground from the winter storage that caught my attention. I pulled the boat into the garage 2 days ago, and now today I have a 5" by 5" circle already on the floor! It is not from the lower unit as I have the motor on a transom saver and that would have been out from the spot another 7 inches or so - I ran my finger along the bottom of the trim cylinder and bingo - a finger covered in brownish oil. I hooked up the battery and trimmed the motor up to get it off the transom saver and it made the most horrific metal scraping metal noise I have ever heard!! I then trimmed it down and it worked fine, but when I trimmed it up again past the point where it was stored it made the noise again.
I didn't want to continue trimming up and down again for fear of doing any serious damage.
Any ideas on what to do?
The reason I started this thread was so this broke college kid could save the $80 for a spring tune up, but I may just have to bite the bullet anyway. lol - go figure

Thanks again!

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Clueless - -

[iffwalleyes]

It probably is gear lube. Like CD said you want to make sure it is full in the spring. How ever they way he said to do it I will disagree with. you will want to take out the bottom screw on the lower unit and be ready to plug it with you gear lube bottle or get one of the rubber hoses that has the threads on it and that you attach to your bottle you can find these pretty much any place that has gear lube. After you get the lower hole plugged remove the top screw and pump or squeeze until gear lub starts to come out in an even flow no bubbles. Then replace the top screw and then it is time for you to take the bottle out of the lower screw and you have to be quick once it is remove quickly replace with the screw for the bottom and you should be set. This is the best way to top off or fill the gear lube. As far as the spark plugs you shouldn't have to change them after the first time out that fogging oil may cause a little build up but nothing that I would worry about. Trim as long as it is working I wouldn't mess with it it should be fine. One thing I like to do in the first tank or two if gas is to run some Sea Foam gas treatment through it this helps to clean the carbs and fuel system. On other thing to consider is if you aren't going to use it a lot so that the gas sits in the tanks for a while it would be a very good idea to put some stabil in your gas so that it doesn't start gumming up your carbs. Sea Foam also will work like a stabil product to. I think if you do this things you should be fine. That is what I do to my 45 Merc and it has been running much better since I started to do this things.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes

[Guest]

Yeah, but iff, you can start the whole process around again
If you start from the bottom up then you could pump more AIR in and get another false reading, unless you are positive there is no air in the filler lines, bottle or whatever. Either way works, but I always have trouble pumping more air in.
It's better to pump into the top on this final reading to get the air out, it will be messy but you can ensure that you only get lube in there. It takes a long time for air to settle through inches of lube.

[marine_man]

Clueless,

The upper drain plug for the lower unit (on most motors anyway) is located on the left side of the lower unit and below the cavitation plate (the flat plate that is above the prop). It'll require a flat head screw driver to open...

As far as the mystery spot goes I'm pretty sure you're going to have to 'bite the bullet' and take it in... the problem you're having there sounds like some serious trouble...

Good Luck!

marine_man