motors age
 

ok merc gods out there i have a question how do you tell the age of a mercury motor? I was told the motor is a 85. The starter says it is a 79 and the cowling on the motor is different colors for other 1985s i have seen. any help?

Re: motors age
 

You find the year by the serial number using This Chart

Re: motors age
 

Here's a few non-serial number tips that might help you date the motor.

1983 and later have the top hat style heads.

If it's 1982 and earlier . . . the heads have a diamond shaped pattern.

(These cannot be swapped b/c the bolt pattern is different) 82 and earlier had bolts on the outside of the cylinder walls . . . and 83 and later the head bolts were moved to the outside of the water jacket.

84 and earlier had no oil injection . . . There won't be a hole on the front half of the block for the oiler and shaft.

1980 - 1983 had the earlier style enrichener with the manual override

79 and earlier have the flapper style choke setup.

Lower Unit on the pre-load style lowers (82 and earlier) have plastic louvered pickup and after 83 the pickup was cast into the housing.

Re: motors age
 

You won't find the serial number on the block of the 82 and earlier motors. Later on there was a freeze plug with the serial stamped into it. After 92 the serial was also stamped into the side of the block and the front half of the motor.

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Lots of parts are interchangeable. I run a 1979 mercury V200 powerhead with the updated enrichener, on a 1986 150 XR2 mid section (3 ram trim and tilt) with a 1991 Lower Unit, and a 1992 175 XRI cowling.

The heads are the dead give away that powerhead is a pre - 83 motor.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...2/DSCN7007.jpg
http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...2/DSCN6619.jpg
http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...892_Medium.jpg

Re: motors age
 

Are you sure you are not related to spidercrab? or Johnny cash?.. :D

strick

Re: motors age
 

85 would already have the 3 wire - 3 ram integrated trim and tilt. If it has external trim and tilt pump with one giant hydraulic ram or two smaller hydraulic rams (v200 - 1978, 1979, 1980) . . . then it's an 1984 or older.

Racing motors and even the 300 pro xs still have the external trim and tilt with one giant hydraulic ram.

Re: motors age
 

Ok the s/n is 5489350 which makes it between a 80-81 according to that chart.

The trim and tilt is the one big cylinder with remote pump. the polt pattern on the heads looks like yours bigshrimpin.

Cthe motor possibally be a late 79 since the date on the starter is 4 12 1979?

Are there any pros or cons to these age motors? Any lil tricks i can do to make them better. make it last longer? I have found the article about removing the idle spark module. will be doing that directly

Re: motors age
 

The older 2.4L vertical reed non-oiler motors aren't very desireable on the open market, but they will run a long time if care for . . . and they are a great match for the 20 seacraft's in terms of weight and power.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/..._121.sized.jpg

A few things to do before putting the motor into service.

Change Thermostats, Poppet, water pump impeller, clean carbs, inspect all wiring (trigger, stator (especially the yellow ones to the rectifier), harness), check compression, plugs (for any sign of water intrusion, fowling, or lean condition). Check coils and plug wires too.

Does you motor have the flapper style choke? if so you can swap the carbs and airbox with a newer 2.4L motor with wh-XX carbs . . . or just swap the bowls (with the floats) and tap the tops with a drill press for the enrichener fittings. This mod makes that motor 100X's easier to start.

The single style ram is great and super strong, but I wanted the pump out of the back out my boat.

Re: motors age
 

Put new thermostats,water pump,spark plugs, popet valve. Checked the comression before i bought the boat between 130 and 125 psi. I have the enricher style carbs on the motor (looks like factory) maybe good swap.I didnt clean the carbs cause the boat seemed to run well when i bought it. Wiring looks good on it ,i dont see anything that looks burnt of spliced. When running the boat i can get it to about 5900 rpms. I am looking for a merc mirage prop to help lift the stern(bow right now will stand up on a dime if i take off to hard).I think it has a stock style on it now.

Re: motors age
 

Pros:
motor is as simple as they come.
Weight for a 1980 v200 is 355 lbs
Parts are dirt cheap.
V6 Lower Units are interchangeable from 1978 - 2005?
2.4L were chrome bore

Cons:
Head bolts on the cylinder walls.
Motor doesn't have fingerports like the 83 and later.
Steering arm, Bottom yoke, lower motor mounts, Tilt Tube.

Tips - Remove that spark advance/idle stabilizer module, Keep the fuel clean, Watch your plugs for signs of leaking head gasket, change the zincs, watch the wiring (stator, trigger, harness) . . . remove all the nasty insulation foam.

Re: motors age
 

you say v200 are the 150/175/200 all the same persay or are there lil things different.

chrome bore that means it can never be rebuilt(bored over)?

oil mix 50:1 thats what i was told to run by my father(dad always like the jonrudes thought)

Re: motors age
 

i run 50:1 in my 84 merc. so far its been happy

Re: motors age
 

1982 and earlier 150 were 2.0L with thick steel sleeves.
1982 and earlier 175's were also 2.0L with hogged out open exhaust and big carbs wh-1's. Early 2.0L's were all vertical reed motors.

V200 and V225 were 2.4L blocks with chrome plated cylinders. Block looks almost identical to the 2.0L from the outside (except V225), but the porting and cylinder walls are different 2.0L vs. 2.4L.

The V200 had vertical reed front half and smaller carbs.

V225 had the largest carbs merc made (wh-15's and wh-20's) and had the wide 14 Petal reed horizontal front half for sucking maximum air/fuel.

I would not get caught up in the idea you will ever have to have to rebuild the block if you lose a ring and scratch the chrome. The motor made it this far . . . and the ones I've pulled apart that failed were alway due to owner neglect (bad water pump impeller, crusty poppet, stuck t-stats, rotten wiring, advance module, gasket material inside carb bowls, corrosion => no zincs ). It's really hard to kill the 2.4L motors if they are cared for properly.

Chrome is much harder than steel. It also allows much much better heat transfer and it's porous, so it lubes the rings better too. If you did blow it up . . . You can always get another block or an entire motor for $500 - $1200, so there is no reason to worry about rebuilding.

It's hard to justify buying a new motor when you can buy 10+ 2.4L motors for the same price. My V200 with the wh-11 carbs averaged 3.6 mpg my last trip (101 miles) pushing the seafari 27 - 30mph in 1-2ft seas, so I cannot complain.

Re: motors age
 

hey big thanks for the info. My lower unit has the plastic pick up to it,looks like all original. now in you pic your coweling is red. mine is blue. i have only seen them in red. is the blue coweling just a oddity.

thanks blue for the back up on the 50 to one. which brand oil are you running . i was given quicksilver by a fiends dad said,he used in in his merc?

Re: motors age
 

This was the original cowling from 1979 v200. When I parted out a newer 175 XRi I saved the cowling for myself.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...263_Medium.jpg

Re: motors age
 

thats the cowling i have(just says 175 instead)

Re: motors age
 

i just run regular tcw3 in it. im finishing some west marine brand oil i got on sale then after that i got some penzoil to burn up.

Re: motors age
 

I'm not sure why I thought you had a 200? is your motor a 175?
If so those are steel sleeve motors and the lower unit will have a 2:1 gear ratio.

Re: motors age
 

yes mine is a 175hp. S o it is just a 150hp thats bored out to make 175 hp. With the 2:1 lower unit do they still interchange with all the other mercs?

Re: motors age
 

175 is still the same displacement (bore and stroke is still 2.0L) . . . it just has different carbs, reed stops and an open exhaust.

Re: motors age
 

ok thats good to know All that same info for the 200 applies to the 175 correct. Can i bolt a 200 powerhead on my mid secton if mine ever goes?

Re: motors age
 

if im not mistaken 2.4 and 2.5L powerheads will interchange. i am running my 2.4 on a 2.5 mid now with no problems.

Re: motors age
 

oh well thats good to know. but i thought big said i had a 2.0 block are these the same as a 2.4/2.5??

Re: motors age
 

That early 2.0L 175 is the only Merc powerhead that won't swap b/c of the giant exhaust ports in the adapter plates. 2.0L, 2.4L and 2.5L are all interchangable . . . bear in mind that there are difference exhaust tuners.

Re: motors age
 

oh course i have the oddity of a motor. never seem to have the one that works with every thing. so the motor i have i cant use parts from any thing else big is that what your saying.

Re: motors age
 

Basically true . . . Some parts like the carbs, switch boxes and ignition components are good for other motors. Lower Unit . . . Pistons, Rods, and the non-oiler crank are worth some $$ and are interchangable with other models.

Don't get me wrong that 175 is a GREAT motor. Other than the vertical reed front and lack of finger ports the 175 is pretty well tricked out.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...ril_4_1976.jpg

Re: motors age
 

thats a test of a 1750 inline corect big or is the 1750elpt just another name for a 175 hp v6?

Re: motors age
 

It's the V-6; they never made a 175 I-6!

Re: motors age
 

Oh ok i just thought that when it said 1750 was like the old 700,900,1100 1500 motors. Those numbers are not to bad.