Should i shoot my 115?

[jamesdad]

Hi i have a 86 merc 115 thats got issues! while running the other day it started to giveme a very high pitch squeal. got her home and shut her down, next day nothing would not crank. thought it was the battery nope. found out the recic line between upper and lower crank bearing was torn at the lower side, now if i pour oil in the cylinders it will crank some but wont run and will not spin after i guess the oil i poured in is blown out? i still have good compression all aruiond so assume i screwed the crank up, anythoughts or should i look for new powerhead? thanks in advance james

 

[green4themoney]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Hi i have a 86 merc 115 thats got issues! while running the other day it started to giveme a very high pitch squeal. got her home and shut her down, next day nothing would not crank. thought it was the battery nope. found out the recic line between upper and lower crank bearing was torn at the lower side, now if i pour oil in the cylinders it will crank some but wont run and will not spin after i guess the oil i poured in is blown out? i still have good compression all aruiond so assume i screwed the crank up, anythoughts or should i look for new powerhead? thanks in advance james

can you post pics for us?

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

what do you mean? pics of what? i fixed the line it was almost like a windsheild washer fluid line. it willonly spin after i oil up the cylinders but once it runs out nothing spinning is tough wants to start but i think the excess 2 stroke oil i put in the plug hole fouls the plug and after a while its stops spinning and u can barely evn bumpit till u add more oil to the cylinders would that oil seeptothe bearings allowing it to spin??

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

The oil line that you refer to is solely to feed oil to the top bearing, which otherwise is not lubricated. The screeching you heard was the top bearing destroying itself while shouting "oil me Oil me". You have replaced the line but you will have to replace the upper bearing. That will require taking the block apart as the bearing is not accessible to remove until the crank is pulled away from the block, the bearing requires a bearing knife to remove it, there is no room for a puller.

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

hat would explain why the flywheel apears to move slightly away from the starter when i crank it! i am pretty mechanical so will be able to do this just one questiondoi have to remove the power head or can i replace it without removing it? thankyou again james

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Yes you will have to remove the power head in order to disassemble. Its not a difficult job to remove it. Pay attention to where all the wires go, make notes or take digital pics. The wiring is likely to be aged and will crumble as you take it apart. You are going to have to pull the flywheel, remove the stator and the end bearing cap to see the bearing. I do not know of any way to remove that top bearing except with a bearing knife, there is just no room to get a puller under it. To get the bearing knife behind the bearing you will have to take off the front crankcase housing and lift the crank with all the pistons part way out of the block. To be honest if you are in that far there is probably other work to be done. Only you can decide if you should shoot it, but you should expect to spend around $500 on parts to rebuild the block.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

You've got a 20+ year old engine. Just fixing the bad bearing is a waste of time in my opinion. Daveswaves advice is dead on, either do a full rebuild yourself or buy a new powerhead.

If it was me, I'd order the power head, then pull the engine apart and have a look. I suspect you're going to find a lot more damage was done with that crank swimming around like that.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

James, You may be able to replace the top bearing w/o a major problem. Remove the cowling, cowling support, outer flywheel, stator and inner flywheel. Now remove the four endcap bolts and loosen some of the crankcase bolts near the top of the block. See if you can pull the end cap straight up. If is a slip fit to the bearing. id you can get it off, you can see if the main bearing. Make sure it has not destroyed itself and dumped pieces into the crankcase. Remove it and install another bearing. They are friction fit, but can be tapped into place.

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Thankyou! So I may be able to do this on the boat? iwill try to and if it is tottaly gone i guesss it will be off with the powerhead! thanks again i now have some hope. it still spins but it definetly needs replacement so i am hoping to get away with just the bearing thanks again james btw anyother tips you may have would be great!

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

James, You may be able to replace the top bearing w/o a major problem. Remove the cowling, cowling support, outer flywheel, stator and inner flywheel. Now remove the four endcap bolts and loosen some of the crankcase bolts near the top of the block. See if you can pull the end cap straight up. If is a slip fit to the bearing. id you can get it off, you can see if the main bearing. Make sure it has not destroyed itself and dumped pieces into the crankcase. Remove it and install another bearing. They are friction fit, but can be tapped into place.

Chris, the bearing will be tight against the top throw with no room to get a puller under, thats why the bearing knife is needed. Thats the only reason I suggested that he pull the block, If you are aware of different way to pull that bearing I would love to know. I have ground down many puller arms in an attempt to get under that thing, never been successful. Bearing knife
works every time. How do you do it?

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

hey daveswave; what is a bearing knife anyway/ ilooked online but really couldnt get an answer! thanks james

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/1123_thumb.jpg

is one example, many tool places have them.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Dave, The bearings on my inline six and four were never that tight on the crank or in the end cap. I pulled the end caps without a problem. The bearings stayed on the crank, but once the end cap was off, I was able to pry them up and off.

 

[orangeman]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Thought I would chime in here as I tried to remove my top bearing without tearing down. This was a huge waste of time and I don't recommend it. The bearing cap will come off but there is no room to get a puller on the bearing. I tried to improvise and although I was able to get some pulling force on the bearing it would not budge. When I tore it down I was amazed at how much force was required to get the bearing off. I bought a bearing seperator from Harbor Freigh( http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3979) and don't think I would ever have gotten the bearings off without it. I also found that I had bad lower crank seals leaking water causing lower bearing to get sloppy which let the shaft get loose causing the upper bearing to damage the upper bearing cap. I wouldn't take a chance on just replacing the top bearing even if you could get the old one off.

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

ok so i got it off; the end cap that is i was examin the bearing and it seems to be pretty good. it looks like the centerband of the bearing is slightly oblong but the bearing seems to roll fine. do you think its ok or once under pressure its a differnt story/ thanx james

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

Dave, The bearings on my inline six and four were never that tight on the crank or in the end cap. I pulled the end caps without a problem. The bearings stayed on the crank, but once the end cap was off, I was able to pry them up and off.

Must be nice, I have pulled apart 4 stacks this year and everyone of them required superhuman powers to get the top bearing off. Bottom Bearings, piece of cake. Maybe its warmer where you are and the bearings expanded

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

ok so i got it off; the end cap that is i was examin the bearing and it seems to be pretty good. it looks like the centerband of the bearing is slightly oblong but the bearing seems to roll fine. do you think its ok or once under pressure its a differnt story/ thanx james

The bearing was bad before you took the cap off, its still bad.

 

[jamesdad]

Re: Should i shoot my 115?

agree! thankyou so much though daveswaves