Mercruiser 165 straight 6

[CaptRon66]

I picked up an old engine that was lying under a tarp in someones yard for the past 4 months. Prior it was allegedly in a garage(surface rust in some areas has me doubting).According to the owner his father had it rebuilt and it was never run. Sat for 10 years.It never made it in the boat due to illness. The engine turns over by hand. It will prelubed after grinding gear off of an old distributor. I am planning on running it on the floor in the garage and then do a compression test. The cam is probably not broke in. Should oil be put in the cylinders and let it soak for a bit? What rpm's should it be run and how long after starting? How should I go about this?

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

The cam is probably not broke in. Should oil be put in the cylinders and let it soak for a bit? What rpm's should it be run and how long after starting? How should I go about this?

I don't know about the need to soak oil in the cylinders. did the plugs look rusty when you removed them? If not, I wouldn't worry about the oil in the cylinders.

With a new cam and lifters, you need to run it to around 2,000 rpms - not under - for the first 20 or 30 minutes. Vary the speed, but not under 2,000 rpms. Keep an eye on the temp and oil pressure.

 

[mkast]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

It will prelubed after grinding gear off of an old distributor.

Explain.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

Using an old distributor to act as a prelube tool works great. You simply turn it with a 1/2" drill. A couple of things to note:
1. You don't have to grind off the gear. Simply remove the roll pin and the gear will come right off.

2. By removing the points, etc - you will find a spark plug socket will fit right over the shaft of the distributor. I cut the end off a long extension and used a drill and spark plug socket to turn the shaft. Works great. Turn the engine over by hand a couple of times and work the tool with the crank at various positions.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

Here's one I recently did:

Here it is with the socket and extension:

Here it is with the tool installed. Quick and easy!

 

[CaptRon66]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

There was a small amount of rust on the tip of the plugs. The cylinder walls looked clean peaking in with a mag light. Can't see too much like that though. I'll look for the pin to remove the gear(auto distributer). Thank you.

 

[picklenjim]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

Good idea on the priming tool!! I think I'll make one. I used a steel rod in a drill that I flattened the end to engage the oil pump. It worked but was hard to keep centered sometimes. Always wanted a good one but they were too expensive for as little as I would use it.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

I used a steel rod in a drill that I flattened the end to engage the oil pump.

That won't work. It will spin the pump, but you need the body of the distributor (or appropriate tool) to block the various oil galleys and passages in order to build pressure.

 

[picklenjim]

Re: Mercruiser 165 straight 6

That won't work. It will spin the pump, but you need the body of the distributor (or appropriate tool) to block the various oil galleys and passages in order to build pressure.

I see what you mean .Went downstairs and checked it out on a BBC block. There is a hole to the end of the lifter oil galley on that side. The passage continues on the other side of the distributer shaft and goes to the rear cam bearing. There is also a hole in the cam bearing coming from the oil galley on the other bank. When ever I would do it I would get at least 30 lbs.on the preasure guauge. I'm sure it did fill all the passages up to the lifters. Maybe not all the way to the rockers. I did have every thing well covered with assembly lube when I would put one together. Never did have a problem with any of them. I will be using the distributer type in the future though.