Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

[Bigloww]

I Have a 2004 Mercury 40hp that is having water flow issues. I noticed in the beginning of the year that the water stream comming from the tell-tale was about 50% or so. Over the holiday weekend, it basically is at a trickle at times or almost no flow at all. The tell-tale hole and line going to it "appear" to be obstruction free, but not 100% sure of that. The strange thing is that even running close to full throttle for a while, the engine does not seem overly hot and the light stream or trickle of water comming out is not very hot either. Seems slightly warmer than the 75 degree lake water it is pumping. Does it sound like a faulty water pump or impeller/obstruction issue? Probablly hard to say without tearing the lower unit apart. Any troubleshooting tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated. The marina on the lake rapes people on parts and labor usually. My Selinoid just went out and they wanted to charge me like $50 just for part ($19 on the web). It took me 15 minutes to swap out and bet they would of charged me over a hundo in labor. Lucky I was able to troubleshoot/fix that myself. Thanks in advance for any help and to all the assistance with issues in the past.

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

If you are AT ALL mechanically inclined, buy a Merc manual for your motor and work on it yourself. MOST of the problems with outboards stem from improper maintenance. If you will invest $50-$75 in a manual, and read it and trouble shoot your own issues, you will EASILY pay for that manual just with the impeller job you are about to do. (The marine place closest to me wanted $250 to do an impeller in my Merc 500. I did it myself in less than an hour, my first try. Could probably legitimately do it in 30 mins. I'm betting an experienced tech could do it in 20 mins. They charge @ hours labor at $95 an hour!!!) BTW, most of the owners on this site will tell you to replace your impeller ANNUALLY. My guess would be yours has never been replaced? Get it done soon. The #2 cause of failure on these motors is overheating. (#1 is improper or lack of oil in the fuel.)

Best of Luck!

 

[Bigloww]

Re: Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I am fairly inclined on the mechanical side of town when it comes to cars, but was a bit timid when it came to marine engines. I was going to look ino the lower unit (impeller and possible cloggage) when I head back up to the lake house in a couple weeks. Since I can get an impeller kit for around $20, I will bring 1 with me reguardless and swap it out. I was not aware that his should be done on a yearly basis. I assume in the 5 years of having this motor, it has never been replaced. The same said marina is the place that stores and winterizes the boat/motor. If they did it, I am sure I would know abou it $$$$$$$$$ and not part of their standard PM/witerizing.. Thanks again.

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

You are correct! They are gonna get that $$$! Seriously, I started just like you are now, and now I do all of mine myself. If I ever have one that means that much to me, I will try to rebuild one eventually.

I didn't know about the impeller either, don't feel bad. But you'll feel a lot better, and have a lot less trouble if you will buy the manual, trust me!!! It is WELL worth the money.

 

[drum23]

Re: Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

Sounds like a bad impeller like was mentioned. If it makes you feel any better, the marina isn't that far off on the price. I just paid 45 for a soleinoid on mine.

 

[stu07hd]

Re: Down to a trickle on my 2004 Mercury 40hp

I would start by trying to unclog your hose that is for the tell tale. I used weed eater line to unclog mine in the past and had some good luck. Just feed it in and out with the motor running on muffs and see what happens. The next season I had the same problem. I removed the hose and cleaned it out with it off the motor, problem solved. Mine just had some brown gunk from lake water in it. It was a 5 minute free fix.