1980 mercury 175 v6 info

[wilswe70]

hi new tothis and just picked up a checkmate 18 ft eluder tommorrow for 2000. the boat has a 1980 175 on it and the boat and the motor look great no nothing on them. im wondering if there are any warning signs on this motor and any preventive maintenence that i could do. it appears to have an aftermarket lower unit as its stainless colored and has the water pickup on the bottom. the boat also has a paralift plate. im not familiar with outboards at all so any info woould help.....thx, bill

 

[CU2NITE]

Re: 1980 mercury 175 v6 info

I think the best advice anyone hear can give you is get the manual and read up on your motor. Also it's a real good idea to run the boat on the water before you buy it! A boat that sounds good on ears may not even run on the water! If you can have someone give it a compression test before you buy, that would give you a some idea of how solid the motor is. Good luck.<br />Cu<br /><br />-------------------<br />RUNNING THE MOTOR WHILE LISTENING TO THE HORN WILL MAKE YOU MORN!!

 

[KCLOST]

Re: 1980 mercury 175 v6 info

I agree, run that baby full throttle, mid-range, and idle, in the water.... Check re-starts at hot and cold ranges... Check your temps at idle and full... If you run it on the ears, take the engine covers off and look for water leaks around the head gaskets, water jacket gaskets, poppet valve, etc. (only at low rpms). Your engine works with thermostats, so make sure they are working properly (they won't open until the water temp reaches 140-145 degrees). At that time you will see a much stronger water flow, and even more when the poppet valve opens at even higher rpms (while on the water)...<br />Take a look at the RPM's at idle and Full, I would suspect that they should be around 600-700 and 5500-5800 respectively (prop types make a difference at full). Let us know..<br /><br />I'm interested in the lower unit you were talking about... Please describe the water pickup.. At the bottom? Haven't seen that before...

 

[wilswe70]

Re: 1980 mercury 175 v6 info

not real sure about the lower unit but its stainless and the water pickup is in front of the skeg on the bottom of the case. my father in law says its a short shaft. like i said im new to outboards.thx to you guys for the info. took the boat for a spin and it ran great did 59. rpm in the 5500+range with a 22 pitch ss prop. do you think theres more speed in it with a diffgerent prop. the guy told me if i droped the lift plate it would go faster but i didnt try it yet....thx again, bill

 

[KCLOST]

Re: 1980 mercury 175 v6 info

Sounds pretty good...<br /><br />I'm not sure about the props... Mine runs about 60 with a four bladed Quicksliver Trophy 24P... Pushing a HEAVY Ranger 18 footer. I've heard from some so called boat experts (dealers) that I could gain 5mph with a standard 25 but I'm not sure about that..<br /><br />With my boat, reaching that speed is kind of scary, as the motor is tilted up to the point that steering is comprimised and the boat can get squirelly on me (for lack of a better term).

 

[KCLOST]

Re: 1980 mercury 175 v6 info

Can you take a picture of that water pickup? I'd like you to email it to me...<br /><br />lstrong@ff-corp.com