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  1. Rick Stephens

    88 sea ray with 3.0 mercruiser.

    New motor will be 150. Need an accurate gauge for that precision. More important is differences between cylinders. Decent guide here.
  2. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 3.0 runs strong for 45 minutes then loses power??

    Generally speaking, boats don't have vapor locks. That would be my last thought for a cause.
  3. Rick Stephens

    88 sea ray with 3.0 mercruiser.

    Fairly simple progression of testing and adjustments needs to be done. First thing is to do a compression test and see what the baseline condition of the motor is. Next thing is to go through all the connections and take them apart, brush them clean and get them back tight again. Everything you...
  4. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 3.0 runs strong for 45 minutes then loses power??

    Switch all the newer ignition stuff to that motor!
  5. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 3.0 runs strong for 45 minutes then loses power??

    One of the problems I would have answering that is not knowing what motor you are running. A 2000 3.0L Merc would not have points ignition. You never state serial number, and now mention a spare motor. What motor are we talking about here?
  6. Rick Stephens

    Compression Question

    Do the oil change, and then recommend you do all the regular maintenance items. Those tend to be skipped when an boat gets old to a previous owner. Skipped items tend to rear up and cost thousands to fix if left until something breaks. Get yourself the right Mercruiser manuals if you are going...
  7. Rick Stephens

    Do i need the stator?

    I cannot imagine removing all the magnets causing a vibration in the motor. I guess almost anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that a balanced set of magnets all removed would equal unbalanced. I'm not looking to argue with the previous thread, just opening up the discussion since you...
  8. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 3.0 runs strong for 45 minutes then loses power??

    That is a very frustrating problem. Another thing you might try is to take a $12 spark gap tester with you and when it is cranking without firing, plug it in and see if you have spark. If you got a good spark then fuel is most likely issue.
  9. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 3.0 runs strong for 45 minutes then loses power??

    I would suggest start with filters. Then hook up a fuel pressure gauge and see what fuel pressure is all the time when running.
  10. Rick Stephens

    Bad drive oil leak

    I you are losing oil you need to drain and pressure check the drive. No other way. Anything we can tell you is flat out guesses. Drain the oil, make up a pressure tester and go to looking for your leak. A new to you used boat needs ALL the maintenance done before you go shredding water with...
  11. Rick Stephens

    Bizarre oil leak when changing gimbal Alpha 1

    You might look at the shift shaft seal. It's the only seal that you can bang on something while off the boat. If not that, then the one rule when working on stuff is coincidences happen, all the time. Time to drain and pressure test.
  12. Rick Stephens

    Thermostat question -- 140 or 160 degrees?

    I'd be running at least a 160, which is what the OEM part number 991551 is..
  13. Rick Stephens

    140 or 160 thermostat. Does 20 degrees make a difference?

    Water temps that hit 170ƒ under ambient pressures will start to form gas bubbles on the walls of the jacket in the heads. This causes that spot to get hot as the bubbles don't transfer much heat. Hence the desire to keep temperatures far from that on open cooling systems.
  14. Rick Stephens

    Does anyone know what this part is?

    Well, it's not part of a mercruiser outdrive.
  15. Rick Stephens

    Possible gimbal bearing noise

    A bellows full of water also makes weird noises and causes input seal on the upper gearcase, gimbal bearing and u-joint failure.
  16. Rick Stephens

    2000 Sea Ray 5.7EFI alpha 1 gen2

    Carrier
  17. Rick Stephens

    Alpha 1 gear oil leak out drive shaft

    I'm guessing that the oil seal and o-rings you mention are on the drive shaft? If so, they have no bearing on oil leaks. If in doubt, always pull the drive and take a look. See what is going on in your bellows. It takes minutes.
  18. Rick Stephens

    Out drive leaking.

    Your leak can be from almost anything at all. Pull the outdrive and look at the inside of the bellows - that's an annual maintenance requirement anyway and only takes minutes. If the bellows has water in it, there you go. Can be shift cable bellow as well. Or water inlet seal, or tilt hose...
  19. Rick Stephens

    2000 Sea Ray 5.7EFI alpha 1 gen2

    The outer ring is NOT the race, it is the gimbal housing for the bearing. The part that rotates and comes out has both bearing and race. There is no reason whatsoever not to swap out just the bearing if it never failed. For the original poster, I would replace the u-joints when you have noise...
  20. Rick Stephens

    Outdrive leaking oil

    That one's called the quad ring. It is unlikely since it will equally leak internally and externally. Low oil from a leak will eat top bearings fast.
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