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  1. Rick Stephens

    New Member - 1969 215 Slickcraft- Switch from 160 to 165 merc

    Not all that hard to start a motor on a pallet. I happened to have an extra wire harness, but a pair of battery cables and a wire to the coil will allow bench running.. Don't even need water for a 2 or 3 minute test.
  2. Rick Stephens

    closed sections on iboats

    Are the gold and light blu icons supposed to indicate 'new' threads or replies?
  3. Rick Stephens

    OEM or Aftermarket

    OEM for all rubber.
  4. Rick Stephens

    closed sections on iboats

    Sounds like a permissions problem since I can get into all of the ones that are light blue....
  5. Rick Stephens

    Bell housing gasket protrusion

    Searay's answer is a good one. I had that issue on an older boat and simply switched to Tungsten Marine brand gaskets. Can buy them in quantities and they are much flatter and wider at that spot without the bead of sealant. Never went back to the Quicksilver ones.
  6. Rick Stephens

    1998 3.0 limited RPM

    If you aren't already, use a GPS ap on your phone to measure speed for evaluating prop and RPMs. Boat speedos are notoriously inaccurate.
  7. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser Upper leaking oil

    You should probably start your own thread.... however, a couple answers to your questions: The connection between upper and lower is a small (<1/4") passageway with a small o-ring sealing it. The speedometer hose when disconnected does nothing at all and will not leak any oil or water. There...
  8. Rick Stephens

    Alpha1 Gen2 outdrive ratio question

    Agree with Scott. Either ratio is going to work fine. Just need to prop accordingly.
  9. Rick Stephens

    4.3 Swap, advice needed

    That's GREAT!
  10. Rick Stephens

    Prop Pitch questions

    Higher pitch means more load on the motor for a given RPM. In this case top Wide Open Throttle (WOT) RPMs would drop a couple hundred. It may or may not increase speed, really depends on a bunch of other factors like how your current 19 inch pitch performs, difference in blade design , and how...
  11. Rick Stephens

    New Boat Purchase - Stuck Manifold drain plug

    A crack to worry about in the manifold will be internal, not external. If it leaks, it will put water on your exhaust valves. Safest thing is to pull it and fill the water jacket with acetone and see if it leaks into the exhaust passage.
  12. Rick Stephens

    4.3 Swap, advice needed

    Will the V-belt pulley bolt onto the smaller Vortec harmonic balancer? Also of note, automotive water pumps are no good on fresh water cooled motor. They will rust out in no time at all.
  13. Rick Stephens

    New Boat Purchase - Stuck Manifold drain plug

    Where is the boat located? Where temperatures in the winter get below freezing? If so, then the manifold condition is seriously in doubt.
  14. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser Upper leaking oil

    Splitting the cases with them full of oil dumps oil everywhere. There is a oil passageway between the two cases that then is open and the drive shaft that comes up from the lower leaves a 1 inch hole for oil to drain out of as well. Once you get things back together, and ALL the oil out, do a...
  15. Rick Stephens

    Extreme rust removal tips

    The *best* way is pull the heads and sand/bead blast the scale off with protective tape on the gasket surfaces. Then have the heads tanked and gone through.
  16. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser 4.3 idles at 3k rpm

    Almost a guarantee that sitting for years the idle ports are clogged solid. The only way it might even run is if the butterfly is open enough to reach midrange ports in the venturi giving it the rough approximation to a useable mixture. If missing parts, it may even be best off finding a...
  17. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser Alpha 1 Gen 1 -- Gimbal bearing

    I think you are missing the point on a proper installation tool. The inner part of the gimbal bearing is taller than the carrier. If your driver is not relieved at that spot then you are pounding on the inner race and damaging the bearing rollers and race surfaces.
  18. Rick Stephens

    Mercruiser Alpha 1 Gen 1 -- Gimbal bearing

    Gimbal bearings 'gimbal'. That means they are aimable within their carrier. The first step in aligning a motor is to align the gimbal bearing so it aims at the coupler. THEN you can start checking the alignment, which is totally different thing than aiming the gimbal bearing. Alignment is up...
  19. Rick Stephens

    Overhauling my 1988 Alpha One Drive Train

    I would be inclined to replace the shift cable while you are in there. Shift cables are a wear item and need periodic replacement anyway.
  20. Rick Stephens

    Maybe gimbal bearing?

    I kind of beat the drum a bit that any new to you used boat needs every bit of maintenance done by you before running your boat. The assumption must be that the maintenance was neglected. That means pulling the drive, draining it, splitting the halves, inspecting everything, replacing the...
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