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  1. Lou C

    Smoking Engine and Mercruiser ignition switch question

    I noticed the same thing try the Merc/Quicksilver round ones with the clamp they are soft rubber & work well.
  2. Lou C

    Are 88 to 95 4.3 mercruiser stock roller or flat tappet cams?

    If there’s milky oil on the dipstick don’t buy it!
  3. Lou C

    SX-M lower unit issues

    To paraphrase President Regan trust but verify. Before doing anything check the gear oil yourself unless they already dumped it. If there’s that much water in it that will be obvious. If so then they could be right. If not I’d pull the drive and check the gimble bearing & ujoints. The problem...
  4. Lou C

    Are 88 to 95 4.3 mercruiser stock roller or flat tappet cams?

    Can’t answer the question about the rockers but if the engine is original & Merc used the same engines as OMC the 88-92 models definitely came stock with a roller cam. You can check the block casting # to verify.
  5. Lou C

    New purchase SX-M

    If you're going to wind up changing the gimble housing, you will either have to pull the engine, or find a way to support it from above, because the outer housing has studs that go thru the transom and then those studs slide into the inner transom plate. That is what supports the rear of the...
  6. Lou C

    I/O (Sterndrive) Conversion to Outboards

    Our local marinas here in Long Island all have finger piers and the outboard boats all tilt their engines up when docked for any amount of time.
  7. Lou C

    New purchase SX-M

    I've done the bellows on the OMC Cobra which is basically the same as the Volvo SX in fact Volvo just modified the OMC transom mount slightly (longer pivot housing) and changed the drive to cone clutch shifting (the trim cylinders etc were exactly the same as the OMC on the early SXs) and as...
  8. Lou C

    What oil should I use?

    The conventional Merc 25/40 has about 940 ppm of zinc, the syn blend 25/50 has 1240 from my oil analyses Like I said a cheaper option is Valvoline VR-1 20/50 that has 1400 ppm of zinc. On my engine it doesn't matter that much because it has a roller cam.
  9. Lou C

    Broken Spark plug

    a leak from the cover winds up running down on the valve cover and finds its way to the cyl head a leak from any cooling hose that runs near spark plugs
  10. Lou C

    Broken Spark plug

    Well, marine plugs don't really wear out, you don't put enough hrs on the engine to do that, but I would say removing them and checking for water in a cyl each season (at the end of the season) makes sense and can prevent winding up with a seized engine come spring. Also if you fog your cyls...
  11. Lou C

    What oil should I use?

    One of the highest in zinc oils is Valvoline 20/50. 1400 ppm.
  12. Lou C

    What oil should I use?

    I switched from Dino oil to syn blend, no leaks before and no leaks after…this is on my 1988 4.3, the short block is original…
  13. Lou C

    New purchase SX-M

    Nice vid, that takes some nerve to do but I think it is a case of just enough force in just the right place. Reminds me of the time I had to split my Cobra drive, that thing was not coming apart no matter what (to clean barnacles out of the water intake area). I wound up doing something similar...
  14. Lou C

    The End

    Great pic!
  15. Lou C

    2002 5,7 Mercruiser exhaust manifold keeps cracking - 5 times this summer

    Well if you're on the seventh beer you're working on a 12 pack eh, I rate jobs by how many beers are required to prevent tools from being thrown, bad language used, in fact I had to switch to cussing in my mother's tongue (Italian) so the neighbors don't understand what I'm saying lol. Getting...
  16. Lou C

    1987 3.0L water in oil

    maybe there.... What did the underside of the cyl head look like in that spot, is the block deck and cyl head flat and level when measured with a straight edge and feeler gauges (less than .003 variation?)
  17. Lou C

    2002 5,7 Mercruiser exhaust manifold keeps cracking - 5 times this summer

    Converting your readings from kPa to psi you have about 14 psi on the starboard engine and 20 on the port engine, not sure if that can cause a problem, did you get a trouble code for low water pressure? I know on my brother's boat he did and it limited the RPM due to the low water flow, he had...
  18. Lou C

    1987 3.0L water in oil

    You def had a blown HG and that could be the source of water in the oil, I also see evidence of water leaking to the bottom of the exhaust passage in the exhaust manifold. If you have a good auto machine shop that will do a marine engine let them magnaflux the block & cyl head. Then they can...
  19. Lou C

    I have a leak.

    Those inspection cameras with the movable snake cameras are a great tool for anyone who owns an I/O!
  20. Lou C

    2002 5,7 Mercruiser exhaust manifold keeps cracking - 5 times this summer

    With boats in salt or brackish water it’s common to have to clean out the water intakes if the boat is docked or moored in the water. I had to split the upper & lower gear housings to totally clean out the water intake area on mine. But even though the growth caused warm running (175-185) never...
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