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    1988 Merc 200 HP Smoking during warmup.

    OK Dingbat, so vast left wing conspiracy then.... I would not recommend to anyone that they run non TCW-III oil in their 2 cycle motors that call for TCW-III. Now there are some oils (Mercury?) that are rated for DI use as well as TCW-III use. Anyone who runs a DI motor on an oil not rated...
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    1986 power head source

    A short shaft motor is for a 15" transom. 15" transoms are found on Jon and aluminum semi vee boats 14- 16 feet and under. Likely Black Max's, being higher HP never came in that length. Long Shaft motors are for a 20" transom. There will also be a fair number of Black Max Xl shaft motors...
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    1988 Merc 200 HP Smoking during warmup.

    A lot of Direct Injection oils are not TC-W. That is a different animal, as they are certified for DI motors, usually by the OEM. The OP has a carb 2 cycle motor, and should run TC-WIII exclusively.
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    1988 Merc 200 HP Smoking during warmup.

    Dingbat, so what you are saying that it is a vast right wing (or left wing) conspiracy to discriminate against the 2 cycle oil industry? So we should guess that the non TCW-III 2 cycle oil on the shelf is fine for our $20K outboard motors? Not sure I want to guess. That is just me.....
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    shift and throttle cables

    Control cable length is not the issue. That will probably be fine. The motor ends of the control cables are different, though. Mercury and Johnnyrude shifters are different. Mercury pushes the throttle closed. Johnnyrude pulls the throttle closed. A lot of aftermarket (non Merc or...
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    Is my boat polyester or epoxy?

    The polyurethane I saw at the Home Despot looks to be made by rustoleum. I have not used it. The price was $16/qt, and they had many colors. Brightside is a good Marine Polyurethane paint that I have used. It is expensive, but a qt goes a long way. I have sprayed it and rolled and tipped...
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    Water pump carrier dilemma (2006 optimax 200)

    Likely the lower unit on the Optimax went bad, and was replaced with one that was lying around. I swapped out the gearcase on my '93 Merc 135, with an '88 Merc 150 to get the shaft length I wanted. I had to use a midsection stud from a '73 Merc 850 as the final stud to make the switch.
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    Is my boat polyester or epoxy?

    OK, so your paint choice is not required by the epoxy, but by your standards. That part of your post was confusing to me. There are some real nice 1 part marine polyurethane topside paints. They are not cheap, but work and look quite good. Some swear by marine enamel as well, which is...
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    What would you put in a small outboard repair kit?

    Depending on the year of the motor, a lot of the stuff you listed may not be useful. Motors tend to run until some electronic component fails, or you break something. If an electronic component fails, you won't have a spare or the ability to install a spare. Certainly take hand tools and some...
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    Is my boat polyester or epoxy?

    Why exactly do you need an expensive two part paint to cover epoxy?
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    1986 power head source

    iBoats used to have links to rebuilders. I bought an inline 6 150HP block from one of them
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    Boat ignition

    Spark plug and coil high voltage wires should have zero resistance. They are stranded stainless steel. When cranking the motor, ignition on, look (or listen) for spark arc to ground, especially on the lower wires.
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    Boat ignition

    The solenoid only serves to command the starter to crank the engine. If you have spark at the coil, but not at the spark plugs, either the timing is way off, the spark plug wires are bad, the coil wire is bad or the distributor cap is bad. There is a carbon electrode in the distributor cap...
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    Boat ignition

    The engine wiring harness on those age motors can be intermittent. They can be hot wired pretty easily. I would recommend you jumper from the battery directly to the red and adjacent white terminals on the switchbox, and ground the block to the battery as well. Then run the test again. If...
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    Is my boat polyester or epoxy?

    Polyester resin/cloth is fine for most repairs. If you have a serious structural repair, and the bonding area is small, epoxy is probably a better idea.
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    Boat ignition

    The CDIElectronics web site has a simple test for everything but the trigger. Run the test. If you get spark during the test, the failed part is likely the trigger. The test assumes the coil is good. Most are.
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    Fuel Sending Unit Question

    How about having a reserve tank? When the main tank runs dry, switch over. Alternatively, if your tank has dual fuel pickups, you can make the main fuel pickup short and leave the reserve fuel pickup long. when the main runs dry, switch over to the longer fuel pickup. Large boats had that...
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    1988 Merc 200 HP Smoking during warmup.

    Oil injected outboards mix oil with gasoline at the fuel pump. So when the boat sits unused at the dock, the gasoline in the carbs evaporates, leaving a rich oil mixture. It is therefore the nature of the motor to smoke more at startup. A synthetic or synthetic-blend oil may (may) reduce smoke.
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    Replacing steering in a 97 Stratos

    I replaced the entire rotary steering system in my '98 Seaswirl a couple of years ago. There were no dashboard mods needed. The original equipment in my Seaswirl was a rotary NFB system. I replaced it with a standard rotary steering system, which is a minor inconvenience, as the motor pulls...
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    Replacing steering in a 97 Stratos

    It is difficult to buy just a replacement cable these days. Likely the liability. The good news is that the entire package (helm+ cable) is just a few $ more than a replacement cable. So you may not have a choice to replace just the cable, solving your dilemma. As for the NFB systems. They...
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