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    Oil Analysis for high-hour 4.5L 250 HP

    Good morning, everyone. I recently upgraded to a 2019 Monterey that I bought at an auction last spring. It was a fleet boat for a local boat club, so it had 1,100 hours on the clock at the start of the season. The club mechanics told me they changed the oil every 100 hours and use OEM...
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    Oil in bellows questions…

    Good evening, everyone. I pulled the drive this evening to check over the U-joints and gimbal bearing. My new boat makes a bit more noise than I’m used to when turning under throttle, so I wanted to check it out. The good news is that the U-joints and gimbal bearing are smooth as glass, so...
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    4.5L Thermostat Replacement Pics

    Good evening, everyone. I haven’t seen many posts about 4.5L repairs, so I wanted to share the photos I took this morning of my thermostat replacement. This one started sticking open last week at 1,110 hours, so I wanted to replace before it thought about sticking shut. Points to Merc for...
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    EVA Teak Deck Pads

    Good evening, everyone. I have a Monterey 224 that does not have the optional faux teak pads over the swim platform and deck. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket pads? SeaDek seems to be a name brand, but they sell large pads that need to be cut to the appropriate size. I found a...
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    PDF Service manual for 4.5L

    Good morning, everyone. I’m picking up a 2019 Monterey with a 4.5L Merc 250 later this morning. It has 1,100 hours and has been fleet-maintained, so I expect it to be in good running order. All of my experience has been with a 4.3L TKS, so I’m trying to wrap my head around the 4.5L. I have...
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    Prep for indoor storage question

    Hey guys, I’m looking for storage advice. My boat goes into indoor storage next weekend, and rather than hassle with lowering the drive and pulling the battery once parked, I would like to pull the drive and store it inside. I was going to make a cover for the bell housing, but I’m wondering...
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    Replace gimbal bearing with bellows?

    Good afternoon everyone. Our boat will be entering it's sixth season, and I believe that means it's time for a bellows replacement. I'm going to have a shop do the work this time, do you guys think it worth the extra $250 to have them replace the gimbal bearing as well? Thanks!
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    Overheating at WOT

    Good evening everyone. Have a 2011 Larson with a 4.3L/Alpha 1 drive. Bought the boat new, and the impeller has been replaced twice. Most recently was replaced this spring with an SEI kit, and the quality seemed to be equivalent to the Mercury part I installed three years prior. No running...
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    Alpha 1 trim sticking

    Good morning everyone. Been awhile since posting here. Around the start of this year I noticed the trim system was sticking. Noticed it first when trying to lower the drive in the storage unit...press the down button and hear nothing but a click. Cycle the switch a couple of times and it...
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    Outdrive slowly losing oil

    Hi everyone, Last summer I trashed a prop on some rocks while trying to get on plane. I replaced the prop but had the gear oil warning come on later that day. I can't find any external leaks, but it will slowly consume gear oil whenever the boat is running. I probably have to refill the...
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    Checking for water intrusion

    Hi everyone. Saturday I went out on the lake with a bunch of friends. The boat was loaded heavier than it ever has with 6 adults and my 5-year-old son, she was sluggish for sure. While pulling someone on a tube I ended up over a shoal that I didn't know existed. I backed off the throttle...
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    Overloaded or not?

    Hi everyone, On the lake today I saw this from our local boat tour company. I'm far from a pontoon expert, but does this look overloaded to you? The entire back half of the pontoon was submerged on the left side. :facepalm:
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    Excessive play in swing-away tongue

    Hi everyone, Last fall I took my boat trailer in for some warranty work. They ended up replacing a valve for the breaks that's located in the tongue. This summer I noticed that it was making a lot more noise than usual when going over bumps, and I noticed that it was moving up and down quite...
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    Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

    So last year early in the season I noticed that my boat was making noise while turning under power. Over the last year it's gotten louder, and after doing some research I think my gimbal bearing might be bad. Unfortunately my dumb *** neglected to grease the fitting every year, and I fear that...
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    Funny trailer tire wear

    Hi everyone, I've never dealt with abnormal wear on a trailer before so I figure I'll seek some opinions. My boat rides on a 2011 Shore Land'r trailer with a 3,500 lb axle. Trailer tire pressure has always been maintained to 50 PSI and the trailer probably has between 3-4,000 miles on it...
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    Fuel for new Merc 150 4-stroke

    Hi everyone, My parents recently bought a new '13 Glastron GT180 with the 150 HP Merc 4-stroke outboard. The dealer told them that they needed to run 89 octane in the engine and to run marine Sta-Bil in the tank. They asserted that if she didn't run the Sta-Bil the ethanol in the gas would...
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    Too far gone?

    Hey everyone, After being boatless for the last ten years my parents just purchased a brand-new Glastron GT180 with a 150 HP Merc Four Stroke outboard. On their maiden voyage yesterday my dad found some rocks and tore some chunks off that brand-new prop. She sent me the photo I attached; I...
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    Had to cut loose the anchor...how does this happen?

    Hey everyone, I've been boating my whole life and have never found a situation where I was unable to retrieve an anchor. My family and I were recently relocated to Connecticut, and yesterday was our first day out on the boat this year. We went to the lake in Webster, MA, which is the largest...
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    Salt water question

    Hi everyone, Looks like I'm being relocated to Connecticut, and the only water that looks worthwhile is Long Island Sound which should be 30 miles to the south of me. My boat is only a year old and has always seen freshwater, and as such it has regular raw water cooling. Is a closed cooling...
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    15 Seconds. Long enough to trash an impeller?

    Hey everyone, Two weeks ago I was finally able to dust off the boat and check things over in the driveway. I hooked up the muffs and let it warm up around 1,300 RPMs. Of course nothing ever goes according to plans, and as I was moving my floor jack back into the garage it yanked the hose which...
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