Search results

  1. F

    Draining a built-in fuel tank

    My boat has a built-in 25 gallon tank, and the fuel line is plumbed directly into the 2000 Mercury 125 ELPTO, with no quick disconnect. It would be nice to have some practical and safe method of removing the fuel from the tank at the end of the season. The Mercury parts list shows that a...
  2. F

    Repairing Merc Oil Tank Level Sensor

    Disassembling the oil level sensor on my Merc 2 stroke wasn't so difficult. (Reassembling it may be a bit of a pill.) No residue of any glue holding the magnet to the float. What kind of adhesive would you recommend?
  3. F

    Inline Fuel Filter Direction of flow

    Most inline fuel filters I've ever seen have an arrow indicating the direction of flow, This direction always has the filter element pointing into the flow. See the first picture below. That would seem to make sense because with this direction of flow, any dirt or crud will accumulate on the...
  4. F

    Merc Fuel Lines

    2000 Mercury 125 ELPTO. It's got what I think is a fuel starvation problem that is driving me crazy. It only manifests itself when I get about two miles from the launching ramp. The engine intermittently loses power and dies. It can be restarted immediately, but the problem will recur minutes...
  5. F

    Winterizing: Fuel in tank options?

    Winterizing my boat. It has a built in 25 gallon poly fuel tank. There is about 20 gallons of e10 in the tank, and it's been in there for a couple of months now. (straight fuel, no fuel/oil premix.) It appears that the consensus around here is to fill the tank to the top, apply a good dose of...
  6. F

    Current Draw from Mercury Outboard Voltage Regulator

    It's definitely the voltage regulator. I isolated the regulator from the boat and engine wiring and made resistance measurements from each wire to its black ground wire. The 1.6 Megohm resistance is through the red wire with the female connector on the voltage regulator to ground. I think this...
  7. F

    Current Draw from Mercury Outboard Voltage Regulator

    My 2000 125 ELPTO Mercury outboard shows about one milliampere of current draw when the battery is connected to it, switch off. With the battery disconnected, the DC resistance across the hot and ground to the motor shows about 1.6 Megohms. I traced this resistance to one of the red wires on...
  8. F

    Mounting Nut for an Ignition Switch

    Not MerControl. It's just a plain old stick through the panel type switch. My best guess is that the thread is M20-1.5. A nut that size is available from a few places. I would have to cut it in two to get the thickness I need... and it's on a boat, so stainless would be better. Pricey.
  9. F

    Mounting Nut for an Ignition Switch

    I'm trying to replace a basic Mercury outboard ignition switch, part number 87-88107A5. The switches that almost ALL vendors offer as a replacement for this switch must all come from the same factory in China. The switch is electrically correct, but the thread size on the part that sticks...
  10. F

    Making Gaskets

    Any respectable auto parts store will have cork gasket material.
  11. F

    Transducer placement ?

    That "round thing" is an electrical noise filter and it's on the power cable, not the transducer cable. You shouldn't have to be running the power cable back to the engine should you? The connector on the transducer cable should only be about a half to three quarters of an inch. You might have...
  12. F

    Preserving Opened Sealant

    I hate to buy a tube of sealant just to seal a couple of fittings and then have to toss the large remainder of the sealant when it hardens days later. Water, or moisture, even in small amounts, is what causes a lot of sealants and adhesives like 3M 4200 and 5200 to harden. If you can keep...
  13. F

    Generic Boat Wiring information - Updated Verified

    I had wiring troubles with my Procraft 170C. So, while I had the wiring all torn apart, I made a diagram. May be of use to someone.
  14. F

    Multiple Electrical Issues

    I cut these connectors off about a half inch from the housings. No "black wire disease" present there. The wire looks good and takes solder well. I bought new pins and crimped the new pins onto the wires and soldered them on for good measure. I filled all the connectors with dielectric grease...
  15. F

    What Pipe is Best for Bilge/Livewell Plumbing?

    Thanks! Shields has a great PDF file with the full specs on their marine hoses. Very informative. Series 148 or 149 look good for my application.
  16. F

    What Pipe is Best for Bilge/Livewell Plumbing?

    OK. Sounds like the right advice. I'll spring for the good stuff. Linky to an example of it?
  17. F

    What Pipe is Best for Bilge/Livewell Plumbing?

    I am trying to address a leak in the livewell plumbing of my 2000 Procraft 170 Combo, and while I have the batteries, boxes, and fuel tank out, I thought it would be a good idea to replace all the 20+ year old pipes in the bilge area. The original pipe that's in there looks like flexible PVC...
  18. F

    Boat Finish Questions

    See the pictures. It's a 22 year old fiberglass boat. It's lived outside its entire life. The finish looks pretty bad. These pictures show perhaps the worst. Is this finish that's deteriorated some kind of clear coat finish over the gel coat, or is it deteriorated gel coat? Should I just try...
  19. F

    Multiple Electrical Issues

    Here is what I had to do to get to the affected wiring. Here is what is causing the problem. This is the boat harness. The connectors on the engine harness are just as bad. Several of the spade connectors on the instrument panel are looking pretty cruddy too. The purple wire on the engine...
  20. F

    Multiple Electrical Issues

    I'm looking at the path from the battery to the engine. Aside from the fuse at the battery in the aft compartment, the majority of suspect connectors are behind the instrument panel. Yes, the Tach and the fuel gauge are also involved in this circuit. If I'm going to have to remove the panel...
Top