'85 115HP mercury Seized

[PaulO]

Howdy all,

I can buy the above engine but it was claimed the ear muffs were left on starving the head of water. The engine seized. I would have thought the muffs would have blown off with water pressure, however, if it is as it claims would it be only one cylinder that has seized and would that create imperfections in the bore?

I have noted a thread on lubricants and ways of unseizing. ANy thoughts appreciated.

P

 

[Chris1956]

Re: '85 115HP mercury Seized

Generally a tear down and rebore of the seized cylinder is necessary, for any seize, A compression test will tell you if that is necessary for this motor. If so you will alos need a new piston and ring set, gaskets etc.

I am not sure I believe any of the PO story, BTW

 

[PaulO]

Re: '85 115HP mercury Seized

Chris1956,

Would it be only 1 cylinder that is seized or could it be more than one?

I find the story a bit odd too. The owner probably forgot to add oil to the petrol

P

 

[emckelvy]

Re: '85 115HP mercury Seized

It's certainly possible that the flusher remained on the motor underway, if it was installed from the front of the motor. The muffs would restrict flow, leading to overheating of the powerhead.

Hard to say how many pistons/cyl's would be hurt, but the damage will be the least at the bottom cylinder and progressively worse up to the top (#1), which would be the hottest of all. #1 and #3 usually suffer the most damage.

Pull the spark plugs and check for greyish deposits of aluminum on the spark plug electrodes. That'll tell you if the motor got hot or not. If the plugs show rust, something's fishy and the motor likely didn't die from overheating.

At any rate, don't pay more for it than parts value, at least that way you can recoup your investment if it's not rebuildable.

HTH & G'luck with the purchase........ed