Mercury 20hp new to me

[pro-crastinator]

Hi everyone.
An "old" mercury 20hp has just come into my possession and I have a question.
I was looking for the lower "plug" for the gearlube in the lower end, and (to my surprise) theres a grease fitting where I am expecting the lower plug to be.

That being said, I have never owner or worked on a mercury outboard. Evinrude and Johnson is where I have confined my tinkering and I just didnt know if Mercs used this grease (zerk) fitting thing or if it was a case of an imaginative previous owner with too much time on his hands.

Interesting to note that the previous owner "recovered" the boat and motor from an aluminum recycler. He states that he got it running but that when it shifted to neutral, the prop continued to spin. (I'd spin to if you filled me up with grease!)

Just wanted to throw this out there to get input from the guys who know.
Thanks

-Bennett

 

[Bill kubiak]

let me be first, I just found out about a site called www.boatinfo.com go there and find your manual
Welcome aboard!!

 

[flyingscott]

I don't think that is right looks like a mid 70s motor should be a screw in there. My guess would be it leaked and they got sick of filling it

 

[pro-crastinator]

Thanks FLying Scott.

I thought the same but just wanted to bounce it off ya'll.

thanks again.

 

[Chinewalker]

Yep, I'm betting that rather than deal with a leaky unit, they filled it with grease instead.

 

[pro-crastinator]

Whats the next step do you think?
Pump in kerosene or diesel or oil/kero - run it in the bucket and drain the rascal?
DOes not sound anything like a fun afternoon.......

 

[flyingscott]

The right way to do it would be take it apart. You are going to want to check the prop shaft they are known for corroding around the seals.

 

[Bill kubiak]

Kinda reminds me of the old old days when used car dealers would fill a rear end with sawdust to quiet it down
BTW if you want to see a really funny movie, get a copy of "Used Cars"

 

[pro-crastinator]

Ya know, i thought the same thing but I was thinking about sawdust in the transmissions to quiet them down.
flyinscott - yes. you are correct. I'm looking at getting together a 1958 AD-12 bottom end first. It will be good practice for this one.
Is there a "kit" that will seal up every failable seal?
I suppose I need to start digging for a model number. Cant rush into these things.......

 

[oldmerc20]

hello everyone. I also acquired a 20hp 72 mercury. when I received the motor it was setup for steering an cable throttle. I have another mercury 7.5 that I'm using parts off of. I need pictures of the manual throttle assembly or if anybody knows offhand what parts I need to order to make this function correctly. thanks in advance and im new to this if you cant tell.. lol