need help with motor removal

[bigbenrusky]

well i am sure that this has been gone over hundreds of times on this but really don't have time to look for them all.

i am getting ready to remove a merc. 230mr. i was an idiot and didn't remove all the water from the engine and now have to replace it due to being cracked.

anyhow to my question. what do i need to do to remove this so that i can work on it on the ground verses in the boat?

i am going to replace it with a 350 from Rapido marine. i have talked to Raul and he is going to treat me right but i need to know how to remove this in order to put the other back in.

also will my out drive fit with this new motor?

 

[Fishermark]

Re: need help with motor removal

I don't know what a merc. 230mr is... but if you are replacing it with a 350 I assume that the old engine is a small block chevy as well?

If so, it is fairly straightforward to remove. First, remove the outdrive. Again, assuming it is an alpha drive, put the shifter in forward, then remove the six nuts holding it on, remove the trim rams and take the outdrive off.

After the outdrive is removed, take off the battery cables and any ground wires, unhook the fuel line and electric connections. There are two mounting bolts at the rear, remove them. Remove the front mounts - usually the lag bolts into the stringer is easiest. Remove the water hose and anything else that I may have forgotten.

Then pull engine.

Sounds difficult - is actually very easy.

Will your outdrive fit your new engine? If the old one is a Chevy small block, then yes. Just make sure to order an engine of similiar year.

 

[Bondo]

Re: need help with motor removal

Ayuh,..........

And here's a Free copy of the Merc.'s Service Manual.........

 

[littlebookworm]

Re: need help with motor removal

Bondo: I've clicked on the site for the "Merc Mechanic's Bible", got the list of books and tried to open one, the manual for early GM V8'S, but no luck. Am I doing something wrong or is it just that this is such a large file that it would take a relatively long time to open?

 

[Bondo]

Re: need help with motor removal

Am I doing something wrong or is it just that this is such a large file that it would take a relatively long time to open?

Ayuh,........

Some of them are Huge,..... Over a gig.......
And,.....
There may be some that are dead,....... Donno........

Any of the 1s I've needed worked.......

 

[achris]

Re: need help with motor removal

I don't know what a merc. 230mr is... but if you are replacing it with a 350 I assume that the old engine is a small block chevy as well?

If so, it is fairly straightforward to remove. First, remove the outdrive. Again, assuming it is an alpha drive, put the shifter in forward, then remove the six nuts holding it on, remove the trim rams and take the outdrive off.

After the outdrive is removed, take off the battery cables and any ground wires, unhook the fuel line and electric connections. There are two mounting bolts at the rear, remove them. Remove the front mounts - usually the lag bolts into the stringer is easiest. Remove the water hose and anything else that I may have forgotten.

Then pull engine.

Sounds difficult - is actually very easy.

Will your outdrive fit your new engine? If the old one is a Chevy small block, then yes. Just make sure to order an engine of similiar year.

Don't forget to check and adjust the engine alignment before you put the drive back on. You really should go and buy a service manual... everything you want to know (and some things you don't) is all in there.

Chris..........

 

[bigbenrusky]

Re: need help with motor removal

i want to thank everyone for your response. i will be getting a service manual. but i want to thank everyone in advance. i think this is an under taking that is very doable. i have removed vehicle motors with no real hitch but never a boat motor. just wanted to make sure that it is like a vehicle motor.

how do i go about making sure that the engine is aligned?

 

[bigbenrusky]

Re: need help with motor removal

I don't know what a merc. 230mr is... but if you are replacing it with a 350 I assume that the old engine is a small block chevy as well?



yes it is the same as a 305 chevy.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: need help with motor removal

i want to thank everyone for your response. i will be getting a service manual. but i want to thank everyone in advance. i think this is an under taking that is very doable. i have removed vehicle motors with no real hitch but never a boat motor. just wanted to make sure that it is like a vehicle motor.

how do i go about making sure that the engine is aligned?

You use the alignment tool... More about that in the manual you will get though... This is a step you do not want to skip, nor do you want to try to make your own alignment tool instead of paying for the "real" one.

Good luck and have fun!

BTW: Usually, the transom of the boat is too high to use a regular motor hoist to get it out... You might end up having to rig something up to get the engine high enough to get it out and over the transom of the boat...

Here is me doing mine:

Oh, what fun it was!

 

[littlebookworm]

Re: need help with motor removal

I'm pulling the 305 out of my own SunRunner220Sb. Some suggestions: Using a digital camera, shoot pictures of all the sections of the engine as you remove things. That way, you can see how particular wires and hoses were routed. Put bolts from different sections ( port exhaust, starboard exhaust, alternator/powersteering pump, etc. ) in zip-lock bags, labeling each bag with a permanent marker pen. Use strips of masking tape and the same pen to label wires as to where they go. If you haven't done one before, you may forget. Remove the manifolds and pumps before you pull it. This will lighten the load and give you more room to maneuver. Cut the heads off two long bolts to help in supporting the manifolds as you remove or install them. They are pretty heavy and difficult to hold when unscrewing or screwing in the attaching bolts. Remove the risers, then the outer bolts of the manifold. Replce theose bolts with the ones without heads. Then remove the inner bolts. Then you can slide the manifold off the headless ones. Saves your fingers from crushing. Obviously, keep yourself and your hands away from under the engine as you pull it. Good luck. Hy.

 

[bigbenrusky]

Re: need help with motor removal

well fortunatly i have my boat at my work and we have an overhead crane that i plan on using then i will mount to a motor stand so that i can do the majority of the work. would that work?

this is the first one so all the help you all can give me is very much appreciated.

one more question. is there a gasket between the outboard and the boat? if so how difficult is it to remove this? and where can i get new ones from? i also will need new seals.

 

[bigbenrusky]

Re: need help with motor removal

also where can i find the alignment tool? and cost?

 

[ziggy]

Re: need help with motor removal

ebay has them regularly. 50 bucks, + or -

"http://www.iboats.com/Engine_Alignment_Tool/dm/**********.739478516--*******.636366119--category_id.271116--list_time.1197509899--view_id.271231[/URL]

 

[thundercat 9]

Re: need help with motor removal

Hey dukesfin,

I like your lift set-up, you don't mind if I copy it, do you?

 

[DukesFin]

Re: need help with motor removal

Copy away! I was lucky that the apartments I was living in at the time gave me 1 week to have the whole "contraption" up...

I had everything torn back down in 5 days.

I think the whole set up cost me about $30 (lumber, nails, etc). The large steel beam on the top was a freebie at my job... I'm not sure how much that would have cost, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been cheap. I've seen people using 3 2X12's lag bolted together in the place of the steel beam I used...

Good luck!