I have a 1994 Mercury 200HP Black Max with low hours on it (less than 200) ... the plastic or brass gear that drives the oil pump started to deteriorate and the oil beep-beep-beep warning would go off intermittently. I removed the oil pump shaft and the wires from the rotation sensor and premixed my fuel 50:1.
The problem is, now when I cold start the motor, a cloud of smoke comes out of the engine until it warms up. The smoke is very thick and when I back out of the lift it all comes into the boat gagging everyone. I think it's also fouling the plugs since the motor does not idle reliably until I change the plugs. With new plugs it purrs like at kitten right a 750rpm all day. It expensive, and a pain, to keep putting in new plugs. I tried a small tank with 80:1 mix just for cold starts but it is a real pain switching tanks and I'm afraid some day I'll forget to switch back to the 50:1 tank before going to WOT.
Is there some way around this problem? Some people have suggested a synthetic oil or an electronic "VR metered" oil system. I've heard mixed reviews about using synthetic oil (more drag, hard on fuel lines and plastic fittings, etc) and the company making the electronic oil pump really likes it a LOT.
Second question ... I also heard that removing the OEM oil pump shaft could allow the bushing at the other end of the shaft still inside the motor to fall out and wreck havok in the crank or on the way out through the intake ports/cylinders/exhaust ports. The engine was run about 80 hours with the OEM oil pump shaft removed before I heard this caution. How can I tell if the bushing is still in its seat? If it's sitting at the bottom of the crack case is there an easy way to remove it? If the bushing is still in it's seat after all this time, should I worry about it. Should I just put the OEM oil pump shaft back in?
The problem is, now when I cold start the motor, a cloud of smoke comes out of the engine until it warms up. The smoke is very thick and when I back out of the lift it all comes into the boat gagging everyone. I think it's also fouling the plugs since the motor does not idle reliably until I change the plugs. With new plugs it purrs like at kitten right a 750rpm all day. It expensive, and a pain, to keep putting in new plugs. I tried a small tank with 80:1 mix just for cold starts but it is a real pain switching tanks and I'm afraid some day I'll forget to switch back to the 50:1 tank before going to WOT.
Is there some way around this problem? Some people have suggested a synthetic oil or an electronic "VR metered" oil system. I've heard mixed reviews about using synthetic oil (more drag, hard on fuel lines and plastic fittings, etc) and the company making the electronic oil pump really likes it a LOT.
Second question ... I also heard that removing the OEM oil pump shaft could allow the bushing at the other end of the shaft still inside the motor to fall out and wreck havok in the crank or on the way out through the intake ports/cylinders/exhaust ports. The engine was run about 80 hours with the OEM oil pump shaft removed before I heard this caution. How can I tell if the bushing is still in its seat? If it's sitting at the bottom of the crack case is there an easy way to remove it? If the bushing is still in it's seat after all this time, should I worry about it. Should I just put the OEM oil pump shaft back in?