Shake Down

[roncopas]

Hello all
My brother gave me his 1970 arena craft 380 V with a 1974 115hp OB Mercury I Think (the decal on the lower unit says 115 and on the cowling it says it’s a 1500 so I’m not sure what it is yet) the motor was Rebuilt top to bottom ,new throttle cable , steering cable and controller. Then put into storage for 2 years before I took it out I but the muffs on it mixed (50-1) and added 25gal gas started it up I let it run for about 10min or so it runs fine but smokes a bit so now I’ve taken it out 3 times now (shake down) used about 40gal of gas and it still smokes and I have few other prob
1. What is normal? (Smoke)
2. I can start the motor in gear (forward or reverse)
3. Reverse Lock needs to be adjusted
here is the ser # 3628720 or its 362872D ?

thanks for the help.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Shake Down

You are running a 2 cycle engine which burns oil with the gas. The amount of oil and general condition will determine just how much doesn't combust and hence makes smoke.

Hard to say which decal is right. The lower unit is probably more correct if someone hasn't dinked with the powerhead. The 1500 stands for 150 hp which Merc made in the blue band right before the V6 revolution. Performance will tell the difference.

Somewhere is an ignition kill switch and I am not sure where it is. Probably in your remote control box. Apparently is is defective. Should be a cam on the shift lever that actuates it when the lever is in N. Something you want to fix as you can have a bad accident if you forget to put it in N and start it.

I haven't adjusted a rev lock lately as all mine have been PTT. Sorry.

HTH,

Mark

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Shake Down

by the serial number you have a 1973 1500 150 hp mercaury inline 6 cyclinder the best manual for your engine i s the merc manual C=90-68647. the neutral safety swutch is in the shifter control box. if it were newer it would be very easy to replace. but being that old, you may open a can of worms.. i have a 71 1350 basically the same engine only 15 hp less. open my controler and the wires were toast. dried broken insulation, and bare wires everywhere. smoke the engine probably has never been decarb with seafoam. it cleans the internals of the engine, of old carbon build up. make a big difference inpreformance also. read "defoam " in the engine faq section. i'm not sure how long mine had been in storage but i was amazed the water pump work when i started mine. thought i was ok. 3 weeks later, launched starter the motor and no water. setting up is hard on the impeller watch your water flow pee hole. reverse lock been reading alot about problems with it but i don't have the solution. these are very gas hubgry engine when starting cold. you have to almost flood them to start. good luck. Clams and Tim are very knowledgeable on the inline 6's

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Shake Down

Definitely do a decarb, definitely replace the impeller.

 

[roncopas]

Re: Shake Down

The controller/shifter was replaced a few years ago it’s a Quicksilver I’ll take it apart and check it out
Thank you for the Identification of my motor. Would you know what the top speed should be? It has on it right now a 3 blade 19 pitch prop
I will get some seafoam and get the carbs cleaned out
thank you for the help and I'll get bacl to you all

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Shake Down

not familar with your boat, but mine is a 18' bowrider 1971 and heavy , with th 1350 i'm getting around 40 to 45 with a 19" pitch. great hole shot, almost immediate.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Shake Down

Say tas, reminds me of our '72 Johnny 125 on an 18' Caravelle bow rider. We ran the 19 for skiing and as a result we never could get over 39. Back to what I said about the red bands beating me up all the time. My boss at the time had one and used to kid me about being able to outrun me with the same type of equip....except the engine brand. Guess that is part of what moved me over to the Merc camp.

Mark

 

[roncopas]

Re: Shake Down

Ok I took the controller apart and adjusted the neutral safety switch also did a decarb (2 times) and it was still smoking pretty bad but I was still getting a lot of goo out of it so I pulled the spark plugs (Heavily fouled) cleaned them and used Deep Creep and decarbed it 1 more 1 time after doing all this it stills smokes so I Changed to a synthetic oil (50-1) that made the difference also I’ve done a compression test here is the results 1)130psi 2)130psi 3)125psi 4)130ps 5)90/115/120psi 6)130psi (#5pumps up to 90psi then slowly builds up to 115/120/125ish psi then drops back to 90psi and builds back up I don’t know what to do next should I try to run some more Sea Foam / Deep Creep and see if it’s a stuck ring or do I have a bigger Problemsee if it’s a stuck ring or do I have a bigger Problem

 

[Clams Canino]

Re: Shake Down

Hey Tash? Did he take the serial number off the transom clamp or the powerhead itself? Think that might have some bearing on your speculation as to the year and hp??

Try Mercury Power Tune on #5... stuck rings only get worse if not dealt with.

-W

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Shake Down

I would spray the Deep Creep heavily in the cylinders again, let it sit overnight, then take it to the river, drop it in the water, and blow it out.

 

[roncopas]

Re: Shake Down

I took ser# off of the power head (right side) here it is again 3628720
I sprayed them all down again paying closer attention to #5 hopefully this dose the trick
Thx 4 all the help guys 8)

 

[roncopas]

Re: Shake Down

Well I sprayed down all cylinders again,(heavily) let it sit over night but I put it on the muffs to blow them out after that I did a compression check and it doesn’t look good now I’m getting 60/90/115 psi on # 5 then it drops down to 60 then builds back up to 90/115 all other cylinders are still @ 125/130 psi should I take it out to the lake/river to blow it out (hopefully not blow it up) or is it ok to use the muffs

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Shake Down

I would. You have little to loose (couple of cans of Sea Foam) and everything to gain.

As stated before, actual compression is not revelant as the amount of oil and type in the fuel mix will cause it to vary as others have stated on here.

Main thing is that they are all reading about the same like some say within 10 lbs others, like my Merc manual, 15.

The fact that you have changed your compression significantly says you are making progress.

On #5, I can't understand how it goes back and forth unless it's cleaning up. Things don't just happen, they are caused. Can't imagine anything else that would make your compression vary like that unless you aren't getting a good seal on your gauge or that you have a cracked ring.....but don't dwell on that for now .

Mark