Finally!, new Mercury is ON! All the pictures.

[Ben87]

I am so happy.  I picked the boat up on Saturday and the boat did look so sweet with the new motor hanging off the back.  The Mech. fired it up on the hose and it was so quiet, out of the water!  No smoke, quiet, I couldn't wait to get it on the water.

Spend the first half of Sunday wiring up the new 6-position BEP panel into the dash and it all went well, dragged the boat to the ramp, slid it into the water, hit the key and I had to look back to make sure the motor was running it was so quiet, it sounded 4-stroke quiet, I wonder, 'if 4-strokes are quieter, they must be quiet!'  Spend the first hour breaking the engine in, running between 3000-4500 rpm for no more than 2 minutes at any rpm.  I had to go behind the tach to adjust it as it was reading too high until I set it to the 4th setting and found the right one.  After the first hour I was able to go WOT for no more than 10 seconds and saw 40mph with all 70 gallons of gas on board and 3 gallons of oil and 3 persons aboard with 3 fishing rods.  

I believe the overall length of the engine to be longer as I could not get the prop to cavitate on any turn, it just held and bit, or it could be the motor/lower unit is designed differently from 1987.  Swinging the 15X17 Quicksilver aluminum 3-bladed prop has always worked well and had WOT at 5,500 or so, but only for a brief time as was allowed by the manual/the good book.  

Here are some things that I'll vent about regarding the install.  

A greasy shop rag was left in the bilge over the bilge pump along with cut zip ties and plastic battery terminal protectors and other flotsam, how it got in there is a wonder.  

The temp guage does not work, I am going to look at it when I get home, as there are 4 wires hanging from the engine harness that are not connected and I suspect one of them is the temp wire and will try hooking it up when I get home.  

The H20 pressure guage does not work, they even cut the hard plastic feet under the console, the butchers!, I'm pretty mad at this as there is no line to the stern anymore, they must have pulled it.  

I'm going to put a new gas guage I bought today to replace the POS cheap Tempo guage I got with a better quality Tempo fuel guage today and figure out the Temp guage as well, I suppose I can just hook up the wire I suspect is the temp sender, fire up the motor and see if the guage rises.  

I have to hook up the stereo and the console tray and the console frame when all is done under the console.  

I'm going to put in thick rubber bungee cords to hold the batteries down the the console floor, I'm putting the neoprene computer mouse pads underneath them for shock absorbtion as I don't have battery boxes, they are more of a PITA to me than anything.  Enjoy the pics guys.


Ther e is the new ram for the steering system as well, a Baystar from Teleflex, $690.  I can't stand the dealer stamp on the plate, any ideas of how to disguise it?

[RickK]

Yup, looks nice.
Why can't mechanics treat your boat like it was their own?? (or maybe they did :x )  I had power steering fluid all over the boat after my replacement motor and used seastar steering was installed. Pizzed me off  :x .

[JimCt]

WOW  :!:
That looks great!  Worth the wait.  I was amazed too how quiet the new motors are.  My Merc '75 is quieter than the 6 hp kicker I have beside it.

Congrats and have a great time with the boat!

[Ben87]

Thanks!, I can't get enough of it, I sit outside and look at it, I look at it on the computer, it is like cleavage or a skirt on a woman, I can't stop looking!, ha!  

The wait was tough but worth it, hopefully the boat/transom will last a few more years then if I decide to get a new boat I'll put the motor on the new hull, I'll "Re-Hull."  

I put on the new fuel guage to replace the super-cheap Tempo guage, the old/broken one was not silicone damped like the new one I bought so to see the dial sweep up and down real smooth-like was a real joy last night.  I had to take the time to sand and grease all the connections in the back of the guages as corrosion had reared its ugly head, I had to take the light sockets out and sand and grease everything and the instrument lights worked again.  

Does anyone know what wire out of these new Merc's/Opti's is the Temp wire coming out of the harness?

[ddd222]

my yami wil bitch slap your merc!!!! just kidding, but recently repowered and felt the same excitement, keep posted!

[JimCt]

Post you temperature wire question to TMD.  He is a certified Mercury Tech and will get back to you with answers very quickly.  He has helped me out on several occasions.

http://themarinedoctor.com/

[Ben87]

Thanks for the lead, I did and will await reply, the internet is so great.  

I can't wait to go home and wire things up for the new stereo in the rain and get the console tray and console frame back in the console, it is just about the last job left.  

The installer also had his greasy hands all over the boat and I'll have to clean it all again.  I took the time to get it real clean so they would have more respect for the boat but it did not work, hydraulic oil and hand/fingerprints are everywhere!  No matter, I do like making it clean again.  

ddd222, is your Yamaha new as well?, and what kind is it?  2-4-stroke?

[Tailgunner]

Optimax150? I like ben87 better.  8)

TMD is awesome. He has bailed me out more than once.

[RickK]

The installer also had his greasy hands all over the boat and I'll have to clean it all again.  I took the time to get it real clean so they would have more respect for the boat but it did not work, hydraulic oil and hand/fingerprints are everywhere!  No matter, I do like making it clean again.

Buy some "Purple Stuff" - works great...spray on, hose off and the mechanic is gone.  Maybe we should just spray it on the mechanics instead, maybe they'd learn some respect?  

[warthog5]

The addition of a rigging tube will really clean that install up. That motor is setup to install a rigging hose on it.

http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/store/ ... tID=319730

[Ben87]

I totally agree and wondered if it wasn't supposed to come with it, but apparently not.  Thanks so much for the lead as I really need to clean it up.  I'm going to check that link now and get it as the 87 is making it's way slowly into the new millenium.  Thanks again all.