Mercury outboard failure

[JosephPaul]

On last night's fishing trip we had our new(2006) 25HP Mercury outboard fail on our 17 ft boat. We were at near full throttle and all the sudden came to an abrupt stop. The engine was still running but smoke was emitting from the water exhaust nozzle. The prop won't spin but the engine runs fine with clean oil at level.

Any pointers? This had to happen when i am off and visiting my father.

Now you have an idea of what I'm working with

 

[JosephPaul]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

Update: I just drained the lower unit(prop drive) oil and it is white, not the clearish yellow lube we changed out this spring. And there was plenty of water drianing out too.

So what am i looking at replacing? I am mechanically inclined with car engines but this is our first outboard boat.

 

[2Smokinya]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

Sounds like you have some water in your lower unit, check the seals on the drain plugs to see if thy are cracked or damaged at all. Get new seals if needed, and fill it up with fresh lube, at least start with that.

 

[tgpfloat]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

I have a 16 ft starcraft with an old 1978 Mercury. Thinking of upgrading my motor to a newer model at some point. Does the 25 hp push your boat ok?
Do you feel it has enough power?

Thanks

Tgpfloat

 

[JosephPaul]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

Yeah, when it was working well it did the job great. Too much motor for the boat in my opinion.

Now I am looking at rebuilding the low drive unit...i suppose new drive gears, seals, and bearings. Can anyone point me in the right direction for parts and possibly a "how-to" on the subject?

 

[gss036]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

What about warranty work? 2006 motor still should be covered.

 

[JosephPaul]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

We are looking up the warranty stuff. Tomorrow I am dropping ti off at the place we bought it at and hopefully they will show that its under warranty for the seals going bad.

We have the fully equipped version(electric start, 4 stroke efi, eclectric trim)and are actually wanting to down grade to a 15 hp tops. Want to go back to the basics...less stuff to break and worry about.

 

[j442w30]

Re: Mercury outboard failure

How did the propeller look, did you maybe hit something? When you drained the gear lube were there any metal particles in the lube? It sounds like something pretty catastrophic happened to your lower unit.