1979 115 Tower of Power

[mrmagrath]

Howdy.
This is my first post, so I'd better introduce myself. I'm Grant from Christchurch, New Zealand, and was born into a boating family. We've had some interesting boats over the years, but not much that you could relate to in the USA, other than a 16ft Sidewinder. After a 20 year break from having a boat, we picked up a cheap Sidewinder (actually badged as a Plylite Panther) with a 1979 115 Mercury on the back about 3 years ago. It's a pretty cool motor I have to say! Love the sound! It's not our first Mercury. That honor goes to a 1970 65 red band bought new.
However, after servicing the 115, and noting the carbs could do with a rebuilding, we took her out last Friday evening, with my brother in law towing me on my ski, when I heard a weird machine gun noise. I thought it was my ski at first, but my brother in law buttoned off, and I could hear it was the motor. Then, it stopped. I pretty much had a rough idea what it was, so today, I started to remove the power head to confirm my suspicions. I'm thinking a bearing cap has let go. So, although I have plenty of experience building car engines, I'm pretty green when it comes to these things! I have the shop manual for it, but for tips and tricks, I'm hoping to use your combined experience!

And while I'm here, I have an opportunity to get a 1979 Mercury 200 V6 cheap. Can I have your opinions please?
MERCURY 200 OLD BLUE BAND MODEL | Trade Me

I should really show you the boat as well........


Cheers
Grant

 

[jsimms724]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Cool boat, welcome to this great forumn, I also have a old inline 6 115 I have never got has deep in to it as your gonna, parts are easy to find and reasonable good luck

 

[Texasmark]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

If you lost a bearing cap I doubt it would fix itself. Might add a couple of oz of Sea Foam/gallon to the tank till you go through a couple of cans and see if it returns. I don't know if they sell it down there. Here it is in just about every auto parts store you walk into including the world famous Wally World (aka Wallmart. grin).

Have a look see at your lower unit lube while you're at it......just for grins. Never know what you'll find.

Mark

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Thanks guys.
A closer inspection has revealed a crack in the housing by number 6 big end. I assume it's let go and smacked it. About to remove the power head and get busy!
Grant

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

I guess every engine has a lifespan. The old 115 stack 6 was certainly a tough engine. Maybe you can find parts in your beautiful country, as you have so many boats around.

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Thanks for your kind words! Yeah, no shortage of boats here. eBay's another option. I've got to borrow a lifting eye from a boat shop on Saturday, then I should be able to have a decent look when she's all apart. Actually, there's more than just a crack in the crankcase cover. A big chunk just fell out! So far, so good........
I'll try and get some pictures.

 

[sourbsted]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Yeah post some pics if you can. I have an old I6 150hp 73 and she's going very strong after a recondition. Just get electric issues with it now. There pretty popular here in Australia..

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Got a couple of pictures. Not great, but you should be able to see the damage.

The hole is right behind the gear bell crank pivot(still learning names for things on outboards, forgive me if I'm wrong!)
Cheers
Grant

 

[Texasmark]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

More pictures like back off some and give us a better view of the exact location on the powerhead and for your closeups, try to get in focus.

It's real important to know where the chip came from specifically, and is this where the crack was and wound up as a chunk broken out?

Reason is, JB Weld is a fabulous product and if your chip is in a non critical place, you can do a good prep, rough up and degrease, and JB weld your piece back in for about $2 worth of the product from your local auto parts store and you don't have to dismantle a thing. It's a 2 part epoxy with metal powder.

Mark

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

I hear you Mark. I couldn't get the camera in the right angle for the best picture, but the piece is from the crankcase cover immediately in front of the No 6 cylinder big end. I'm just off to a boat shop to get the lifting eye. We have JB Weld here, so it could be a good option if the location is non-critical. I have good reason to believe the bearing cap has said goodbye to the rod, so it looks like dismantelisation is the only way! More pics to come.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

I hear you Mark. I couldn't get the camera in the right angle for the best picture, but the piece is from the crankcase cover immediately in front of the No 6 cylinder big end. I'm just off to a boat shop to get the lifting eye. We have JB Weld here, so it could be a good option if the location is non-critical. I have good reason to believe the bearing cap has said goodbye to the rod, so it looks like dismantelisation is the only way! More pics to come.

Why don't you get Seelspike, CharlieB, or Chris1956 to name a few involved and (ping them) and get some ideas as to what you might test to determine what you said. Won't hurt to try.

Mark

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

Thanks Mark. Being a noob, I don't know who's in the know, but you've been very helpful!
Tore the engine down yesterday, took pictures (which my daughter promptly deleted. Don"t get me started!) It appears that water has been getting in No 6, as there's a fair bit of rust from the crankshaft, and the bearing is toast. I noticed a hole in the baffle that goes between the exhaust manifold cover and the block by no 6. Looks quite round, which made me think it was factory, but logic says it shouldn't be there. I may be wrong of course. Oh, and the rod was broken off at the bottom , just by the bolts. By prying what's left of the bearing out of the way, the journal didn't look too bad, but I'll have a decent look later today. (and get pics!)
Cheers
Grant

 

[mrmagrath]

Re: 1979 115 Tower of Power

A bit late on an update, sorry, but I'm afraid the engine is dead. The block is corroded at the bottom by the exhaust, and the crankshaft is history, along with the rod and piston. So it looks like it's going to be parted out. The up side is we've just pulled the trigger on a late 80's Black Max 200 with a reconditioned power head. That should be able to haul me out of the water ok! Thanks again for your help.
Grant