1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

[dom_litty09]

i have a mercury 135hp v6. its a 1988. im tearing it down to replace a piston. im down to the crank case cover and i cant get it off... all the bolts are out. (keep in mind i dont have the block pulled from the lower unit, its still all together and on the boat) im not sure why it wont come off. the top seperates from the block but it wont go far.. why wont it come off? do i need to seperate the engine from the lower unit?? help please.. thanks in advance

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

You have to pull the powerhead as the upper and lower crankcase alignment pins wont allow this....

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

i absolutely have to pull the whole powerhead? there is no way to just pull the crankcase cover? and how would i go about pulling the powerhead if that has to be done? ive never done work like this on a boat so im just kinda going out on a limb.. id really rather not pull the powerhead if possible..

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

No way around it as you still have 2 more bolts in the lower end cap holding the front half on. Keep prying on it and you going to need more than a piston and a few gaskets.....

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

ok.. well i have the 2 bolts off.. how do i go about pulling the powerhead? and do you know approximately how heavy it is?

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

STOP... Get yourself a manual as I can see a major FUBAR coming!!! The nuts you removed are the mounting nuts for the studs in front half which have to be removed anyway to lift powerhead. The bolts I am talking about are in the end cap that hold the lower crankshaft seals which you cannot see or access without removing powerhead. The powerhead is around 225lbs. For reading your older post about it getting hot you are going to need to tear the ENTIRE powerhead down and check pistons for scuffing as a overheat will not damage just a single piston it will damage ALL!!! How does the cylinder look as if its scuffed and has aluminum transfer it will need to be honed or bored. Save yourself some time and money and do it right...once.

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

yes i have a repair manual. and when i get the piston out i am having my mechanic hone it out for me

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

yes i have a repair manual.

Then you need to do some reading and this post would not be needed. You CANNOT hone a block with the crank and other pistons in place as you CANNOT wash all the honing material away. It will ruin the internal parts just like throwing a fine grit sand inside the block. You are going to need to tear the ENTIRE powerhead down and check pistons for scuffing or this is a waste of your and your mechanic's(which should know better) time...

 

[j_martin]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

Then you need to do some reading and this post would not be needed. You CANNOT hone a block with the crank and other pistons in place as you CANNOT wash all the honing material away. It will ruin the internal parts just like throwing a fine grit sand inside the block. You are going to need to tear the ENTIRE powerhead down and check pistons for scuffing or this is a waste of your and your mechanic's(which should know better) time...

I did it with my 53 Chevy. Why can't you do it to a 2 cycle V6.

Don't bother explaining Fazt, I know better. I'm just illustrating the mindset we see.

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

"I did it with my 53 Chevy. Why can't you do it to a 2 cycle V6"

thats what i thought i didnt see any problem with doing it without removing all the pistons and crank

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

i have all the nuts off so the powerhead should come off now.. but it still wont for some reason. there are 6 bolts holding it on and all are out.. why wont it come off now?

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

here are 6 bolts holding it on and all are out.. why wont it come off now?

Read your book cause there a 10 studs/nuts that hold the powerhead on...geesh.:facepalm: If your wont listen and take expert advise that makes this post is a waste of time....

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

well i called a local shop and they were tellin me there is only 6.. and thats what it looked like to me too.. i dont see any other nuts/bolts that looks like they are holding it on..

 

[j_martin]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

Yeah, you're right. Fazt dont know his $$$ from a hole in the ground.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

Yeah, you're right. Fazt dont know his $$$ from a hole in the ground

Yep..... you got me "J"

well i called a local shop and they were tellin me there is only 6.. and thats what it looked like to me too.. i dont see any other nuts/bolts that looks like they are holding it on..

Each red line is a stud with nut...1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

I did it with my 53 Chevy. Why can't you do it to a 2 cycle V6"

thats what i thought i didnt see any problem with doing it without removing all the pistons and crank

1988 135hp soon to be listed for parts on craigslist and Ebay

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

i found the other 4 nuts that were holding it on.. they didnt look like they were hooked to the powerhead but i looked it over and it seems like they are. but the powerhead still isnt coming off. is it just sealed really tight? should i get a cherry picker and just keep trying to lift it off?

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

and will i need to replace that base gasket shown in the pic as well?

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1988 mercury 135hp V6, tear down, crank case cover problem... help please

i have the powerhead pulled and im bringing it to my mechanic to hone the cylinder tomorrow.. where can i get a new base gasket and crank case gasket?