1994 Merc 175 Issues

[Ric Flair]

Hello once again to all. I have a general question about the Mercury Oil Injection issues with Mercury Outboards in the 90's

I have an opportunity on a VERY low hour 21 ft Center Console FRESH WATER boat with a 1994 Mercury 175. This boat has only had one owner...and older man who used it for slow trolling in a fresh water lake up north. The boat always spent the winter in dry storage and boat and motor is so clean it looks brand new....a refreshing change for this Florida guy.

Here is the issue. This particular motor recently had the oil injection gear replaced by the dealer....yes the block was split and gear replaced and now is running great again. Obviously, the old man took very good care of his boat, so it may have simply been a preventative thing by the dealer.

Given the history of Mercury oil gear issues from this generation, is there a need to worry about future issues with this motor?

Appreciate and comments.....positive or negative.

 

[Dukedog]

95% of tha "gear" problem stems from neglect, tryin' ta make a hot rod (turnin' way to many r's), numerous minor over heat or a major over heat event.... if you know tha history of tha motor with these concerns in mind, would be your choice ta delete it or not..... keep in mind that tha only ones ya read about are tha ones that do go down.. ya don't hear 'bout tha hundreds of oil injected motors still kickin' after many years/hours of service... but jus ta be clear, any used oil injected motor I bought, repaired, for myself ended up WITHOUT tha oiler stuff.... jmo

 

[Ric Flair]

Thankyou Mr. Dukedog. I have been boating and wrenching many years...was a longtime member on this very forum since 2008. Was forced to create another account due to lost password and various other reasons.

I once owned a 1988 90hp 3 Cyl Merc with the inline 3 and oil injected. Never an issue with it. Since then, its been all Johnson/Evinrude and Honda for me. After doing some research on this particular motor, the Mercury Oil Injection issue came to light. Since I have been out of the Mercury market for a wile, I did not know if the issue had been worked out with newer parts and/or technology. I once lost a 3.4 Litre Mercury outboard due to oil issues, so I did not want to address that issue again with another one.

Your point about about the 'hundreds' of successful Mercury motors running with these gears was well received. As in any repair forum of any kind, you only hear about the 'problem' motors....not the ones that run well.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Dukedog]

3.4 was not a very good motor in a lotta ways (reason it went away).... merc used basically same oiler system on tha v6 for better part of 20 years (2.0, 2.4, 2.5).. tha gear material (that's not plastic, composite material) never changed!.. again, jmo and good luck with whatever ya go with...