My father came across this forum after searching to find Mercury Outboark Electrical issues.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=133622
This thread was the same sitution I was in last week, but unfortunately now warranty here! In an attempt to get on the water sooner (and away from boating electrical issues) I decided to go strait to a mechanic. Unfortunately taking the boat to this mechanic found some other issues revolving around the loss of compression on the middle cylinder of 3! (110, 60, 110). The good news at this point is that the electrical issue has been solved!
The situation now seems to be more focused on the low compression on the middle cylinder. The mechanic has been speaking with Mercury over the phone regarding this issue and he said that Mercury would replace the powerhead for free and he would just charge labor to install. I asked how he knew that the powerhead was bad (ie what tests had he performed) and his reply was since it was the middle cylinder, that the bad powerhead was for sure the culprit. That plus the Mercury customer claims people were so readily willing to replace the powerhead even though the engine has been out of warranty for just about a year. Something like they want to keep people happy and that this might be a reoccurring problem. Seems kind of odd to me, but I wanted to pass this one by everybody before going any farther.
Hearing this news I am inclined to head over to the mechanics and remove the head to see what has gone on. I have heard that I will see damage to the head gasket or the cylinder walls. The explanation for possiblity of head gasket damage is that a bad detonation (bad electrical) could have caused the cylinder not to compress the fluid and the path of least resistance would have been the head gasket or maybe a ring. The carberator is another place I would like to look at for the possibility of finding a reed valve issue.
What do you think? Are there any tests for diagnosing powerhead issues? I keep hearing about leakdown tests, but not sure what or how that is done. Last year I was on a 40HP Yamaha that blew the head gasket and there was a bunch of steam comming off the motor, I am sure from the cylinder and the block, so that might not be my problem either as I never saw that happening in my case. I know that pulling the head is fairly easy and think that should be done to ensure the powerhead is shot before going ahead. On the other hand, I dont want to get in the way or obstruct a somewhat free powerhead replacement. I am really at a loss and would really apprectiate your advice.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=133622
This thread was the same sitution I was in last week, but unfortunately now warranty here! In an attempt to get on the water sooner (and away from boating electrical issues) I decided to go strait to a mechanic. Unfortunately taking the boat to this mechanic found some other issues revolving around the loss of compression on the middle cylinder of 3! (110, 60, 110). The good news at this point is that the electrical issue has been solved!
The situation now seems to be more focused on the low compression on the middle cylinder. The mechanic has been speaking with Mercury over the phone regarding this issue and he said that Mercury would replace the powerhead for free and he would just charge labor to install. I asked how he knew that the powerhead was bad (ie what tests had he performed) and his reply was since it was the middle cylinder, that the bad powerhead was for sure the culprit. That plus the Mercury customer claims people were so readily willing to replace the powerhead even though the engine has been out of warranty for just about a year. Something like they want to keep people happy and that this might be a reoccurring problem. Seems kind of odd to me, but I wanted to pass this one by everybody before going any farther.
Hearing this news I am inclined to head over to the mechanics and remove the head to see what has gone on. I have heard that I will see damage to the head gasket or the cylinder walls. The explanation for possiblity of head gasket damage is that a bad detonation (bad electrical) could have caused the cylinder not to compress the fluid and the path of least resistance would have been the head gasket or maybe a ring. The carberator is another place I would like to look at for the possibility of finding a reed valve issue.
What do you think? Are there any tests for diagnosing powerhead issues? I keep hearing about leakdown tests, but not sure what or how that is done. Last year I was on a 40HP Yamaha that blew the head gasket and there was a bunch of steam comming off the motor, I am sure from the cylinder and the block, so that might not be my problem either as I never saw that happening in my case. I know that pulling the head is fairly easy and think that should be done to ensure the powerhead is shot before going ahead. On the other hand, I dont want to get in the way or obstruct a somewhat free powerhead replacement. I am really at a loss and would really apprectiate your advice.