What's wrong with those 3 cyl, 2 carb Mercury's?

[SeaHorse]

This came up in another thread "Should I burry this mercury?". (sic)<br />Anyway, what's wrong with those 3 cylinder, 2 carb motors? I recently bought a '79 700 with later model electronics. Is there something I should be looking out for? My dealer said not to worry about the thermostat since it was a major pain to take off the huge exhaust cover just to get at it. The previous owner said he replaced the impeller but I get nervous when it takes about 20 seconds of idling to get water out the pee hole. <br /> There seems to be a lot of these motors still going strong but maybe they have some weak points?

 

[andrewkafp]

Re: What's wrong with those 3 cyl, 2 carb Mercury's?

20-30 seconds for coooling system to fill up and then the tell tale starts working. This is normal.The water should not be real hot, just cool to warm.<br />This Merc does not have any specific problems, and will give you good service if you look after it.<br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=29;t=007214

 

[ODDD1]

Re: What's wrong with those 3 cyl, 2 carb Mercury's?

Seahorse, I always thought these were good motors....once you got past the marginal cooling system...round here they usually die from use with a wore out pump,and eat the top piston...guys who mantain them, they last fine.