Maintnence Question

So I just got a mid 80's Bass Tracker from a friend and this is the first boat I have really owned. I got the repair manual for my 1986-1989 Mercury Classic Fifty 45HP 4cyl Motor and was wondering what things I should immediately look at. I checked over all the wires and nothing seems corroded. I did change out the spark plugs already. The motor cranked and seemed to run fine when I bought the boat. It had a good strong stream of water coming out of it.

Should I go ahead an put new LU oil in it? (This looked easy in the manual)
Should I get someone to replace the Waterpump? (This looked complicated in the manual.)
What else should I have looked at?

It has been dry docked in their boat house for several years. They did crank it up and run it about once or twice a year but other than that nothing has been done with it. I don't know any mechanics in my area that wont rip me a new one and would be a little wary of doing it myself. Plus I have a kid in Daycare and am low on funds after purchasing the boat, but I want to try to be worry free when I take it out.

Definite yes to the first one. Partial yes to the second one, as in yes it should be done, but no you shouldn't get someone to do it (it really isn't all that complicated). If you do, for whatever reason, pay someone to replace the water pump impeller, they'll likely replace the gear lube anyway, so don't bother doing it yourself.

I'd probably rebuild the carb (not that hard, and carb rebuild kits are inexpensive).

bassboy1 said:

Definite yes to the first one. Partial yes to the second one, as in yes it should be done, but no you shouldn't get someone to do it (it really isn't all that complicated). If you do, for whatever reason, pay someone to replace the water pump impeller, they'll likely replace the gear lube anyway, so don't bother doing it yourself.

I'd probably rebuild the carb (not that hard, and carb rebuild kits are inexpensive).

Click to expand...

This is a coming from a 17 year outboard prodigy. :LOL2:

Troutman3000 said:

bassboy1 said:

Definite yes to the first one. Partial yes to the second one, as in yes it should be done, but no you shouldn't get someone to do it (it really isn't all that complicated). If you do, for whatever reason, pay someone to replace the water pump impeller, they'll likely replace the gear lube anyway, so don't bother doing it yourself.

I'd probably rebuild the carb (not that hard, and carb rebuild kits are inexpensive).

Click to expand...

This is a coming from a 17 year outboard prodigy. :LOL2:

Click to expand...

I was gonna say.. The Repair manual is very detailed and it still make it look daunting. Just dropping the Lower Unit scares me to death. I'm gonna try and ask my Uncle who he uses for his motor work.

Can someone tell me what year this motor is from this SN? 082558157

So I've been reading the repair manual religiously and reading through some other How To's on installing a new water pump. It's not as hard as I originally thought but there seems to be a little conflicting information. Do I put it in Forward or Neutral when I drop the LU? Also, do I just order the Impeller kit with the new gaskets and impeller or the whole water pump kit?

Also still need to know what year this is and if it is classified as a 50HP or 45 HP...

Thanks!

Really you should go to I-BOATS for all the real gear heads over there. Its really "geared" towards motor repair and so forth and the engine forums are very active.