New motor, what next?

What's up guys just picked up my new motor that I found on a FaceBook yardsale-type page. It's a 1996 Mercury 6.0. Picked it up for $300 about an hour ago.

I don't even know if it runs - I brought a barrel with me to check it out thinking we were going to his house, instead I followed him his storage unit to check it out. No water. Oh, well. Motor looked good, pretty clean inside and out. Needs a tank and line. Previous owner claims it runs great and is ready for water minus tank/line.

Odd to be doing a through inspection AFTER purchase but I did my best with what little knowledge of motors I possess. But I had no idea what to really check and all as I know nothing about boat motors.

He was initially asking $500, but because I couldn't see it run we settled on $300. And since I'm still painting/modding my boat anyway, I wanna give the motor a good tune-up. Assume I should change the plugs, and the oil. What about the lower shaft? Isn't there some type of oil in there? What types of oil should I be using for both upper and lower? Bunch of basic questions that I'll probably find my own answer to by reading the stickies right after I click "submit" but I just wanted to show off my new purchase!

Isn't there a good prop I can buy to boost performance? Pretty small motor for a 14' boat that I'm putting a deck on, wanted a 9.9 but I couldn't pass up $300.



Built a stand for it and have it sitting in a barrel. Gonna grab a tank/line and hope she fires up... probably tomorrow. Still wanna get another coat of paint on my boat and trailer before the bugs come out.

I'd replace the impeller before firing it up ... or at least using it on the water ...

Nice looking motor! If she fires up I'd say you got a pretty good deal for 3 bills. There is oil in the lower unit. Id check it out, make sure there's oil in there and no water.
As stated above I'd change the impeller before you take it out on the water. Good luck and keep us updated!

I knew I posted this thread for a reason! Will definitely order a new impeller for the motor before putting it in water. They're cheap enough on e-bay. $15-20 depending on which one I need exactly.

What's the reason for swapping it out without even knowing its bad? I assume the motor would be damaged by running it out of water and I'm assuming for the very same reason - if impeller isn't working, it won't pull water into the motor and thus damaging it?

HickInTheSticks said:

I knew I posted this thread for a reason! Will definitely order a new impeller for the motor before putting it in water. They're cheap enough on e-bay. $15-20 depending on which one I need exactly.

What's the reason for swapping it out without even knowing its bad? I assume the motor would be damaged by running it out of water and I'm assuming for the very same reason - if impeller isn't working, it won't pull water into the motor and thus damaging it?

Click to expand...

Correct! They get old and hard and brittle. Any local boat shop near you probably has one in stock for it. And you want have to wait on the mail. Just pop that one out and take it with u so they can see the shaft size.
I made that sound easy didn't I. Pop it out. Well it's not that hard I just did one on my 1976 7.5 Mercury. Need any help just yell at me.

Waiting for responses on that performance prop. I might want one to. :mrgreen:
It will be a while before I can upgrade to a bigger motor. So every mph counts!

Ended up having to take the motor to the mechanic. Couldn't get it apart without that special tool - I don't mind too much though, gives me some time to work on the interior of the boat and have it ready by the time my motor is ready!

Told me it'd be "Under $200." Wanted to attach the lower to the upper for another $50. Told him it was 3 bolts and the smart-*** was like "Well, hope you can put it back in together without pulling the rod back out."