I have a Mercury 3-cyl, 60hp two-stroke. In the bottom of the engine
cowling, just aft of center, is a one-way water drain valve with a little
plastic ball at the bottom of a tube that allows water to drain out of the
cowling but not get sucked in due to the negative pressure created from the
carburetor intake. Funny thing is, there are two more "open" holes at the
back of the lower cowling with no one-way valves present. With all the salt
spray I see splashing up on the bottom of the cowling when I am running, I
am sure sal****er must be getting sucked in the two back cowling holes
because my three sparkplugs are rusted. Should I plug those two holes?
They appear to be factory drilled openings.

Mike

"Mike Slater" wrote in message
news:4rIem.816064$yE1.657711@attbi_s21...
I have a Mercury 3-cyl, 60hp two-stroke. In the bottom of the engine
cowling, just aft of center, is a one-way water drain valve with a little
plastic ball at the bottom of a tube that allows water to drain out of the
cowling but not get sucked in due to the negative pressure created from the
carburetor intake. Funny thing is, there are two more "open" holes at the
back of the lower cowling with no one-way valves present. With all the
salt spray I see splashing up on the bottom of the cowling when I am
running, I am sure sal****er must be getting sucked in the two back cowling
holes because my three sparkplugs are rusted. Should I plug those two
holes? They appear to be factory drilled openings.

Mike
Guys... I need advice on this one. Should I plug those two back holes?

On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:18:10 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Mike Slater" wrote in message
news:4rIem.816064$yE1.657711@attbi_s21...
I have a Mercury 3-cyl, 60hp two-stroke. In the bottom of the engine
cowling, just aft of center, is a one-way water drain valve with a little
plastic ball at the bottom of a tube that allows water to drain out of the
cowling but not get sucked in due to the negative pressure created from the
carburetor intake. Funny thing is, there are two more "open" holes at the
back of the lower cowling with no one-way valves present. With all the
salt spray I see splashing up on the bottom of the cowling when I am
running, I am sure sal****er must be getting sucked in the two back cowling
holes because my three sparkplugs are rusted. Should I plug those two
holes? They appear to be factory drilled openings.

Mike
Guys... I need advice on this one. Should I plug those two back holes?

Why not give Merc a call and try to get a definitive answer ? I
would not plug them without that knowledge.

wrote in message
news
On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:18:10 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Mike Slater" wrote in message
news:4rIem.816064$yE1.657711@attbi_s21...
I have a Mercury 3-cyl, 60hp two-stroke. In the bottom of the engine
cowling, just aft of center, is a one-way water drain valve with a little
plastic ball at the bottom of a tube that allows water to drain out of
the
cowling but not get sucked in due to the negative pressure created from
the
carburetor intake. Funny thing is, there are two more "open" holes at
the
back of the lower cowling with no one-way valves present. With all the
salt spray I see splashing up on the bottom of the cowling when I am
running, I am sure sal****er must be getting sucked in the two back
cowling
holes because my three sparkplugs are rusted. Should I plug those two
holes? They appear to be factory drilled openings.

Mike
Guys... I need advice on this one. Should I plug those two back holes?

No, if they weren't supposed to be there they wouldn't be.

My Merc dealer says I should drill them even larger to a 1/2" diameter.
It's complicated because the way my motor is trimmed up slightly, the water
runs toward the front of the motor lower cowling housing. I agree now that
plugging is not the answer. I used silicone as a test and then the water
had no where to escape. He said with Mercury's the water gets in through
the gasket where the top and bottom half where cowling cover meets the base.
Remember, this is a pontoon boat. I told him I was going to add a water
deflector to eithr side of the transom mounting so that water cant even get
sprayed up near the motor cover. He said that was one way to handle it.

"Gene" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:27:17 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:

He said with Mercury's the water gets in through
the gasket where the top and bottom half where cowling cover meets the
base.

IMHO, your motor is mounted WAY too low.....
--

--------------------
I am not disagreeing. I used to have a different Riviera Cruiser with the
same problem. Not sure I can change the mounting height, but I think I can
add a water deflector to keep salt spray away from the powerhead lower
cowling. I will be sure not to affect the airflow, just water.

"Gene" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:43:18 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Gene" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:27:17 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:

He said with Mercury's the water gets in through
the gasket where the top and bottom half where cowling cover meets the
base.

IMHO, your motor is mounted WAY too low.....
--

--------------------
I am not disagreeing. I used to have a different Riviera Cruiser with the
same problem. Not sure I can change the mounting height, but I think I
can
add a water deflector to keep salt spray away from the powerhead lower
cowling. I will be sure not to affect the airflow, just water.

Earth to Mike................. If water is entering the center of
your engine cowl, adding a water deflector (whatever the hell *that*
is), is a lot like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

1) I can't imagine a situation where the mounting height *can't * be
adjusted and,

2) You *really* need somebody, that knows what they are doing, to look
at your boat.
--
--------------------
I am using this as a guide for mounting height.
http://www.marinepartsman.com/instal...your-boat.html I
will measure where my mounting bracket is on the transom tomorrow at first
light.

"Gene" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:43:18 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Gene" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:27:17 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:

He said with Mercury's the water gets in through
the gasket where the top and bottom half where cowling cover meets the
base.

IMHO, your motor is mounted WAY too low.....
--

--------------------
I am not disagreeing. I used to have a different Riviera Cruiser with the
same problem. Not sure I can change the mounting height, but I think I
can
add a water deflector to keep salt spray away from the powerhead lower
cowling. I will be sure not to affect the airflow, just water.

Earth to Mike................. If water is entering the center of
your engine cowl, adding a water deflector (whatever the hell *that*
is), is a lot like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

1) I can't imagine a situation where the mounting height *can't * be
adjusted and,

2) You *really* need somebody, that knows what they are doing, to look
at your boat.
--

-----------
Here is a typical transom engine mounting for a pontoon boat. I added the
red arrows to show where salt spray typically enters the powerhead cowling
at the gasket. I will add a small length of aluminum or rubber flaps to the
transom to limit the salt spray. see:
http://www.thespaceexplorers.com/mis...ontransom1.jpg

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:47:23 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Gene" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:43:18 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:


"Gene" wrote in message
m...
On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:27:17 GMT, "Mike Slater"
wrote:

He said with Mercury's the water gets in through
the gasket where the top and bottom half where cowling cover meets the
base.

IMHO, your motor is mounted WAY too low.....
--

--------------------
I am not disagreeing. I used to have a different Riviera Cruiser with
the
same problem. Not sure I can change the mounting height, but I think I
can
add a water deflector to keep salt spray away from the powerhead lower
cowling. I will be sure not to affect the airflow, just water.

Earth to Mike................. If water is entering the center of
your engine cowl, adding a water deflector (whatever the hell *that*
is), is a lot like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

1) I can't imagine a situation where the mounting height *can't * be
adjusted and,

2) You *really* need somebody, that knows what they are doing, to look
at your boat.
--

-----------
Here is a typical transom engine mounting for a pontoon boat. I added the
red arrows to show where salt spray typically enters the powerhead cowling
at the gasket. I will add a small length of aluminum or rubber flaps to
the
transom to limit the salt spray. see:
http://www.thespaceexplorers.com/mis...ontransom1.jpg

On my harris there are 2 deflectors on each side of the motor bracket
about 4-5" wide with about an inch of the outside edges bent down
around 30 degrees to channel the water aft. One is near the top and
the other about half way up the side. You could get an aluminum
fabricator to make up something for you, maybe shaped like a square C
crossection that would bolt to what you have. Use aluminum bolts (Ace
Hardware has them). Stainless will eat up the aluminum and steel will
rust.
---------------------------
Success. Here is my first test and afterwards there wasn't a single drop of
water on the cowling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrMiNfpOLqQ

ps: What did you mean by "Stainless will eat up the aluminum... "