Stanley Barthfarkle wrote:

It's on a trailer, but the marina doesn't have any lift facilities, so
the boat would have to be towed to the nearest ramp, which is at a


A marina with no lift facilities and no ramp? Huh?



It's a dry marina?

I love your handle, Stanley.

"Submariner" wrote in message
...

I've been told that the 40HP Merc. had been around for years, and is
pretty much bulletproof. Aside from it going under water, being run
out of oil, or water in the lower unit, I can't think of anything else
to be concerned with.


Having just had a bad experience with Mercury outboards I would say that
there is additional things to be worried about.

I just bought a boat with a pair of 50 Hp Mercury four strokes. The motors
were a 2000 model, paperwork shows it was first sold in 2002. The motors had
only 16 hours on them and were still under warrantee.

The motors wouldn't idle well and bogged down and died easily when trying to
accelerate. I figured that the carburetors were just a little dirty and
that should be easy to fix. I mean, the motor only have 16 hours on them
and anything major would covered by the warrantee, right? WRONG!

Each motor had four carburetors and eight carburetors were seriously
corroded inside from having gas sit in them for 2 years. I would have
figured that gas in a carburetor was something that the carburetors would
have been built to survive, but I was wrong again. Mercury would not honor
the warrantee because they claimed the damage was due to neglect.

So, I learned two things: Mercury doesn't build their motors to survive
sitting around unused for periods of time, and Mercury has terrible
warrantee coverage!

They also have a **** poor customer relations department and to top it off
they don't stock parts for their motors! It took me three months to get
replacement carburetors.

You say this motor has been "used very little", which sounds a lot like my
case. I would certainly recommend hooking the motor up to a hose and running
it. Make sure it starts, idles and can rev up without any hesitation.

Rod McInnis

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:34:49 GMT, something compelled
, to say:

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:09:03 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

The logistics of a sea trial? Is it on a trailer near water? In the water?

It's on a trailer, but the marina doesn't have any lift facilities, so
the boat would have to be towed to the nearest ramp, which is at a
park a few miles away. I guess they figured that based on the price
they agreed upon, they didn't want the hassle of dealing with it.

Well, you can probably assume that the boat floats. I'd ask them
to start the motor, a dealership should have the wherewithal to
do that somewhere on the premises. Shift it into forward and
reverse, gun it a bit. Chances are it will be just fine.

Is there any kind of warrantee? Like thirty days or something?

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:25:08 GMT,
(Submariner) wrote:

Greetings,

I just put a deposit on a 2001, 13' Boston Whaler Sport with a 40HP
Mercury 2-stroke outboard. The boat and motor are in near flawless
condition aesthetically, and even under the motor cowling looks near
new.

The boat seems to have had very little use, but I want to make sure I
don't get into trouble with the engine. I've asked the dealer to do a
compression check, and pressure test the lower unit. Is there
anything else I should be concerned with? Any idiosyncracies with
this particular engine?

I've been told that the 40HP Merc. had been around for years, and is
pretty much bulletproof. Aside from it going under water, being run
out of oil, or water in the lower unit, I can't think of anything else
to be concerned with.

Will a compression test uncover any major mechanical issues?

Problem is, in my 30 years of boating, I've never owned a boat with an
outboard motor, so I'm quite wet behind the ears.

Any advice would be most appreciated...........

The compression test came in at 125 (top cylinder) and 123 (bottom
cylinder). Are these good numbers?

Also, the marina agreed to a sea trial. I misunderstood them when
discussing this. I guess they just don't want to put a tech in the
boat with me, but they'll let me take it out by myself. They have a
ramp that I was unaware of.

Thanks!

"Submariner" wrote in message
...


The compression test came in at 125 (top cylinder) and 123 (bottom
cylinder). Are these good numbers?


Yes, those are good number.

Also, the marina agreed to a sea trial. I misunderstood them when
discussing this. I guess they just don't want to put a tech in the
boat with me, but they'll let me take it out by myself. They have a
ramp that I was unaware of.


Problem solved!

Take it for a ride, if you like it, buy it!

Rod

"Rod McInnis" wrote in message
...

"Submariner" wrote in message
...


The compression test came in at 125 (top cylinder) and 123 (bottom
cylinder). Are these good numbers?


Yes, those are good number.

Also, the marina agreed to a sea trial. I misunderstood them when
discussing this. I guess they just don't want to put a tech in the
boat with me, but they'll let me take it out by myself. They have a
ramp that I was unaware of.


Problem solved!

Take it for a ride, if you like it, buy it!

.......and be sure your wife understands that expenditures like this one go
into the budget under "health care".

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:10:16 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

......and be sure your wife understands that expenditures like this one go
into the budget under "health care".



Too funny, but true! Now where to expense the lift? 8)