Re: Merc question…..80s motor

[billw]

I think the mid-eighties Merc 35s were just GREAT motors. Just about as bullet proof an engine as Mercury ever made, in my opinion. I used to service a LOT of them, we had one on our work boat for years and I even owned on myself, on a Boston Whaler. Performance on a 13 ft Whaler was close to their fifty hp, while using about half the gas, if it has a thermostat installed. (Some did, some didn’t; but one can be easily added.) And this was all on salt water, too. I can’t even imagine how good they would be on fresh. DO put an impeller in them every two years, though; and if the condition of it is unknown, just put one right in, no question. Compression should be 120 and up. Spark should jump 3/8" and up. You might want to check that the lower unit WILL come off. They had a funky drive shaft-to-crank shaft seal that would let go. (Always replace with the impeller) SOMETIMES, we’d get one with the driveshaft stuck in the power head; but that was fairly rare.

Long live American manufacturing!