Outboard Problem

[Bigsfish]

I had an outboard behind my house in saltwater for over 12 years and never had it out of the water until it went to the dealer for service once a year. Never a problem. I'm tossing the BS flag.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. hm. In post #53 you state 6 hours of flushing with no positive results. That, to me proves it wasn't "salted up" so YOU did nothing that might have caused the overheating problem IMHO. IF that's their only excuse for denying a warranty claim it's total BS by their own admission. They flushed and the problem STILL exists so it was NOT your "failure" to rinse with fresh water that caused any problem. I'm there with you in spirit brother...

 

[ddalme]

Chalk that one up. -BS-I've had and have serviced outboards that have never been flushed for years-so much so that I had water jackets start leaking from corrosion from the inside-I question this dealership. Talk to Mercury.

 

[Ski in NC]

It's to be ready by Monday. It ain't going to be pretty. They claim it's not a warranty claim. I will pay to get it back as we need to leave FL to head north. I plan to deal with Mercury as I can't wait any longer. It's my fault it is filled with salt as I didn't flush it after every use. More to come. I'm not done with this.

Ok, they did a chemical flush, not successful. So what was the actual problem?

 

[Art]

It's to be ready by Monday. It ain't going to be pretty. They claim it's not a warranty claim. I will pay to get it back as we need to leave FL to head north. I plan to deal with Mercury as I can't wait any longer. It's my fault it is filled with salt as I didn't flush it after every use. More to come. I'm not done with this.

I've run many O/B's in salt water for years on end and never flushed them once. None were Mercury. But I knew plenty of people that ran Mercs in Saltwater too.

 

[BandB]

I've run many O/B's in salt water for years on end and never flushed them once. None were Mercury. But I knew plenty of people that ran Mercs in Saltwater too.

For the record, the Yamaha owner's manual has virtually the same wording. I've never heard of this issue or a problem being blamed on not flushing, not on any outboard.

 

[Peter B]

6 hours of flushing with a decalcifier and very little water comes out. Waiting for next step.

Ok, so where'd it go then. Shoulda exploded within minutes. My money is on the alarm klaxon device itself being faulty and it was so obvious they are too proud to admit it...

 

[BruceK]

I`d say that "recommendation" is "butt covering". Hope it doesn`t work, someone at the mfr needs their butt kicked.
I noticed the conflict RTF identified, it`s not making a lot of sense. How can there be waterflow if there is a blockage, is there some kind of bypass? I think Howard will have this well in hand when he has a little more time available.

 

[BandB]

So, what are the odds it will be running right when he picks it up on Monday?

 

[motion30]

There could be a blockage in the cylinder head or around one of the cylinders and The Telltale could still have water pressure there's generally alternate routes for the water on the outboards period but a hundred degrees hotter than it should be is an extreme condition. I wouldn't expect the motor to seize by then

 

[hmason]

So here's the ending. After insisting it's a warranty issue and contacting Mercury, the entire engine was taken apart and I was told it was clogged with salt. I insisted that that should not happen after 97 hours of use. I wrote a detailed letter to MarineMax in Stuart setting out my position and copied it to Mercury.

I picked up the boat yesterday and they charged me nothing. MarineMax said they would fight it out with Mercury. We parted on good terms. In the end they did the right thing.

Thanks to all the Tf'ers that helped me through it.

 

[BandB]

So here's the ending. After insisting it's a warranty issue and contacting Mercury, the entire engine was taken apart and I was told it was clogged with salt. I insisted that that should not happen after 97 hours of use. I wrote a detailed letter to MarineMax in Stuart setting out my position and copied it to Mercury.

I picked up the boat yesterday and they charged me nothing. MarineMax said they would fight it out with Mercury. We parted on good terms. In the end they did the right thing.

Thanks to all the Tf'ers that helped me through it.

Kudo's to you. A lot of people would have just gone along with them and paid in full. Rest assured they are not fighting it out with Mercury. Based on the letters, Mercury has already told them to warranty it. You really handled it all very well.

 

[hmason]

Thanks for the kind words B.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. hm. Atta boy. I still can't figure out how it was clogged up if they flushed it for 6 hours...Ah well, a good reminder to limit your sodium intake.

 

[Bigsfish]

Good job and good result but I would not take my boat back there if I had another choice. Lesson learned.

 

[BruceK]

Howard, no doubt you will give the motor a good workout while cruising. The issue now is whether something was fixed, or the problem is 97 hours from recurring.

 

[hmason]

For the record, the Yamaha owner's manual has virtually the same wording. I've never heard of this issue or a problem being blamed on not flushing, not on any outboard.

Well this is odd. When I picked up the repaired outboard, I walked through the shop and happened to spot this really big guy working on an engine. His shirt said "Mike." Since the service writer told me the guy who worked on my engine was "Big Mike," I stopped to talk with him and in fact he did work on my engine. What he told me was surprising.

Big Mike told me the label on the cowling says Mercury but the power head on my engine is a Yamaha. He said that Mercury was running out of power heads and has been buying them from Yamaha. He said that essentially I have a Yamaha engine in a Mercury coat. Can this be??

 

[BandB]

Well this is odd. When I picked up the repaired outboard, I walked through the shop and happened to spot this really big guy working on an engine. His shirt said "Mike." Since the service writer told me the guy who worked on my engine was "Big Mike," I stopped to talk with him and in fact he did work on my engine. What he told me was surprising.

Big Mike told me the label on the cowling says Mercury but the power head on my engine is a Yamaha. He said that Mercury was running out of power heads and has been buying them from Yamaha. He said that essentially I have a Yamaha engine in a Mercury coat. Can this be??

Yes, but there's more to the engine than powerhead. I can't speak as to your engine but over the years Mercury has purchased powerhead from Tohatsu, Yamaha and Suzuki. I laugh because in the early 2000's, some guy was talking loudly how he was going to buy an outboard motor and it wasn't going to be Japanese. The salesman looked at him and then said, every powerhead on outboards today is Japanese. He said, "my Mercury sure the h isn't." The salesman said it was and asked if he'd like to know who built it.

I didn't know Mercury was still doing that recently. Especially with smaller motors there just wasn't enough business to tool up for them. I thought Mercury stopped using Yamaha when Mercury sued them for dumping. I know they continued with Tohatsu, but maybe they went back. I would be more likely to believe yours was built by Tohatsu but it could be either.

 

[Bigsfish]

I do hope it is true for your sake, to me it us a plus having used Yamahas for the past 15 years and living in salt water locals all my life Mercury would not be a choice of mine.

 

[BandB]

I do hope it is true for your sake, to me it us a plus having used Yamahas for the past 15 years and living in salt water locals all my life Mercury would not be a choice of mine.

A little history. Mercury made no four stroke outboards until they came out with the Verado line. At one time then everything from 40 hp up except Verado the powerhead was built by Yamaha and the smaller powerheads by Tohatsu. I don't know what's happened since.

Another couple of pieces of outboard trivia. Mariner by Mercury was Yamaha. Suzuki built the small four stroke Johnson's and Evinrude's. Tohatsu built Nissan, and then at one time in the start up days of Honda outboards, Honda built their own powerhead but everything below on a Honda was built by Mercury.

 

[High Wire]

Somewhere in the middle of all that there was a lawsuit between Merc and Yamaha over those powerheads!
So how is the engine running?

 

[Ski in NC]

I do hope it is true for your sake, to me it us a plus having used Yamahas for the past 15 years and living in salt water locals all my life Mercury would not be a choice of mine.

So if a Yamaha powerhead is so good, why did this one clog up only three years from new?

 

[BandB]

Somewhere in the middle of all that there was a lawsuit between Merc and Yamaha over those powerheads!
So how is the engine running?

No, the lawsuit wasn't over powerheads. It was over dumping. Mercury felt to build their US business, that Yamaha was selling motors at less than they sold them in Japan and that was illegal. They sued Honda also. They continued to use Yamaha powerheads while the suit was going on. Yamaha and Honda had to post huge bonds. The International Trade Commission then ruled against Mercury and that was the end.

 

[Bigsfish]

BandB

Give me the days of Buccaneer and Scott At Water. Old school.

 

[Bigsfish]

I still have a British Seagull.

 

[BruceK]

At one time there were about 30 brands of refrigerator for sale in Australia, all made in one factory. Now we make none, they are all imported.
Sounds like outboards are the same, but it has become international. My little 6hp Tohatsu branded 2 stroke dinghy motor has been great,for 10 years,impressive pee stream.

 

[gaston]

I still have a British Seagull.

You must have a great sense of humor

 

[Bigsfish]

Thanks for pointing that out. LMAO

 

[Acheron2010]

Healing Spells from magical tradition and voodoo.

 

[Art]

BB - You seem to have really good inroad to several levels of marine manufacturing/building/sales facts. Can you provide what/where/who was manufacturing the following circa Johnsons!


Damn good engines!! I really like and have good luck with 1970's Johnson O/B's.


Thanks!


Art