Dr Honda inspired me to buy and attempt a Merc rebuild

[Cablebandit]

That's the best way to do it. An ugly boat is cheap. Not to mention... get your parts out of it... then "Part-out" the rest, and you can make back some of the investment.

Absolutely. I got the motor in and idling on an external tank of premix until i can VERIFY the oil pump is primed and doing its thing. I plan to take it to the ramp this week to leak test and hopefully test engine. All i know at this point is that it has good compression and idles.

 

[Dr Honda]

Absolutely. I got the motor in and idling on an external tank of premix until i can VERIFY the oil pump is primed and doing its thing. I plan to take it to the ramp this week to leak test and hopefully test engine. All i know at this point is that it has good compression and idles.

First... add oil to the main tank to make sure it has oil.

Open the bleed screw, and get oil into the pump. Then, hold the arm to the "Full" position, while it idles. After 10 seconds or so... it will be belching smoke if it's pumping oil.

 

[Cablebandit]

this is a 2005 smartcraft motor with electric oil pump. i tried the shifterx5 method to prime it but didnt hear the oil pump kick on

 

[Dr Honda]

Only way I know to prim, and/or reset it... is to use a DDT or Rinda scan tool. (sorry)

 

[Cablebandit]

I am going to test the neutral safety switch tomorrow. The shifter trick should work on this motor. I feel and hear the oil pump click occasionally while running off the external tank of premix but the shifter trick does nothing. If i can get that sorted, tomorrow will be the first lake test of this boat and motor

 

[Cablebandit]

neutral safety switch is working so I don't know why it wouldn't do the priming sequence. I took it out today. It ran great on the trailer and no leaks. Eased around a bit until i was confident it was doing ok...49.8mph on Garmin gps at 6k. WOOOHOOO. I cut it off many times to check for leaks, feel heads and such. It always started right back up like an efi motor should. So far, it is a success. I'll have to say that the tone of the Merc vs 2 rotax is defintely different.

I ran 4 gallons of premix through an external can and then switched to the fuel in the main tank (with oil added). I think i'll pull the oil outlet line loose from the VST and see if there is any oil there. Previously i completely emptied that line when cleaning hoses. If I can get comfortable that the oil pump is indeed primed and working now, it;s gonna be HAMMER DOWN time

 

[Cablebandit]

Had to replace the engine oil tank due to a faulty float causing the dreaded 4 beeps every 2 minutes. Refilled the new tank, purged all air and let motor run a bit on premix. I eventually pulled the hose from the oil pump to the VST and eventually was greeted with 2 nice squirts of oil periodically so it seems my oil system is now working properly. It's going to be 70 in Georgia tomorrow so I plan to take her to the lake and get some time on her. Once I am confident that everything is working fine, it is time to go ahead and install the interior i purchased. It came out well on my Speedster so I expect the same here.