Looking at buying a 1987 mercury black max

[justinhazen5]

I found a 1987 mercury black max and the guy told me it was oil injection. Does anyone know about a 87 being oil injection? Also what kinda problems did this motor have. The guy said it has 140lb compression in each cylinder. Thanks in advance! Here some photos of it.00404_9eCAgFNEMCZ_600x450.jpg

[RiverRatMD]

Black max was a wildly successful marketing campaign!!!!!!!!! People fell in love with the name and just gotta have a Black MAX

Solid motors, I prefer pre-mix myself.

[justinhazen5]

Are they still a good motor. Is it worth putting it on the back of my gambler?

[90 5.0]

Did they make a regular black max and an XR2 black max in 87??

Loved mine it was a beast for back then, I say go for it if it's solid.

Not as good as later motors but if it's slid and price is right!

[luvdmymerc]

I loved my XR2. I cried the day I had to sell it. (My user name started out "luvmymerc", then I had to change it to "luvdmymerc" after I sold it.) Any way, yes, they had a "regular" Black Maxx and the XR2 which was a 2.0 liter version with a smaller gear case for less drag and was designed to turn a few more RPM's than the regular Black Maxx. I think it was the '84 model that first had the oil injected version. It was a great system that would occasionally fail due to the nylon gear that drove the oil pump wearing out. When I rebuilt mine I took the oil injection system off because it was the determined cause of failure on my power head. If I had it to do over again I would probably put it back on. I see lots of boats on Table Rock and Stockton lakes with this era of motor on them. I would not be afraid to own another one at all. 140 psi sounds high to me for that motor unless the heads have been cut. I think they normally should run about 120-125. I'd have a good Merc tech check it out just to be safe. Good luck.

[EuropeanAM]

Good idea to look at the following link- everything EXCEPT Computer Diagnostic Printouts would be applicable:

http://www.bbcboards.net/mercury-3-l...ml#post4993556

[justinhazen5]

Thanks yall. I went ahead and bought it today. Fired right up. Already bolted it on the boat and just got to do the rest. Hopefully the boat will be a beast! Thanks again!

[RiverRatMD]

good luck Justin! post over on the Gambler forum if you need any set-up help or just to post your results