Semi-nOOb needs guidance

[Smitty77]

Hey Guys! This will be the 3rd year that I have owned my boat. I have a 27 year old 15 ft Ebbtide with a 80HP Mercury outboard. It doesn't give me any problems at all and I want to take care of it. I have not done any preventive maintenance since I have owned it. I charged the batteries yesterday and started the engine for the first time since last summer. Once I finally got it started and warmed up it ran beautifully. What all preventive maintenance do you guys recommend when you are getting the boat ready for summer time? I know I should change the foot-dope but I have no idea how to do that. And Ive been told you should change the water pump impeller every couple years or so, but once again I have no idea how to do that either.

Nice to meet you all and thanks in advance!
Smitty

[PJCodner]

Welcome to the board!!! There is a ton of information on here that will probably answer a lot of your questions.

Before I put my boat away for storage in the winter I always do the following:

Put stabil in the gas and fill the tank
Run the motor to ensure that the stabil is in the carbs
Fog the motor following the Evinrude manual
Pull the batteries out of the boat
Change the lower unit oil
Pull the drain plug
Remove all electronics and trolling motor
Pull the hoses off of the water pressure guage and speedo
Give it a good coat of Bass Boat Saver
Throw the cover on it and give it a good winter kiss

In the spring I do the following
Make sure the batteries are fully charged and are full of distilled water (I also charge them over the winter about once a month)
Clean the boat with a pressure washer to remove the winter grime
Put a good coat of wax on it
Hook the water pressure/speedo lines backup
Run the motor on the muffs to remove the fogging oil
Change the plugs
Put everything back in the boat that I would need for the first time out

To change the lower unit oil get your self a cheap hand pump from Walmart
Find out what kind of LU oil you should be running in your Merc and get a jug of it.
There will be two screws on the LU. One underneath the bullet (where the prop shaft is) and one up towards the top of the LU.
Remove both screws and let the old oil drain out
When you refill you fill it from the bottom drain plug. To do this you screw your hand pump hose into the lower drain plug hole put the other end into the new oil and start pumping. You leave the top screw off and you pump in the oil till it starts coming out of the top screw. Make sure your LU is level as well you don't want it trimmed up when doing this or you won't get enough oil in it.
Once it starts to come out the top screw hole you can put the screw back in. Then remove the hose from the lower screw and as quickly as you can put the lower screw back in the hole. You will lose a little oil but not much.

The reason why you fill it from the bottom up is to make sure you don't get any air bubbles in the LU.

I have not changed my water pump impeller yet probably because I am still getting 6-8 psi at idle and 30 psi when running WOT down the lake. If you notice that the tell tail stream out the side of the motor is weak then I would get it changed. I don't run my motor that much either so I think that is why it has not needed a change.

[pumaverado275]

I don't run my motor that much either so I think that is why it has not needed a change.


I have been told that is all the more reason to change it..if you dont use your big motor much the rubber on the impeller will get hard and brittle and pieces will break off and can possiably get into the water passeges in the block or the thermostats and cause more problems . Mine is in the shop right now getting the water pump changed . I still had excellent water pressure but it is 2 yrs old and didnt want to take the chance of losing wp at wot running down the lake , to me its just cheap insurance !

[Smitty77]

Ok thanks guys. I found the 2 screws for the foot lubrication. I have a good stream coming out the side of the motor so I'll see about getting that changed since the one thats in there is at least 2 years old. I got this boat for a deal. I only paid 500 bucks for it plus its got a Minn Kota trolling motor 40lb thrust. I am gonna start scraping out the old carpet soon and prepping for a back yard paintjob. It has a badly faded red glitter coat. I'm gonna paint it black to match my truck. Last year I rubbed it down with oil and the finish looked better but now its all dried out looking again. I named her "Fat Peggy"

[FlyinSooner]

I'll add to the great info above.

DEFINITELY get a maintenance manual for your MERC!!

[Smitty77]

Where can I get the service manual and do I need to match up any model numbers?

Ok I can't get my boat started now. I'm thinking maybe bad gas. I'm gonna empty the tank and purge the lines and go from there. I did however finish scraping the carpet off the front foc'sle.

I should post up some pics as I go along.