Mercury Optimax 225hp Engine Problem

[jdmdc231]

Well just thought I give this a try before we bring it in and see what the actual problem is.
Motor is a 2000 Mercury 225 Optimax

Here its is this past weekend we went on a bass fishing tourney. After a 10 haul up stream came to a no wake zone and slowed down and went to a idle cruise. Then saw a fellow tourney fisher man and decided to shut it down and talk to him and ask him how he was doing after talking to him we wasnt able to start it back up. So we basically trolled back to a launch and docked the boat. On the 10 min haul there was no knocking or werid noise indicating that the motor blew up or even when we were in the no wake zone everything sounded like how it should of just never restarted after the shut down. Checked and rechecked that it wasnt in gear or the emergency kill switch was tampered with.

Here is what we came up with starter is still good since it seems to be doing its job other then getting stuck when it gets to the flywheel when getting to a certain point.
Plugs all look decent a little black but still seems to be burning correctly.
Turning the motor itself only goes to a certain point before not going anymore feels like its stuck and wont go anymore.

Talked to a couple fellow boaters and half say the rod could of bent and other half say that its the lower unit.

Hope we can get a few good answers before we take it to a good Mercury dealer. Also anyone know of a good place to take it to without the big price tag? Im located in Woodbury,MN

Thanks and any info would be greatly appreciated

[EuropeanAM]

Welcome to BBC!

From your description, I'd conclude that SOME rotating part or assembly is halting EITHER due to a mechanical failure, OR due to fluid ingestion.

Probably a good idea to remove the spark plugs, and attempt to rotate it with the plugs removed (by hand- turn flywheel clockwise ONLY).

Observe the color and "wetness" of the spark plugs. Suspect problems if there are abnormalities in ONE spark plug.

You could then separate the gearcase from the engine, and again attempt to rotate the flywheel (thus determining if the gearcase is the cause).

[jdmdc231]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by EuropeanAM &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Welcome to BBC!

From your description, I'd conclude that SOME rotating part or assembly is halting EITHER due to a mechanical failure, OR due to fluid ingestion.

Probably a good idea to remove the spark plugs, and attempt to rotate it with the plugs removed (by hand- turn flywheel clockwise ONLY).

Observe the color and "wetness" of the spark plugs. Suspect problems if there are abnormalities in ONE spark plug.

You could then separate the gearcase from the engine, and again attempt to rotate the flywheel (thus determining if the gearcase is the cause).

</td></tr></table>

Okay well I removed the spark plugs and attempted to rotate it with the plugs removed and still cannot get it to move past that certain point. All the plugs looked to be about the same burn quality is about the same on every plug and the wetness all seem to be about the same. I will probably be taking off the lower unit some time this week to see if there is any thing wrong with the gear case side.

Also does anyone know of a good shop that I can take this to and not get robbed in the process?

[jdmdc231]

I also found this out while toying with the engine today. When I shift the engine to gear I can still turn the propeller to a certain point then it will stop. When in the neutral position it will turn freely.

I talked to a boat mechanic about this situation and he had said that when in gear it shouldn't move at all.

Now my question is that what could be the cause of this?

[EuropeanAM]

You will be able to rotate the propeller some, even when in gear. Your engine is equipped with a ratcheting clutch dog.

In Forward- prop should lock COUNTERCLOCKWISE.

In Reverse- prop should lock CLOCKWISE.

In addition to removing the gearcase- you may also want to remove the BELT from atop the engine (just to ensure that the compressor or alternator are not the cause of it "locking").

[jdmdc231]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by EuropeanAM &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">You will be able to rotate the propeller some, even when in gear. Your engine is equipped with a ratcheting clutch dog.

In Forward- prop should lock COUNTERCLOCKWISE.

In Reverse- prop should lock CLOCKWISE.

In addition to removing the gearcase- you may also want to remove the BELT from atop the engine (just to ensure that the compressor or alternator are not the cause of it "locking").

</td></tr></table>

Thanks for all the info... Brought it in to a local shop Supreme Marine out in Minneapolis suppose to be a really good shop.

They took it apart and found out that cylinder 4 piston has a crack and a sleeved dropped also getting the lower unit redone from a bent shaft.