Dead in the water....Crank Shaft!

[MadMaxVT]

Hi.

Just got a 1987 V20 with a Merc 150 (Black Max). New lower unit was put on at the end of last summer. Second time out this summer and we were dead in the water. RPMs were up, but no gears. They say it's the crank shaft.

Any suggestions? Our boat shop suggests new motor at $8K and up, or fixing ours at at least $4K. They say we need to have at least a 110HP on the boat. The motor was run in the Long Island Sound it's whole life, but after being on the Sound, it was run up a fresh water river each night, which is where it was kept. Now it is only in fresh water since we are land locked.

We love the boat, but don't have a lot of money. Any suggestions? I would like to go with either fixing or finding a good rebuilt.....if I can.

Thanks for your help!
Max

[tsubaki]

If it's running it ain't the crank.
In some wild instance the spline may have got damaged in the crank but highly unlikey.
Gotta be foot problems, snapped driveshaft or linkage problems.
Have they removed the foot and looked?
Good subject for Skools.

[macojoe]

Welcome to the site.

Well it sucks that the motor is messed up But I hate mer's any way!!

If you are staying in the fresh water and have no need for power than just about any motor will work.

But for ocean and such 150's do well.

There are lots of motors for sale, I bought a 175 Evinrude for $700 and so far its been a jem!!
Look around, if you have no need for the horse power you choises are endless and I am sure there is something out there cheap to hold you over till you have cash for New.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Have a question for ya, is it pumpinmg water? If it is then the splines are fine, if it isn't pumping water then you may have bad splines or a bad driveshaft. If there is now water coming out of it, pull the foot and see if the splines are damaged or if the shaft is broken.

[spareparts]

Ferm's on the right track, but before it gets complicated, check and make sure you simply have'nt spun out your prop hub. Theres been a lot of lower units sold because of so called broken shafts that turned out to be spun prop hubs.

[Stinky_Hooker]

If it ends up not being too serious then fix it. Those old Black maxs are good engine and pretty cheap to get parts for.

[MadMaxVT]

Thanks for all suggestions. Went and picked up the boat this afternoon. They (Gilles) charged me $270 just to pull the lower unit off....and didn't even put it back on....

I am droping it off somewhere else on Wed and will have them check what you guys suggested. I have already spoken to them (Bob's Boat Repair)) and they told me that it sounds like the other place just wants to make a sale on a new motor. Which, I belive to be patically true. They (Gilles) basicly said that since this motor saw salt water it was not worth thier while to work on..... Even though it was in salt it was kept clean and was serviced. When the gears work it runs like a dream.

Thanks again. I'll let you know what happens!

Max

[MadMaxVT]

Oh yea, they also told me that I should only have a 150 or bigger on the boat even though I am not bringing it out on big lakes.....

"I don't know, that's a pretty big boat, you really should have at least a 150 on it."

Yea, thanks for all your advice and hard work on my behalf I said....

[MadMaxVT]

The splines on top are stipped...worse possible news. Since the lower unit is brand new, I have told them to put in a new power head. Total cost including labor and new water pump will be under $5K. It was either that or a rebuilt I can't trust or of course going new.

Bob at Bob's Boat Repair seems very honest and a good old salt. When I pulled in with the boat this morning, he said, "wow, what a beautiful boat, boy they dont make them like that any more!"

Thanks again for all your advice.
Max

[tsubaki]

Max, sorry to hear it is the crank. That almost never happens.
Eats me up that all the other stuff is good.
Well new foot last year, new powerhead this year, you should be set for a while after this.

[bradford]

Five grand sounds high to me, where are you located? Someone on here had a SWEEEET Merc for sale a month or two ago for half that price I believe. That's not Bob's Marine in Tampa FL on Florida Avenue is it?

[spareparts]

last time I installed one, a merc reman 175 powerhead was around 4700 with no core, by the time I was thru with the waterpump, oil system, fuel system(went thru the injection system), misc parts and labor, it was close to 7000 by flat rate

[brianct12]

Max, If you havent committed yourself yet .... I have a very nice Johnson 150hp motor for sale. Year is 2003 .. it has been used just 2 seasons .... and has ~ 100 total hours. Price is the same as you are paying for your repower. Message me if interested.

[MadMaxVT]

Already committeed. I gave him $1K yesterday as a down payment. Yea, now I have a new lower and new upper, so basicly I have a brand new motor surrounded by an old case. Well, I shouldn't have to worry about anybody trying to steal it..... ;) And hopfully I won;t have any major issues for a good while.

I live in Northern Vermont, so the boat is over on Grand Isle, on Lake Champlain getting the work done. Thanks for all your help and the offer of motors, but I hope to be good for a while.

Max

[steplift20]

I HOPE THEY FIX IT AND YOU HAVE KNOW MORE PROBLEMS BUT THERE ARE ALOT OF SO CALLED MECHANICS OUT THERE THAT DONT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING
I HAVE A 50 HP MERC THAT WAS LOSING POWER AND HARD STARTING SO I TOOK IT TO A MERC DEALER BY WHERE I LIVE IN LAKE HOATCONG AND AFTER 400 DOLLARES HE TOLDME IT WAS THE FUEL TANK[WAS NOT VENTING ROGHT] STILL HAD THE PROBLEM BUT DIDNT SEEM AS BAD BUT THEN IT GOT WORSE SO I DROVE IT DOWN TO ANGLERS MARINE IN SEABRIGHT NJ WHERE THEY ARE THE BEST IN MY EYES AND VERY HONEST AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE CARBS 250 DOLLARS AND THATS WITH HIM CHARGING ME 80 FOR PUTTING IT IN THE WATER AND TEST DRIVING IT SO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LEST
GOT IT BACK AND RUNS GREAT

[steplift20]

JUST LET YOU KNOW I DROVE 80 MILES TO ANGLERS WHEN I HAVE A DEALER ABOUT 3 MILES FROM MY HOME AND IT WAS WORTH THE DRIVE

[msbhammer]

Wasnt it Phats who was selling his MErc. motor.
Remember it came off a center console V. ???

[phatdaddy]

not I hammer, i've got an old merc 150 (83) that i can use for a donor motor, all i want is the foot

[Airslot]

Blu-Lunch, and he hasn't reported back on his new Optimax yet.... :-/