Do all two strokes.....
 

Just sound like they are ready to fly apart at any time? Mine is running good, pluggs are a nice color, good compression and fire on all cylinders, but it just sounds sketchy. I have a buddy with an 88 special Johnson and it sounds like death too. This is a 200hp Merc Black max by the way. WOT sounds great, and acceleration is great, just idle sounds somewhere between a steam engine and a top fuel dragster. Any other opinions?

While they do all have a staccato often erratic sounding low rpm cadence the Merc two smokers are the worst offenders I have heard. They remind me of my 454 Chevelle when I put in the high lift cam. My 150 Black Max sounded the same and everyone I have heard also.
Sounds cool, when I grabbed the binnacle I used to pretend I was shifting a Hurst shifter

Like Willie said, Welcome to Mercury.

They are real loud when the cowling insulation and the intake cover have been removed.

Like Willy said...those Mercs have a cam-shaft as big as your leg!!...at idle they all sound like they're waiting on the green light to come down!!... :party:

you would probably have to get a DI 2 stroke (with the opti as an exception) for it not to sound like a top fuel dragster. You should hear a merc race 2.5 outboard engine. That thing sounds wicked. Its hard to describe.

Like above posters stated, normal. It's just the nature of a 2 stroker and the way they breath. Also the lack of oil in the bearings adds to it alot. Remember that a 2 stroker simply oils the bearings by the residual oil in the crankcase that comes out of the fuel whereas a car engine has oil pressure in between the bearings and the crankshaft. 2 stroke engines bearings are designed to last, but not neccesarily to be quiet doing it. My old 81 150 MERC sounds like a top fueler with a mis-fire when it idles.

My father in law has a 112 Johnson and it sounds like a sewing machine at idle.

its probably full of carbon and the carbon is insulating the sounds, j/k its a crossflow joke

So are crossflow's a little quieter/smoother than loopers?