Two rookie questions
 

Hi all,

I mentioned in a thread yesterday that I just brought home an '84 V20. I have a couple rookie questions that I would love your insight on.

- The seller gave me a support bracket - maybe called a "transom buddy"? - that transfers weight from the skeg to the trailer. Is it okay (for now) to leave this brace on and store the boat like this for a few weeks until I launch? The motor is tilted into a semi-upright position. Any harm in this for now or is it important that I take it off and store with the motor down? Long run, I imagine I'll just store with the motor in downward position.

- I'm struggling to figure out which spark plugs and thermostats to order. The motor is an '89 Merc Black Max 150. When looking at charts, it seems that in '89, they just made one 150. But then other resources suggest that there were xr-2, xr-4, xr-6 versions in this period. I can't figure out which mine is and I want to avoid ordering the wrong stuff. The numbers: OC157669 There are no markings on the cowl which would suggest xr-anything... Any suggestions for the best plugs for me to order? Is there any difference between these models that would necessitate different plugs?

Thanks so much. I'm new to the forum, but it's easy to see how helpful you guys are. I look forward to learning.

Take the transom saver off and drop the motor to vertical if the is ANY possibility of sub freezing weather. Any precipitation accumulating and freezing in the exhaust of the lower unit can be $$$$

I did this. Thanks. "The forecast says we won't drop below 40 in the next week or so...", he said to himself before remembering that he lives in f'ing New England.

The other guys know a lot more about this than I do but with the model/serial number, I'd think a good marine parts guy could look up and tell you what you need.

you've got a 150, the xr's were performance versions
Use NGKBU8H plugs, do not use anything other than NGK plugs, and before you ask, unless the insulation is coming off the plugs wires, they will be OK

Nice. Thanks

Ditto on the ngk's. On the other stuff, I always used merc parts, especially on water pumps, t-stats & poppet valves. Not that much difference in price from the look-a-like parts. Lot of opinions on this , but I also used merc lubricants and premium 2-stroke oil.

Sounds like your doing a lot of your maintenance, see if you can find a copy of the merc shop manual for that motor. Not a seloc or clymer, big difference.

Very true, at one time aftermarket had a substantial price savings to justify using it, but now the price isn't that much different, so go with oem if you have any concerns. I use some aftermarket parts, but its stuff I know works and its worth the savings. I will not use aftermarket for water pumps, and oil filters and fuel filters on Japanese engines. Some times knowing the supplier to the OEM helps, Japanese filters are usually Nippondenso, merc uses NGK plugs, Suzuki uses some of the same stuff that Yamaha uses(Nikki), but sells it cheaper, etc...

This is all great advice. After quickly searching Amazon, I noticed that the prices were all relatively the same, so I've been able to order Merc/Quicksilver products exclusively so far. (NGK plugs, too).

I wouldn't consider myself mechanically inclined, but I plan on doing as much maintenance/learning as much as I feel comfortable with. I ordered a manual.

As long as we're on topic - I'll throw this out there for thoughts: Like so many 6 cyl 2-strokes of this era, the oil injection unit proved faulty for the previous owner. He bypassed it before it caused him any problems and has been using the gravity-fed oil tank that sits right on top of the motor for the last couple of years.

I don't hate the idea of continuing this practice, except for the fact that the reservoir seems pretty small. What are your thoughts on just mixing directly into the fuel instead? What is the downside of that besides the inconvenience of doing occasional math?

I feel like 2-strokes did well on this practice for like 75 years before oil injection (and their crappy parts) came into play. Appreciate feedback on this. (And as I finish writing this, I'm thinking that there are probably 1000 threads dedicated exactly to this. Apologies if that's the case!)

Jeb

Yup... just saw this thread. Same thing.