1990 40 hp mariner help

Hi!
I'm the new owner of a 1990 procraft pontoon boat. It's in okay shape, but the motor needs some help. I'm hoping that someone on the board can help us out. The motor hasnt been run in about 15 years and is going to need a lot of TLC. The serial num of the motor is: 0c294987. I believe that it's a 1990 model. Does anyone know where I can find a shop manual for the motor? I'm also going to need two new carburetors . I found the original two in a five gallon bucket of rainwater!! Any other advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

Matt

Re: 40hp mariner help

To answer some of your questions, don't know about the year but as for the manual, and carbs you can probably get them from this site.

1.pull the plugs and put fogging oil in the cylinder. let it set over night then try to turn it over by hand at the flywheel. If you can turn it by hand then do a compression check with a fully charged batt.. Compression should be at least 85 psi with only about 5-10psi differnce between all the cylinders. If not then it is time for a rebuild.
2. If the above is good then get a water pump kit, the kit will include the housing, the impeller, and the gaskets. New plugs and lower unit oil. I would also get a new fuel line with the primer bulb.
3. Clean the fuel tank and use fresh gas treated with stabil and the mercury cleaner $5 (to get all the cotties out of the engine).
4.Grease or lube every fitting and cable and check their operation. Then try to start it up and see what happens.

Good luck with your project and sorry to be so long winded. If graham or time bandit looks at this post they should have the list with your serial number to give you a year but the parts from 1988 thru 1993 should be the same.

Re: 40hp mariner help

Yes, it is a 1990 model. That should make it one the 4 cylinder Merc/Mariners (if so great motor).

A Seloc's manual covering the vintage and number of cylinders is an excellent fix/repair/maintain book for the average person.

If the carbs are not physically damaged, despite being in "the bath" for many years, they can probably be rebuilt (again with the help of a Seloc's) for considerably less than replacement - if you can do the work yourself...

Re: 40hp mariner help

Thanks for all the great info!!

I've pulled the carbs out of the bucket and it looks like it would be better to replace them. It seems that they are missing some of the parts and they are really corroded. I've called a couple of places and these carbs seem to be really difficult to get. Does anyone have any sources for carbs? I've tried Master tech marine and American outboard with no success.

If it's impossible to get the carbs is it pretty easy to swap in a newer mercury engine? Would the controls and steering be interchangeable?

Thanks again for all the help