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What year and other info about this motor plz...

T

tmonson

Member
My brother is considering purchasing a 4 cyl Merc. The serial # is 6011979. Blue fancy stripes. I'd appreciate any assistance with the specs of this motor.

Many thanks,
Trey Monson
 
well its about an 82 year model any where from 80hp up to 115, you didn't say what it was. We call them fany stripes a blue band, they turn brown in 84, black in 87 or so.......jb

edit, the 115 was a 6cyl then so that makes it up to a 90hp,,,,my bad
 
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1982 4 cylinder (regardless of horsepower) had Walbro carbs (a good thing, but kits are a little expensive on these early models - about $150 for both carbs) and Merc's Thunderbolt 4 ignition (still the best ignition on the planet for an outboard).

Many components are still available as regular stock from Merc.

On the other hand, the motor is approaching 30 years old. It will be rated in BHP (brake horsepower) so to get it's modern equivalent knock about 10% off whatever it is (so an 80 horse would be roughly a 70 by todays standards).

And with that serial I think the 90 was an inline 6 as well that model year so you are probably talking about a 45, 50, 70, 75 or 80 horse.

If it's running and the asking price is somewhat under $750 (and it would have to be very "pretty" as well at the full price) the 4 cylinders were generally a pretty decent motor.

If the asking price is higher or it has identified/unknown issues then I would pass on it (unless the seller would let it got for a couple hundred bucks).

If it's been sitting at all count on a minimum of 300 bucks in parts to get it back to usable condition - if he can't do his own work, count on dropping between 750-1000 bucks at a shop before the motor would be "fit to use".

All that must be considered in determining a fair price.

A brand new 50 horse 2 stroke Merc (still sold worldwide) sells for a little under 5K - you don't want to end up spending half that on a 30 year old model - just not worth it...
 
I forgot about the classic 50hp, but the 70 was a 3 cyl then. I don't see a listing for the 75 during that time either, but if you say so. Now throwing in the 45 hp is not fair, but I think its a 3 cyl also.
 
My apologies for not providing more info in my original post...we're pretty certain it is a 50hp based on the labels on the motor housing.

He ended up purchasing the boat, motor and trailer last evening for $250 so I'm thinking he did pretty good. We took it to the lake just to see what it would do (we had already gotten it running / idling in a barrel at the house).

It will start, idle and throttle up pretty good. We can put it in gear and it'll move along at a trolling speed but as soon as try to throttle up it bogs down and dies. The boat has been sitting for a couple of years so I'm thinking we start with fresh plugs, make sure fuel filters are nice and clean and maybe clean up the carbs. Any other general tune-up suggestions?

Many thanks for all of the replies already,
Trey Monson
 
tmonson said:
My apologies for not providing more info in my original post...we're pretty certain it is a 50hp based on the labels on the motor housing.

He ended up purchasing the boat, motor and trailer last evening for $250 so I'm thinking he did pretty good. We took it to the lake just to see what it would do (we had already gotten it running / idling in a barrel at the house).

It will start, idle and throttle up pretty good. We can put it in gear and it'll move along at a trolling speed but as soon as try to throttle up it bogs down and dies. The boat has been sitting for a couple of years so I'm thinking we start with fresh plugs, make sure fuel filters are nice and clean and maybe clean up the carbs. Any other general tune-up suggestions?

Many thanks for all of the replies already,
Trey Monson
Click to expand...
Definatly remove and clean the carbs, if only one carb is working half the engine is not getting OIL/gas....... compression test to see if its to late, spark test also......jb
 
I cheated on the listings - just pulled up the parts lists for 4 cylinder models - and yes, the 70 was only 3 cylinders (eyes are going), but between 1980-87 there was a run of 4 cylinder 45's out there.
 
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