1984 4 HP Mariner outboard Good Unit

"I am looking at a 1984 4 HP M

"I am looking at a 1984 4 HP Mercury Mariner. The seller advises it starts right up and runs good. Travel time for me is over an hour so I'll need to decide on the spot about making the purchase. The asking price is under $300. Besides compression, are there any common failures or problem areas to pay close attention to? I am in inboard guy and am not well versed with outboard motors so any advice will be much appreciated. Thank You."

"Brian, if it's an 84 mode

"Brian, if it's an 84 model it will be a Yamaha built Mariner.

It will be a single cylinder model, so a little shaky at idle.

Well built motors but been discontinued for a long while.

That doesn't mean "no good" but does mean that parts could be difficult to find - in fact a good portion of the ignition system is no longer available along with most of the gaskets etc

If it is in fact a Mercury Mariner it will be either a pre 1981 or post 1986 model.

The Yami versions serial would start 6E0-xxxxx
The Merc would be either 7 digits or a 0Axxxx

$300 for a running 4 horse of that vintage would be consided a decent price - you have to decide the rest on your own..."