Mariner history

I am trying to understand who

I am trying to understand who actually manufactured Mariner and when. Yamaha made the entire engine until approx. 1989 then made all the parts which were shipped to the U.S. minus the wiring and lower unit. Is this correct?

"It's difficult to try and

"It's difficult to try and give you a simple answer.

There are two distinctly different versions of the Mariner line.

One, as you note, was completely manufactured by Yamaha - the last few models were sold as 1994 model year motors.

These were not a unique design nor were they made to Merc specs, they were simply models that Yamaha had designed and marketed themself which were simply "branded" as Mariners.

In most instances, these were discontinued by Yami before they ever hit the dealers as "new" Mariners. So that 1990-whatever 30 horse was really a 1978 "A" model Yami.

In the Yami/Mariner line the largest horsepower produced was the 60 horse (last model year was 1983), with the 40 "C" model being the most prolific.

Although well built, they were using "non-current" technology which allowed them to be sold at a lower (attractive) price point.

The initial plan was to sell these in the Asian market with "real" Mercs being sold in Europe/N.A. and Australia through their mfgs located in those areas.

However, the Yami Mariners popularity quickly spread (most likely due to the lower price and decent quality) and many made their way to North America.

The "other" Mariners were simply a Merc with the Mariner decals and paint (probably trying to capitlize on the success of the Mariner line, particularly in Europe).

Yes, through a joint venture Yamaha provided a considerable chunk of the parts, but it was a very much a Merc.

All Merc powerheads that are of the "headless, split block" design (and some of the ones "with heads") were manufactured by Yamaha. As far as I know, Yamaha built these exclusively for Merc and I am not aware of any Yamaha outboard that ever used this headless block.

Yamaha also made most of the gears for Merc. Again though, they are not interchangable with any Yami product out there.

Merc simply had Yami manufacture this "stuff" for them. (eventually this partnership fell apart when Merc accused Yami of "dumping" into the U.S. Market, and although they continued to source some parts from Yami, eventually they crawled into bed with Tohatsu, who has now effectively taken the place that Yamaha once had).

On the Merc/Mariners, the ignitions were Merc, the carbs were Walbro's and the gearcase itself (and other machined parts such as the exhaust plates, intakes etc) was totally Merc design.

So, there is no particular "year" cut off when before was Yami and after was Merc - it is on a model by model basis and in some cases, the 40 for example, between 1989 and 1994, you could get them in "both flavours"...."

So where did FORCE mercurys co

So where did FORCE mercurys come from?

"<[img]"http://www.marineengin

" Just curious."

.."So where did FORCE merc

.."So where did FORCE mercurys come from?"

Chrysler.

Jeff

"And a little bit Merc, depend

"And a little bit Merc, depending on the model and year.

The Force line was actually created (started) by Bayliner's U.S. Marine division.

In the early 80's Bayliner bought what was left of the bankrupt Chrysler Outboard division in order to allow them to produce their own (budget) motors to hang off the back of their boats.

The first model year or two you saw "Force by Chrysler", then "Force by U.S. Marine) then they simply became "Force".

Many believe Force is an acronym and while untrue, From Old Recycled Chrysler Engines, is quite accurate.

In the mid 80's Brunswick bought out Bayliner. Since they already owned Merc, they gave the line to them and Merc continued to produce the Force line well into the 90's.

At first they were pretty much exclusively old Chrysler parts. As they started to run out you saw a blend of Chrysler and Merc parts (mostly parts Merc had stopped using on their own motors back in the 1970's) and some models toward the end were pure Merc, albeit totally constructed from discontinued parts.

This kept the production costs very low which allowed them to sell the motors at pretty substantial discounts compared to their "regular" line.

However, since alot of the parts were 20-30 years old at the time of production, these were pretty much intended to be a "disposable" engine..."