I posted this on another forum... Lots of views - no opinions. Hopefully, I'll have better luck here.
My 1987 Mercury 70 HP seal blew out on the top of center cylinder. It was leaking down before, but now it will not raise the motor at all.
Questions:
1) Should I have someone rebuild it? If so, what should I expect to pay? Who would you recommend do it?
2) Should I try buya new one? (This seems cost prohibitive, but there are some parts that need to be OEM regardless of the $.)
3) Should I try to find a rebuilt one? If so, what should I expect to pay? Who would you recommend I get it from?
4) For either of the 3 questions above, I’ll need to remove the Mercury Tilt/Trim unit. How difficult is it to remove? (As far as corrosion goes, the motor appears to be in great sahpe especially for it's age. I was hoping this would not be impossible to remove.)
5) Should I upgrade to an aftermarket Tilt/Trim unit? For example, the CMC PT-130 looks like a good option. My thinking is that I can get the performance gains of static jack plate and have completely new parts. It seems to me that I could remove the Mercury T/T [to save weight] and then bolt the raised mid-section to the transom plate so that the motor won’t spring up when in reverse. (There appears to be bolt holes where the casting of both sections line up and could be bolted together.)
THANKS!
My 1987 Mercury 70 HP seal blew out on the top of center cylinder. It was leaking down before, but now it will not raise the motor at all.
Questions:
1) Should I have someone rebuild it? If so, what should I expect to pay? Who would you recommend do it?
2) Should I try buya new one? (This seems cost prohibitive, but there are some parts that need to be OEM regardless of the $.)
3) Should I try to find a rebuilt one? If so, what should I expect to pay? Who would you recommend I get it from?
4) For either of the 3 questions above, I’ll need to remove the Mercury Tilt/Trim unit. How difficult is it to remove? (As far as corrosion goes, the motor appears to be in great sahpe especially for it's age. I was hoping this would not be impossible to remove.)
5) Should I upgrade to an aftermarket Tilt/Trim unit? For example, the CMC PT-130 looks like a good option. My thinking is that I can get the performance gains of static jack plate and have completely new parts. It seems to me that I could remove the Mercury T/T [to save weight] and then bolt the raised mid-section to the transom plate so that the motor won’t spring up when in reverse. (There appears to be bolt holes where the casting of both sections line up and could be bolted together.)
THANKS!