Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Once again another confused by serial number

B

bbehnke29

New member
I hope this one is easy for you guys. so the motor that i currently have on my boat is a merc 650 serial 2014930. just purchased another merc 650 being told that is a "newer" 650 than the one i currently have on my boat, serial 1891922, i find that hard to believe seeing that the serial number actually went down IMG_0707.jpgIMG_0706.jpgIMG_0709.jpgIMG_0715.jpg

the part that im lost in, is it groups the what i believe are the serial numbers, that i found on the transom plate, it groups them in the same serial range... hope someone can help me out here
 
Last edited:
i still cant get the last picture to load up, but i will try to describe it the best that i can, on the wrap around, there is three blue lines, below the wrap around there is a red and blue line, then below that it says 650, with three blue lines that swoosh with a little red decal at the end, hope that will help some until can get my computer to work and reduce the size of that pic
 
The reason you use the serial number when looking for parts is they made alot of suttle changes between production runs it is possible the lower number was produced late 1965. oldmercs.com has a more complete breakdown on production runs.
 
so im guessing those suttle changes must be why the change in color pattern, i dont know if they were removed by previous owners or not, but from looking at it, the smaller sn number has no rectifier or stator
 
That would be the different model number four models
short shaft, long shaft, short with alternator, long with alternator.
The suttle changes are more like shift lock parts and such you dont know until you compare part numbers or try and swap parts.
 
Your red & blue cowling belongs to a much newer motor, probably an 85hp with the "hockey sticks" striping. Someone cleverly updated the old 65hp with newer covers and even changed the HP lettering. Nice to have interchangeability, eh! Or maybe they installed newer decals, who knows? Thank goodness for serial numbers!

BTW the old 65hp models with magneto didn't need any battery power at all to run, the magneto generates its own spark energy. A recoil-only model with no electric starter would be somewhat lighter as well.

HTH........ed
 
Back
Top