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1996 Mercury 60 ELPTO 2 stroke, low cylinder presure

M

MisterZ

New member
Hi, I'm a newbie to the forum and new to boating. But I do have some experience in working with smaller engines.

I have a 1996 pontoon boat i purchased with a 96 Mercury 60 ELPTO 3 cylinder, 2 stroke. The engine runs great and looks great, almost as if it was rebuilt. I did a pressure test and 3 the cylinders showed the pressure of 80, 80 and 53 psi. I tried the pressure test several different ways cold and warm engine, open and closed throttle all came out the same. Today when i did the test again I noticed that the exhaust coming out of the lower end at the propeller was also foamy? Any clue or thoughts what the issue is? Can it be a head gasket?

Thanks for any opinion.
I tried to post a picture but it doesn't seem to be accepting it or the vid.
 
I do not believe there is a head gasket on that motor.----Find someone with a boroscope to have a look in the cylinder.
 
That's wretchedly low compression--unless your tester is reading low. I suggest borrowing another and see.

Jeff
 
racerone said:
I do not believe there is a head gasket on that motor.----Find someone with a boroscope to have a look in the cylinder.
Click to expand...

I thought i saw it in a parts diagram that it did have one. I will double check it. A scope would be nice to be able to see it inside.

Thanks.
 
fastjeff said:
That's wretchedly low compression--unless your tester is reading low. I suggest borrowing another and see.

Jeff
Click to expand...

I know it's really low. I think the gauge works ok because i just used it on a large zero turn lawnmower and it definitely showed me the big difference in compression. I guess its cheaper to try another tester than start ripping apart the engine.
 
There is no head gasket !----Most small 2 stroke Mercury motors have not had head gaskets since the early 1950's !!-----Is oil injection in service or bypassed ?
 
Check the compression again with a different tester. It doesn't sound like a motor with 80 pounds compression.

Jeff
 
OK, I rented a pressure tester from a parts store and I tested it twice (once with open throttle once with closed) and the results consisted of 40, 90 and 95psi. OK, 40 is really bad but the 90's aren't great either. I am just trying to figure out whats up with it and if it's worth rebuilding the whole top to bottom or just buy a new engine. But sure don't want to spend all that money on a boat I will use maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I go deep into Canada so breaking down is an issue as there is no cell phone service and nearest road is 2 hours by boat.
 
Only place i found that would rebuild the top and bottom end all in one in one day for $2000 is Blackbird Industries Inc in PA. But they seem to have bed review. Everyone else wants $2500 plus just for the powerhead. Any suggestions?
 
Where are you located? I had my powerhead rebuilt by a local expert last year. He specializes in Merc. Mine is a 60hp as well. I had good compression (125 across the board), but my injection pump failed and caused some cylinder scoring and piston slap.

Give Chris Carson Marine a shout down in Key Largo, FL. My rebuild came in just under $2000. As long as your crank is good, yours would be about the same. He is old school and they stand behind their work. You can ship the whole engine or just the powerhead. I took boat and trailer down there because I'm local to FL. If you go with Chris, you won't be disappointed. I believe he is a Vendor over on Scream and Fly and BassBoat Central as well for his Reeds among other things.

If you're up in the NE, check out Fullers Marine and Machine in NJ as well.
 
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snookwhaler said:
Where are you located? I had my powerhead rebuilt by a local expert last year. He specializes in Merc. Mine is a 60hp as well. I had good compression (125 across the board), but my injection pump failed and caused some cylinder scoring and piston slap.

Give Chris Carson Marine a shout down in Key Largo, FL. My rebuild came in just under $2000. As long as your crank is good, yours would be about the same. He is old school and they stand behind their work. You can ship the whole engine or just the powerhead. I took boat and trailer down there because I'm local to FL. If you go with Chris, you won't be disappointed. I believe he is a Vendor over on Scream and Fly and BassBoat Central as well for his Reeds among other things.

If you're up in the NE, check out Fullers Marine and Machine in NJ as well.
Click to expand...

I am in Northern Virginia. But might be worth shipping.
 
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