NickTheTrick3
New member
Hey guys, so here is the run down... Bare with me please.
This is a 1996 Mercury 40hp Pro Series. I picked up up from my dad's house, because it had been sitting for almost two year, I figured I better save it now, rather than later. So I got the boat home, and my original plan was to get everything re-wired and get it back on the water. I re-wired everything on the boat from bow to stern, and I also added a lot of new stuff, including LEDs in every compartment, new pumps, new switches, custom switch panel, modern Blue Sea Systems fuse panel and buss bars; I used heat shrink connectors and higher quality wire. So all of that went great, and the boat is ready, so I thought.
I then proceeded to work on the motor. It ran well the last time I took it out, about two summers ago. So I figured I would have to do some minor cleaning and just fire the thing up. That was not the case. Everything was original on the boat, except for plugs, filters, etc.. So I started with a fuel pump rebuild, and then I ended up pulling the tank, cleaning it out, replacing every fuel line, replace the water separator, new purge pump with line, new in-line filter, cleaned the carbs, Evap line, all of it, just to be sure that the entire fuel system was good to go, because we had never messed with it, since we got it about ten years ago.
After the fuel system was new, I went to fire the motor up, and I had no spark. I tested everything, bought a DVA adaptor from Snap-On, plugged it in my Fluke, and I ended up finding that the CDI box was bad. So I replaced the CDI box.
I then proceeded to try and fire the motor up again, and it was turning over extremely slow. After testing the battery and seeing that it was fine, I had 11.5V straight to the starter, so I bought a new starter. It fired up almost immediately and ran better than ever.
But here is my issue now. IT WONT CYCLE WATER, at all. I just replaced the water pump before I parked it, so it's only about two years old. And it was pumping water great when I took it out last. Just to be sure, I took the lower unit out, took the housing apart and inspected the water pump. When I dropped the lower unit, I noticed a rubber washer/grommet/gasket about 1 1/2" in diameter, sitting on top of the impeller housing. I did not think much of it. It was torn, so I just set it aside and forgot about it. I thought maybe I left it in there when I changed the impeller. Everything looked good, so I re-sealed the impeller housing, torqued it back down and put the lower unit back in. When I fired it up, it's smoking like crazy, blowing smoke or steam out the the pee hole, and I'm afraid to run it too long. So I am confused now. I need some advice here. Why is this motor blowing smoke out like crazy, including out the the water outlet/pee hole?! I am an automotive technician, so I'm pretty savvy with these kinds of things, but I'm still learning boat motors, obviously. Please Help
This is a 1996 Mercury 40hp Pro Series. I picked up up from my dad's house, because it had been sitting for almost two year, I figured I better save it now, rather than later. So I got the boat home, and my original plan was to get everything re-wired and get it back on the water. I re-wired everything on the boat from bow to stern, and I also added a lot of new stuff, including LEDs in every compartment, new pumps, new switches, custom switch panel, modern Blue Sea Systems fuse panel and buss bars; I used heat shrink connectors and higher quality wire. So all of that went great, and the boat is ready, so I thought.
I then proceeded to work on the motor. It ran well the last time I took it out, about two summers ago. So I figured I would have to do some minor cleaning and just fire the thing up. That was not the case. Everything was original on the boat, except for plugs, filters, etc.. So I started with a fuel pump rebuild, and then I ended up pulling the tank, cleaning it out, replacing every fuel line, replace the water separator, new purge pump with line, new in-line filter, cleaned the carbs, Evap line, all of it, just to be sure that the entire fuel system was good to go, because we had never messed with it, since we got it about ten years ago.
After the fuel system was new, I went to fire the motor up, and I had no spark. I tested everything, bought a DVA adaptor from Snap-On, plugged it in my Fluke, and I ended up finding that the CDI box was bad. So I replaced the CDI box.
I then proceeded to try and fire the motor up again, and it was turning over extremely slow. After testing the battery and seeing that it was fine, I had 11.5V straight to the starter, so I bought a new starter. It fired up almost immediately and ran better than ever.
But here is my issue now. IT WONT CYCLE WATER, at all. I just replaced the water pump before I parked it, so it's only about two years old. And it was pumping water great when I took it out last. Just to be sure, I took the lower unit out, took the housing apart and inspected the water pump. When I dropped the lower unit, I noticed a rubber washer/grommet/gasket about 1 1/2" in diameter, sitting on top of the impeller housing. I did not think much of it. It was torn, so I just set it aside and forgot about it. I thought maybe I left it in there when I changed the impeller. Everything looked good, so I re-sealed the impeller housing, torqued it back down and put the lower unit back in. When I fired it up, it's smoking like crazy, blowing smoke or steam out the the pee hole, and I'm afraid to run it too long. So I am confused now. I need some advice here. Why is this motor blowing smoke out like crazy, including out the the water outlet/pee hole?! I am an automotive technician, so I'm pretty savvy with these kinds of things, but I'm still learning boat motors, obviously. Please Help