*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email feedback@thehulltruth.com with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
Random Quote: All fishermen are liars; it's an occupational disease with them like housemaid's knee or editor's ulcers. ~Beatrice Cook, Till Fish Do Us Part, 1949
First engine was smoking(oil) very rapidly, so took it in to Meeks Marine and no questions, they replaced lower unit last season.
This time, I got a warning of low oil(pressure), so after check this out(90 miles offshore) I noticed I had real problems as the oil was milky looking(looked like a thick chocolate malt), so I added a little oil and it was enought to get me home; however I was limited to 4000 rpms on that engine, so I ran on it at 5700 rps's on port and 4000 on starboard.
I was in a local Tournament(Tarpon pro-am "offshore") and we had the first place wahoo and 2nd placce YFT on board; however we were 10 minutes late and no deal. Oh well that is the breaks.
Hopefull Mercury will come thru again, but I am really starting to 2nd guess my decision on going with the Verados.
bp fishin - 8/7/2006 7:36 AM
First engine was smoking(oil) very rapidly, so took it in to Meeks Marine and no questions, they replaced lower unit last season.
Let me get this straight, they replaced a lower unit because the motor was "smoking (oil) very rapidly"?? Is there more to this story???
__________________ ----------------
*... personally possessing more tools than talent !
__________________________________________________ _
Update, after 4 weeks. Still no definite word from Mercury. I feel like they are delaying.
Here are the facts:
1. water intrusion is a problem. There seems to be a small water leak somewhere, but no one knows where.
2. Oil sending unit has been repaired. (due to sludge build up is likely what it was not working and getting the warning of low oil pressure.
3. Line pressure is ok.
4. Oil would not drain once "pan" dropped and the oil pick up screen was clogged. Oil would not drain due to sludge.
5. There is rust on cam-shaft, but powerhead appears to be ok----per Mercury.
Should I settle for less than new power-head? I use all Mercury oil/products(from Sim) and timely preformed.
Thanks.
Update, after 4 weeks. Still no definite word from Mercury. I feel like they are delaying.
Here are the facts:
1. water intrusion is a problem. There seems to be a small water leak somewhere, but no one knows where.
2. Oil sending unit has been repaired. (due to sludge build up is likely what it was not working and getting the warning of low oil pressure.
3. Line pressure is ok.
4. Oil would not drain once "pan" dropped and the oil pick up screen was clogged. Oil would not drain due to sludge.
5. There is rust on cam-shaft, but powerhead appears to be ok----per Mercury.
Should I settle for less than new power-head? I use all Mercury oil/products(from Sim) and timely preformed.
Thanks.
marty -
sounds complicated - what do you mean "no word from mercury"? what does your dealer say? Is merc in contact with you? Who is working for you in this situation? Has the dealer called the local field service engoneer?
Glen, the local tech has been out to see my boat(not sure how many times), but I know he was there Wednesday. My dealer(Meeks) is in touch with Mercury, but this is taking way too long to resolve. They do not even know where the water is coming from. If I have water in my powerhead then this seems like a simple task. Replace it.
"Repaired" a sending unit? Never heard of that. They are usually not repairable and are so cheap it is not worth the bother.
Line pressure (I assume oil??) is OK but no oil drains out with the pan removed? How is the engine producing oil pressure if the oil is so sludged up that it won't even drain from the crankcase?
Camshaft is rusted but the power head is OK? A power head with a rusted cam shaft (and goodness knows whatever else is corroded if there was water intrusion) is not an OK power head. The engine block itself may be OK but what about the crank shaft, lifters, rocker arms, drive gears and other steel parts?
Marty, sorry to hear about your issues. Glen is one of the best at helping people out when and if he can...good luck. Hopefully your back on the water soon.
Jethro, this is the story from my dealer. I believe they did relace the sending unit about 3 weeks ago, but after a "on the water" test that was not the problem. They have preformed 3 field tests.
All I know is what I told you above. Also, I have heard that there have been other engines with water intrusion problems. Iy is probably a old slow leak and that is why the pan and screen was clogged up. I remove my oil from the top instead of draining it.
Anthem, I am not asking Glen to become involved, at this point anyway, I just wanted to tell the facts. I learned of Verado's from THT so, I might as well keep everyone informed, whether good or bad. thanks
with the rust & milky oil you may have a slight leak in one of your gaskets letting water in . could it be you may need to drain the oil to get the sludge out vs pumping the oil out all the time ?
also with the water in you oil how much combo oil & water is in the engine?
The only safe way out would be new powerhead. All bearing friction surfaces have suffered loss from being lubed with water contaminated oil. They can take the old one, tear it down for research then sell it as a factory reman..
You say you remove the oil from the top, not the bottom, there in lies an ENORMOUS problem! You cannot suck the oil out of these engines through the dip stick because you will not get all of the oil out, hence the big sludge problem. As for water intrusion, it does no good to replace the powerhead if the cause of the leak is not determined, the problem will just come back if the root cause is not corrected. let us know the outcome and what Merc says. It seems like they are trying to make sure that this problem is fixed properly and never comes back. Let them work, the old saying goes, "never enought time to do it right, always enough time to do it twice!"
Marty - can't tell you what merc is doing..not my business ...but is it possible you need a second opinion?...the dealer sounds customer oriented but are they missing something? Verados are just not having this problem....search my message board for your situation..........
You are a mighty patient man. Obviously if the oil pressure is that low on that engine powered up then it has almost certainly suffered significant damage from the water contaminated oil. I don't understand their delay. They can run a compression check and a leak down test in a matter of hours and tell if the powerhead is smoked, which I am certain it is.
They should also be able to do a pressure check with dye to find the water leak. Likely leaking at the base of the powerhead and exhaust housing. This will also tell them if the head gasket is leaking. Did the motor ever smoke a lot with white smoke (water) as opposed to blue or blue/grey smoke? Plugs ever look water washed or have rust on them?
This is all really quite easy to troubleshoot so I don't get their lack of response. If you have not asked them about the above tests you need to do so asap.
4 weeks in my book is clearly unreasonable and I'd be lighting a fire. To top it off for mercury to tell you that the "rep has closed the file and the case was closed", what the he!! is that!
There is absolutely no reason to not have a straight answer by now. Maybe you are not asking the right questions. I don't know what your mechanical knowledge is but they are playing you.
I went through this in 96 with my Fountain and my brand new fuel injected motors that starting having major problems at 4 hours, yes that's right 4 hours. I'm in the business so my mechanical knowledge is considerable and while Mercury at the time was trying to be helpful I got a different answer basically from Mercury every week. Not the rep, I'm talking one of the head engineers from Wisconsin and he basically admitted to me that the motors were so new and "unproven in the field" that they too were learning as they went along. How about that!!!!
Long story short I eventually figured out my problems on my own, "thanks a lot for that Mercury", but off course it was my time and energy to do same. My local dealer was great but he too was over his head on my motors at the time.
Fountain was of no help at the time so I really lost a lot of confidence in both companies and sold the boat pretty quickly and never looked back.
I have no problem helping a tech/dealer or manufacturer figure out a problem as long as they work with me but if I'm getting shut down or getting no answers then its katie bar the door.
You need to call Mercury direct and get one of their engineers on the phone (they will talk to you) and make them get hopping on this. Clearly the rep is NOT communicating with Mercury and/or the dealer. I'd expect your dealer to be pushing this harder.
I will agree with others though that you need to drain the oil from the drain plug, don't pull it from the top. However, that has absolutely nothing to do with your water intrusion problem.
agreed....some communication problem here...done this right?
Mercury Marine Service Protocol
If the customer has problems with a dealer that can not or will not fix his problems please have him do the following... Call Mercury @ 920-929-5040 , which is "consumer affairs" Must have serial # of engine handy or it is a wasted phone call. Explain to consumer affairs specialist what the situation is...They will then put the wheels in motion. When procedure is followed the consumer affairs specialist documents the call, adds all product history to the call. If a rep is required, all this info is sent to him. The rep has 36 hrs to respond...this too is documented along with steps taken to resolve issue.
2nd Verado failure (costs tournament) 
