1995 Black max 200 xri efi - school me!

[keit29]

Hello S&F,

I'm new to outboard engines all together, but I am a pretty mechanical guy. I work on all my own cars and past jetski. I bought my first outboard boat a few weeks ago and I am trying to now learn more about this engine. I have done a ton of reading on here and other forums about Mercury engines, but it has almost left me more confused than before due to the amount of differences in what I originally thought where the same engines (merc V6 2 strokes). I hear thing like "steel bore" and "40 amp charging system vs 16 amp" and I understand what that is of coarse but I don't know what my engine has. I know it's a 2.5 liter and there are also 2.0s, 2.4s and 3.0s, but what's different aside from engine cubes? Can a 3.0 ignition system work on my engine? I'm pretty sure a "power head" is the engine itself minus the mid section and lower gear case, can a 3.0 promax power head drop onto my old mid? Would the cowl fit?

Basically I have a ton of questions about my engine and how it compares to other Mercs in a sense of maybe modding mine for more power. Are there any "cheat sheets" or charts that list the specs for the versions of 2.5s. Can anyone recommend a good "Haynes type" maintenance manual?

Any helpful advice would be appreciated. I hate starting such dumb threads but I can't seem to grasp what will and will not work for this engine.

[Go Time]

2.5s, 2.4s and 2.0 fish motors all share the same basic designs with respect to mids and lower units and power head configuations (except for the obvious powerhead components like pistons, rings & heads). 3.0L engines are completely different from powerhead to lower unit. Most of the 2.0/2.4/and 2.5L engines use the same basic ignition and charging systems 9/15/16 amp (small flywheel pre 1988) or the 40 amp (large flywheel 1988-2000) systems but triggers/switch boxes/ and coils have remained essentially the same..... (except for the last couple of years 2000 and up). High Performance engines from Merc racing are another story....next!

[Dave Strong]

95 200 should be a Chrome Bore 40 Amp charging system. A 3.0L will not bolt to that exhaust adapter or mid.

Dave

[Go Time]

Steel bore Dave

[keit29]

Steel bore Dave

So the sleeves are steel instead of chrome...? I'm guessing steel was cheaper and maybe doesn't perform as good?

[keit29]

Also, is my motor a Bridgeport?

[Go Time]

No, yours is not a bridgeport. The only brigeports were some of the Mercury racing 2.4L engines. Most 2.4s were chrome bore....no 2.5s are chrome, but the racing 2.5s are Nikacil (sp) which is similar to chrome. 2.5L fish motors like yours are steel sleeved.

[rutro]

Hey Keit29, the steel bore motors may not perform or run quite as strong as the chrome bore motors but they are very rebuildable. As long as no holes are where they should not be you can punch em out and over size the pistons and rings and go. I just hung a new to me '92 XRi 200 on our flats boat this past summer. As far as manuals go I would highly recomend the Mercury factory manual over any others. You don't mention what kind of boat you have the motor on, or what kind of use you plan for it. There are tons of parts that can be used on these motors available either new in some cases or used but not used up. As far as horsepower increases it just depends on how far you want to go or I should say HOW FAST? It depends on a lot of things like how deep are your pockets?

[keit29]

Thank for the replies fellas!

I have this engine on my Checkmate Starflite. http://www.screamandfly.com/showthre...h-Merc-200-xri

The main purpose for me with this boat is just general rec boating and racing my buddies around the lake. I've hit a base speed of 64.7 with the prop that came on the boat. I'll be testing other props and maybe doing some engine mods in the spring. Right now the 3 "bang for the buck" mods I like are cutting the heads for more compression, cutting out exhaust vents, and doing a 40amp to 16amp conversion with either a light flywheel or just a basic 16 amp steel one.

[keit29]

I found this page in my search and it has also cleared up a lot of questions for me incase anyone else is in the same "boat" as me
http://www.biggerhammer.net/mercury/

[rutro]

I was going to post that link when I logged on. Lots of good info there. Here's another link to lots more, http://www.toastedmarshmallow.com/performance/, that's Markus'Performance Boating Links. You have the most bang for your buck mods right. You should also consider doing away with the oil injection and premix if you plan on running it over 6K rpm.