Well I jumped in with both feet and I'm sinking quick

[Electric Fish]

Just bought an old ranger with a 85 Mariner 150 hanging on it. I picked it up pretty cheap and the boat itself is in pretty good condition. I knew the motor was shot, hence the cheap price. Picked up a manual for the motor and thought, Dear Lord what Have I gotten myself into. I now have a written estimate for $2,800.00 for a re-build.One of the pistons disintegrated in the cylinder. Well I am definatley a do it yourselfer as I lack the funds not to be and not afraid of it but this is my first boat and first motor. Been checking out this page for about a week and it is by far the most helpful place I have seen on the internet so far. I've got a long list of needed parts and definatley have to get some machine work done. Feel like I am going into a whole new career that I will be paying for instead of being paid for. My question is, is it worth it to you guys if it's just a hobby or should I just have other people do the work. Man I just want to fish. If I get into this I feel like I will fish but want to fish very, very fast.

[Electric Fish]

Should have posted this on the general discussion board.

[Talon2.5]

no no you posted in the right place!!

85 150 huh

2.4 with a vertical front half? (thats my guess anyway)

a 2.4 merc is one of the best (or 2.0) motors to learn on!!

1 do you have a digital camera?
2 are you mechanically sound in your gut and have a good array of tools?

3 got a good clean area to do a build?
4 credit card for parts ordering on line?
5 a good machine shop that can sleeve a block?

yes? then class has opened for you!!

alot of killer mechanics frequent this board and if you post and are patient the answes will come!! :D

by the way.......WELCOME ABOARD!!

[Electric Fish]

Guess my first purchase will be a digital camera. I do have a good array of tools. While reading the manual it sounded like there were several specialty tools I will be needing as well. Purchasing all these additional tools was one of the reasons I thought about having someone else do the work. I have to admit, I am getting a little excited about rebuilding the motor myself. Hope it does not come back and bite me in the a$$ though. Hate to get it on the water and find out I missed a step. I've been reading waterwings thread and it made me think, Do I really want to get into this? My answer to myself was, YES.

[NEECAPR]

Electric Fish: welcome- Great Name, Sounds like one of the Nuclear Navy Boats!

[Talon2.5]

well most of the tools for an average re-build you would probably already have, it's not as bad as some of the manuals make it out to be (CLYMER) for one

i have most of my 2.4 high perf manual scanned for these situations, do you have the seriel number off your mid-section?

most of these are not acurate but it's a starting point

yes digital cameras even cheap ones are worth thier weight in gold for doing this over an internet site and being a meticulous and clean person during a rebuild is what will help it to live!!

it can be done by you if you apply yourself and when you read a reply read it thoroughly!! before replying yourself and be sure you understand before replying to tech stuff

if you dont understand ASK for clarification!!

theres been threads 2 pages long over miscommunication in the past, so be sure you describe everything very clearly and in detail

gotta go for now, working tonight, find out the serial number and we can start there, do a search through the archives and bone up on some stuff ;)

i'll go do one real quick and come back and edit this with the links

here's some reading for ya..........

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22203&highlight=rebuilding+my+merc

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23049&highlight=mercury+2.4

[Gordie Miller]

If all you want to do is fish, then you need to have this work done by a shop or individual who will give you a warranty(between 90 days and a year)on the repairs. The guys on this board are going to crucify me for telling you this. For the most part we(myself included)like to work on our stuff as much OR MORE than we like to go boating. If you're going to attempt these repairs yourself, be prepared for a variety of incidentals to crop up along the way that add cost to your project and slow you down, thus cutting into your fishing time and adding to your gray hair. Find a local shop that seems trustworthy, and fairly priced and enjoy a summer of FISHING. Sorry Skip. That's just my educated opinion.

[Doubledog]

You can do it

You can do it

YOU WILL DO IT....... ;)

[heath brinkley]

It's all you EF. You don't mind if I call you EF do ya'.

[gaineso]

First welcome.

Now, if you ain't afraid to pull down a car engine, you can pull that one down and put it back. There are some really helpful people here, and they really know their stuff.

Yeah, you can get it done faster, for 2 to 3 times as much money and probably get a 90 day warrenty. It'll break at 120, just kidding. There's a certain amount of satisfaction from doing it yourself that can't be bought.

Yeah, you might want to buy a few tools, but you can find suppliers here that build some specialized stuff that's probably better than anything you can get elsewhere and a lot cheaper. (Balzy, JSRE) You'll find out more about that stuff as you go.

One more thing. Once you get into this, you're gonna want to tweak a little here and a little there. These things are a lot more addictive than any drug. Once you touch a wrench to that motor you will be hooked and there is no treatment other than more speed, more noise, more boats, more speed, oh and did I mention more speed.

So welcome to the biggest and friendliest gang of addicts you'll ever find. These guys have taught me more in the last year than I learned in the previous 60 about what makes my little bass boat tick.

[B.Mac]

Originally posted by Electric Fish
Man I just want to fish. If I get into this I feel like I will fish but want to fish very, very fast.

Welcome Electric Fish!!!!
What nobody here has told you so far (correction, Gainso just beat me to it)......is that once you start this stuff you'll become hopelessly addicted. You'll sell all your fishin' stuff and be forever pursuing a couple extra MPH and never get to fish again.

If fishing is your passion you could find a drop on rebuild for @ $1800. Or a good used drop on for around a grand. Plan on spending $500-$800 on parts for your rebuild if it ain't too bad. If I had a fishing jones, I'd go with a drop on..........but if you want performance and speed, which only gets worse everytime you go out......you'll be sellin' your fishin' stuff for boat parts in no time around here......this stuff is addicting!!!
Whatever you decide, you can always get technical help and tips here on S&F........
Welcome Electric Fish!!!
B.MAC:D

[Raceman]

I think you can do it too if you're fairly mechanical and really pay attention to what comes from where. Be nuts about zip lock bagging and labelling every single piece, even washers and hose retainers. It doesn't hurt to take a few pictures from all angles also just for hardware replacement.

Without looking it up, I'd have thought that the 150 was an old 2 liter motor. That might make some things simpler if it is.

You'll probably have a tough time running across a problem that somebody here hasn't seen before.

[Electric Fish]

Seems like I'm starting out on the right foot for once. The only problem is the guy who gave me the estimate tore the power head down and it's sitting in about four different boxes in my garage. I'm already kicking myself for just not going at it. My only saviour is going to be you guys on this page. Seems some of you could and probably have done this blindfolded. I have alot more confidence now than I did before I started this thread. Thanks again for the support now and in the future.

[H2Onut]

Do or Do not......

THERE IS NO TRY................


U CAN DO IT !!!

But it will take time and patience, Gordie has a point, if ya want to be in the water quick, a shop is the way. I ya want to see what makes a motor tick, spend 50.00 , get a digital camera off of E bay and the is MORE, I repeat MORE that enough thalent on this boars to accomplish just bout anything oustboard realted, blind folded whislt driking a beer upside down...

PS WELCOME to the Hotel California, You can check out anytime you want, BUT yo can never leave.....Your HOOKED...ahhhhhhh

Get a comfortable chair, U will need it:)

[gaineso]

Also check with RickRacer. He got me a factory manual for my '86 Mariner. Took awhile, but worth the wait. Better than Clymer or Seloc.

sales@rickracers.com

(407)343-4733

He can generally get you better prices, but you may have to wait a week or 2. Mostly worth the wait if you need to save some money and can deal with a couple extra days.

Camera doesn't need to be super quality. 640X480 is good, 800 by 600 is about all you will need for resolution

[Talon2.5]

alot of good points made in this thread so far

heck you could go for a drop on and lern on that so rebuilds in the future wont cost as much

idunno up to you man :cool:


was looking through the parts manuals i have and it appears racemans right it's looking like a 2 liter, i guess i was thinking 85 as the 2.4 era so if it is a 2 liter it may be more of a benefit to you to get a drop on powerhead thats a 2.4 or 2.5 steel sleeve motor they will have more torque which will be better for a fishing rig!!

still though it's all up to you :)

[Techno]

For about that much you can get an electric outboard and really live up to your name. It won't get you on plane though.

I would say while you still have your sanity is to look at what you want in the end and try for that. I mean don't get lost in all this little side stuff, Oh wait thats advice I should be following.

But really if all you want to do is fish then decide on if this engine will be all your going to want. Now is the time to upgrade if you want more power. Up to a point the more power you have the faster you can get to the fish and also do the other fun boating stuff.

[mattyc]

Holy Cow! This is Deja Vu! Electric Fish -- that is EXACTLY the position I was in two summers ago!

I had gotten a good deal on an '87 Stratos setup with a Mariner 150 on it. Well, the Mariner blew up the next year (on my run back in at the end of a bass tourney I was about to get 2nd place in!) All I want to do is fish, not rebuild my engine!!!


****
Can I take this opportunity to ask everyone here about these engines?

On mine, the #2 hole was crapped out. The oil injection gear sits right next to it, and the oil injection gear was completely disintegrated. My assumption was that the metal shards from the gear got into the cylinder, and that's what caused the problem. It seemed very obvious when I took everything apart that that was what had happened.

So, when I rebuilt it, I just left out all of the oil injection crap. No oil injection gear on the crankshaft, and no worm gear sticking into the block. I just pre-mix my gas. Swore that that would never happen to me again.

Is this common, and am I right?
****

Back to my story....

I had never rebuilt an engine -- ever. I got some quotes and found it was gonna be no less than $2500 and nobody would do it in the summer anyway. Heck, when I asked one mechanic if he thought I could do it myself he asked if I had ever rebuild an engine, I told him "no", and he just laughed at me for thinking I could pull it off with a V6 as my first engine.

But I'm a tinkerer, and I like to think that I can fix ANYTHING (that's why I'm an engineer ;), so I jumped right in. I got the book, took a lot of digital pictures (which I still have if you want them), and took a lot of notes.

Also, when I got done, I took it back into the shop, and for $300 they went through it and caught a few little things that I had missed, put it on a dyno, and checked out everything. (I hadn't tightened the stator down like I should for example. Also, I had some of the bleeder hoses mixed up.)

I did it all for about $500 (+300 at the shop). New rings, upper/lower bearings, 1 new piston, and paid a guy to bore out the block.

Well, the engine works perfectly now, and I've put two hard summers on it. Good luck, and let me know if I can help!

[heath brinkley]

EF, I wanted to say more in my first post, but my wife came home from work. Since I've grown fond of the last layer of skin on my ass, I turned the computor off:D There's an old saying, I can't remember how it goes, but I always felt it should be as follows. Only two things in life are certain, you can never have too many motors and the only thing better than a fast boat is a faster boat;) Try this on for size. If you don't want to cut into fishin' time (which as stated above will be a thing of the past:D ) look for a powerhead (you can pick 'em up pretty cheap if you look around) to get you in the water. Then, since this is your first time, you can be patient and take your time, without being stressed about time. The worst thing you can do on a rebuild is rush. Even tho' you've never done it before, trust me, mechanics know alot of stuff you don't, but NOBODY will spend as much time, and recheck as many things as you will on your engine. Anyway, since you won't be in a rush, you can go ahead and turn that 150 into sumpin':cool: search the boards, sometimes people are givin' stuff away. In fact, this week someone had a horiz. front half for 25 bucks or something. Make that Ranger run. Then you can search the under 20' hulls for a new boat when you sell your Ranger;) you will sell your Ranger you just don't know it yet:D :D :D :D good luck and welcome aboard.

[tunnelmike]

I have some parts that might save you some money. check your post under general..................Mike

[Bill Rogers]

'85 150 is a 2.0. All 150's with clamshell cowl are 2.0 except for the '88 XR4.

[Instigator]

If you're good wiith tools you can do it. Biggest thing is diagnosinig why this happened so it does'nt replay when broke in.
I rebuilt a V-6 Johnnie who had exactly that happen to him.
Bought a rebuilt motor off a shop that gave him a 90 day warranty.
The thing blew on the 91st day, the first WFO pass he made after break in. The shop told him he did something worng and to get bent!! (true story)
Plenty of help on this board, and acces tot good clean used parts which will save you a ton!!
If you decide to have some one do it for you, plenty of help here for that too.
Welcome to our world Electric Fish!!
Gary

[Capt.Insane-o]

Cheap, inquire within.

[heath brinkley]

Bill, never messed with 2.0's, but cant he put a 2.4 crank in a 2.0:confused: for the extra inches. 2.0 should respond well to a horiz. front and some 22's.:confused: maybe the Capt'n has that stuff. I'm definetly not the person to take advice from on a 2.0.

[Bill Rogers]

Heath, the cranks have the same stroke. The difference is in bore size 3-1/8 for 2.0, 3-3/8 for 2.4, 3-1/2 for 2.5.

I have a little historical knowledge (especially older stuff) but I'm hardly a guru. I've just recently learned about the difference in center (and upper) mains since I joined this fine family of boating addicts. :D

My question for the guru's is this: The 2.0 blocks have real thick steel sleeves - why can't you bore em out to 3-3/8"? I'm tempted to try it. I'm in the process now of adapting my boring setup to merc blocks. I have a scrap 2.0 block to practice with. It sure looks like 3-3/8" would be possible. Anybody know for sure?

[heath brinkley]

for the info Bill, will the 2.4 fronts work on the 2.0 block. I cant imagine they changed their blocks, just their sleeves. What was the most horsepower (factory) ever made with a 2.0. 175? 200?

[Markus]

Basically, you are right now face two paths in your life:

Path 1: Buy another engine or trade that engine for something else to put on you transom, I would recommend a Yamaha, or perhaps get a rebuilt powerhead. If you choose this path, you will get a lot more time for fishing in the rest of your life. However, you will not know what to do when your engine suddenly stops working a few days/months/years down the road. And you will be in the hands of the local marine mechanic, who you may discover after having spent a few thousand dollars, may well be the most incompetent and dishonest individual you have met. On the other hand, you can always come back here when that happens.

Path 2: Rebuild that engine yourself. When doing it, you will not be able to resist making a couple of performance mods, "since it is in pieces anyway". You will also make a couple of mistakes, which will cost you additional time, money and grief. After having done it, though, you will be stuck. You will start dreaming of a 2.5 280, start thinking of getting your engine ported, consider getting a nose cone etc. After a while you will realize that you just forgot about fishing.

Myself, I bought my current boat seven years ago. I originally planned to get a boat for water skiing, but ended up with an offshore race boat since I always wanted one without knowing it. During these seven years, I have ruined one powerhead due to lack of oil, had one crank snap off, burned one piston really bad, burned four others on the sides and bought an engine that happened to have a burned piston and two additional damaged cylinder walls, just to mention a few things. I have met a few good mechanics and many that belong in jail. I have spent huge sums of money on engines and parts and quite some on work I cannot do myself. I have become intimately familiar with the electrical system and carburators of Yamaha V6 engines and I have just started on the same path with Merc. 2.5 EFIs. But I have not yet been water skiing after that boat.

[heath brinkley]

path 2-path 2-path 2-path 2-path 2-path 2.........path 2 kicks ass, and you'll never regret it. path 1 sucks , and you can't imprison the guys Markus warned you about, just give 'em your money and cry big ole crocodile tears. Byb the way EF you won't miss fishin' 10 years from now.:D But in case you find you do Allison makes a nice bass boat;) and it may outrun that Ranger:rolleyes: but that's down the road. Excuse me, down the path. PATH 2. seriously, like Markus said tho' once you do it yourself two things happen. 1 you understand your motor, and you can fix it when things happen (and things will happen, whether you or a professional fix it.)down the road. 2. even if you take it to a mechanic down the road for something else, you won't be taken for a ride by one of those guys Markus warned you about. Not to say all boat mechanics are like that, but I know of several.

[heath brinkley]

Markus, I thought your remarks sounded silly when I read your post. As soon as I finished posting though, it dawned on me, I bought my first boat to haul ass and ski with (13 years ago). I haven't skied in 10 years.;) :D :D :D :D

[Bill Rogers]

Horizontal front half will fit, but I'll defer to the gurus as to whether it would be worthwhile or not.

Max stock 2.0 was 175. In fact all 175's from '76 thru '84 were 2.0

EF, like Skip said it's your call. A drop-on will get you on the water in a hurry, but the least expensive route is to build what you have.

[Raceman]

Bill, I'm glad somebody finally posted that it was definately a 2 liter. I was pretty sure it had to be, but nobody else seemed to think so, so it made me wonder.

[Talon2.5]

Originally posted by Talon2.5
alot of good points made in this thread so far

heck you could go for a drop on and lern on that so rebuilds in the future wont cost as much

idunno up to you man :cool:


was looking through the parts manuals i have and it appears racemans right it's looking like a 2 liter, i guess i was thinking 85 as the 2.4 era so if it is a 2 liter it may be more of a benefit to you to get a drop on powerhead thats a 2.4 or 2.5 steel sleeve motor they will have more torque which will be better for a fishing rig!!

still though it's all up to you :)

gee raceman i believed ya!! :rolleyes:

[Electric Fish]

Got home the night I posted this thread and told the wife I was gonna fix the Ranger up sell it and buy a Bullet. Well she was none to happy with me. First things first. Get the ranger fixed up. Thought it would be best to do away with the 2.0 stuff and pick up some 2.5 stuff. I've been doing alot of reading(alot and I mean alot) still have alot more to go, but I think the XR6 would be a better choice on this boat. Seams like alot of them out there still running and alot of part availability. I'm going to dive into this project next month when I have more time and more funds. Working 12-14hr days this month. Again I cannot thank you all enough for the support. I really appreciate it.

[heath brinkley]

If your going to sell it, I wouldn't spend the extra money going to 2.5 stuff. Just fix your 2.0 and sell it.