Rebuilding and Debugging by Chris Carson's Marine Service

I wanted to give a shout-out to Chris Carson's Marine Service (CCMS) which recently rebuilt my 2000 Mercury 225 EFI powerhead.

I was on plane at about 4,000RPM and advanced the throttle more. All of a sudden I heard a very loud noise from my outboard as it reached about 4,500RPM. I stopped to investigate and could not determine the exact cause, but I knew it was bad. I dumped a gallon of oil into my fuel tank and nursed it back to the boat ramp with the engine running just above idle speed. I did some diagnosis the next day in my driveway and discovered that the lowest starboard side piston had about 1/8” play like a rod bearing had catastrophically failed.

I did my homework and decided to ship the powerhead from Virginia to Chris Carson's in Key Largo, FL (rather than entrust it to a much closer firm in PA about which I saw some horror stories). Unfortunately, shortly after it got to Key Largo, Hurricane Irma hit. That put a delay into things, but within a couple of weeks, CCMS returned a completely rebuilt powerhead that looked and ran like new. It came back with six, matched .020 over pistons, a set of his fiber reeds, new crank, etc. The parts quality -- even the much-better-than-Sierra base gasket he supplied -- and workmanship seem great. I've got about 10 or 11 hours on the outboard and it's running better than ever. Throttle response is very crisp and I've gained about 2-3mph. I expect that it will serve me well for many years.

Chris Carson determined that a mud dauber wasp nest had been sucked into the engine, doing massive damage to a rod bearing, rod, crank, main seal, piston, and cylinder. He was a tremendous help throughout, answering emails and phone calls and providing all of the advice and tech support anyone could ask for -- even when I was doing other tasks on the midsection and lower unit preparatory to getting the powerhead back (motor mounts, impeller, anodes, tilt & trim motor, etc.).

I could have saved money by finding someone closer to fix it on the cheap, but I'd rather pay to have the work done right the first time than pay to have it done again.

Highly recommended.

don't believe every thing your told.

I would say Cris Carson is beyond reproach russel... Mud DAUBERS do get inside engines. Dirt on the crank would do what?

Mud dauber
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...HNT_Profil.jpg
Black and yellow mud dauber Sceliphron caementarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Apoidea
Families
Some Sphecidae and Crabronidae

Mud dauber (or "mud wasp") is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family Sphecidae or Crabronidae that build their nests from mud. Mud daubers belong to different families and are variable in appearance. Most resemble long, slender wasps about 1-inch (25 mm) in length.^[1] The name refers to the nests that are made by the female wasps, which consist of mud molded into place by the wasp's mandibles. Mud daubers are not normally aggressive, but can become belligerent when threatened. Stings are uncommon.

I believe it. They get into every damn thing down here. On my boat they get into the little screw holes around the steering wheel bezel and block access to the screws. They also like to get up inside the center console.

FWIW, I can personally vouch for Chris Carson. They did an OUTSTANDING job on rebuilding my little Merc 60 and I would recommend his services to anyone! In fact I did recommend his services to someone over on "The Hull Truth" this morning.

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Yeah Chris Carson has helped me out on more than one occasion. I'm lucky to be so close. I recommend him/them to everyone

After rebuilding my carbs early this summer. I installed them and never went further. Was waiting on a few other parts. Left the shroud off the motor in a covered carport. What could possibly happen. Turned on the electric fuel pump a few weeks later and all the carbs were pissing fuel. WTF. Took a closer look and those little bastard bee's filled up my air tubes and jet holes. Had to rebuild the carbs again. They do exist.

Guy had them plug up his bilge hose. Almost lost his boat when he sprung a leak and his bilge wouldnt pump. When I recommission my Florida boat I check all the hoses and under the cowl and exhaust for the little buggers. Mud Wasps

We call them mud wasps up here in Western Pennsylvania. Chris Carson is a top notch motor builder and does what he says he's going to do. He built me a Johnson 150 60 degree carb looper and it runs like a raped ape.