1998 225 Merc Motor HELP!!

[Lauren]

lol nitro hopefully somebody can figure out what it is. Brad still talks to the mechanic that replaced it and he swears it's what it's supposed to be but we will figure it out I hope! We couldn't find any serial numbers stamped on it

[Lauren]

[nitro_rat]

Looks like a “Frankenmerc” to me. I guess the items missing from the new powerhead were cobbled on from the ProMax. It’s most likely just a 200 EFI fishing motor now, but it would require some further investigation to know for sure!

[Lauren]

It's such a mess that brad is honestly thinking about selling it and just going with a 250 pro max.

[nitro_rat]

Look for a number stamped on the welch plug on the top of the block. Some remans aren’t stamped...

[Lauren]

I believe he said the only thing stamped on there was RU

[nitro_rat]

It's such a mess that brad is honestly thinking about selling it and just going with a 250 pro max.

It’s a good solid motor that is pretty easy to work on. Once you step up to the newer motors you will most likely be dependent on a mechanic like it or not. You will save on fuel, but if the rat comes back next winter you’ll be worse off than you are now...

[Lauren]

Everybody (the local marine people) keeps telling him this motor was made to blow and to get rid of it but the motor was 14yrs old before it blew and since we aren't racing with it and are just using it to get from point A to point B on the water I don't see it blowing constantly! Brad knows some basic things about a boat motor and knows how to work with wire issues but beyond that he doesn't know alot about how to work on this motor and obviously finding a mechanic in town that knows the motor is next to impossible!!

[bullet123]

They are very good motors. The best in my book. Trouble is when somebody cobbles one together and passes it on to somebody who doesn't know any better. That could be a 150,175 or 200. Without popping a head off its hard to say. It probably is a 200 because it ran ok with the promax ecu. Maybe it would be best to just see how much a dealer would give you towards another motor. Wont get much out of it selling to a private party since it has problems and you cant advertise it as a promax. What did you do with the original lower unit?

[bullet123]

This is the lower unit on this motor. It doesn't look safe. I think it would be best to just try and trade it in. The only thing I have seen so far that has any value is cowling.

[Varmint]

got a few black ones,they also used the 225 pm block, painted with sport jet crank,240 sport jet.

I talked to Brad on the phone last night (Lauren's husband). He has been given so many different opinions that I can't help over the phone. He needs to find somebody close that he can trust to diagnose his engine. He did tell me that a mouse had chewed wires near the coils and he tried to repair with liquid tape (might be his entire problem). He also told me that this is a mercury reman 225 Promax powerhead and it is black. Anyone ever see a black Promax? Anyone close to Nashville that could take a look at his motor?

[nitro_rat]

This is the lower unit on this motor. It doesn't look safe. I think it would be best to just try and trade it in. The only thing I have seen so far that has any value is cowling.

What about it looks unsafe? Bad paint and dull prop? The straight skeg isn’t ideal for a SOB v-hull, through hub prop isn’t ideal I’m sure, but unsafe?

Never mind, didn’t notice the cav plate missing!!!

[Varmint]

No,it stays like shown,oil injection

Should a hose be attached to this?

[nitro_rat]

No,it stays like shown,oil injection

There is usually a length of hose there, but it doesn’t attach to anything. No harm as is...

Attachment 407759

[Varmint]

that looks like one that needs to be torn down,may not have a matching front 1/2 on it,if it has good compression,I'd just tear the front 1/2 and crank bearing ,I'd be interested,to see,if it has dowel pins in the front 1/2,or somebody just bolted one on,without any machine work. do the block/front case 1/2 numbers match ?