Mercury serial numbers??

**BenKeith** · 04-09-2021, 09:04 AM

I have a Mercury motor on a boat I bought used.
Doing a serial number lookup from the label on the transom bracket it shows it's a 2006
The square block on the label for date of manufacture on the transom bracket shows 09
The EPA sticker on the powerhead and a label on the electronics bracket are all dated 2009
Wondering why the SN comes up as a 2006, with the MFD has 09
If it's a 2006, how did it get those labels dated 2009.
It has not be repowered with another powerhead because the SN on the block matches the SN on the transom bracket.

The bill of sale for the motor that was in the paper work for the boat shows it was sold in 2005.

**David - WI** · 04-09-2021, 10:27 AM

I just read on here somewhere that when the blocks were replaced under warranty they came with no serial number... and the dealer doing the warranty work was supposed to stamp the matching serial number on the replacement block.

Try here: https://www.screamandfly.com/showthr...89#post3273189

(Edit: Or maybe all replacement blocks, warranty or not.)

**25two.stroke** · 04-09-2021, 10:29 AM

Is it possible it got a drop-on and was re-stamped at a dealer? Still wouldn't explain why the serial number tag says 2009. Does the provided paperwork have the engine serial on it? I assume it does. In the merc engine serial search it gives you the first sale date and the engine mfr date, have you obtained both?

I would say it was probably a pacemaker: sold by merc in 05, returned to the factory for warranty in 09 where it got a new ph and transom clamp sticker. If you ran the serial on mercnet it would show if its a pacemaker. Still doesn't explain the paperwork like bill of sale...but I don't understand that process out there. Where I am there's no paperwork for outboards.

**BenKeith** · 04-09-2021, 01:02 PM

I was just curious, since I don't normally mess with Mercury's. This one was blown and on a pontoon boat I bought and it came up ordering parts for it and probably no difference in the value of an 06 and 09 that's been rebuilt. The boat was bought new with a 60, in 2001 and repowered in 2005 with this 90.
It does not create a problem with registration or anything.
I just seems strange when I do a serial number search, it comes up with the model number and SN for a 2006
Yet, every date on every sticker and label on the motor is dated 2009, and that square block that's supposed to be date of manufacture has an 09 in it.

**25two.stroke** · 04-09-2021, 02:38 PM

Yeah we are supposed to stamp all replacement blocks with the original serial from the clamp bracket. But if the clamp bracket sticker says its newer than it is then the only people that have the ability or willingness to change those stickers would be merc. Thats why I think its a pacemaker that got rebranded at merc. Typically these will show on mercnet with just their most recent sale, not the original sale that resulted in the whole motor bein returned to mercury.

True story:

2012: sold a 150 4s that blew up within 30 min of running. Customer took the cowl off and the flywheel nut was glowing red.
Merc wanted to swap just the powerhead but the customer being a commercial fishermen insisted on a whole new motor as he didn't trust it with his life/livelyhood
Merc supplied a new motor and the blown one went back to Wisconsin
Just ran that old serial today and it shows it was sold in 2014 to a guy in Illinois - no mention of its previous history here in Cali
My assumption is merc put a new powerhead on it, retained that same serial number because they could keep track of it as its own motor. Stamp the block, put a new sticker on the transom clamp printed with the old serial number but present year to sell it. Easy as that.