rejesterd

Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I bet you don't even let your computer fan blow hard before you shut it off and rip it apart to investigate..

See.. you saying "they want big money" is exactly why marinas don't bother serving this market. These are old engines that are very simple, and very cheap to fix. That's the main reason people hold onto them. So they don't want to pay lots of money to fix them.. even though that's what it costs to make it profitable enough for someone to do the work and make a living.

The other side to this is how pollutive older motors are. Eventually, most waterways won't allow them, no matter how well-cared for they've been. So for a marina to take the time and train their staff to repair them isn't really practical for the business. And I wouldn't say newer EFI engines are plug-and-play. I hook my engine up to the laptop, but it's like a car.. it just gives you codes. Some of those are helpful, but they usually don't give you a smoking gun. You still have to troubleshoot.

The exit stream only tells you that water is being pumped by the impeller. It doesn’t tell you if water is actually going through the tstats and cooling the engine block. That’s what the cooling water temperature sensor and the overheat alarm are for. Some newer engines also have a water pressure gauge, which is nice. You can also point a temp gun at the block to check the temperature. But at the end of the day, you’re relying on sensors (whether it’s a sensor installed in the engine or a tool like a temp gun). If one of those sensors goes bad, you might not know it before it overheats and blows the head gasket. So as always, it comes down to simply doing the maintenance. If you flush the engine, test the tstats and sensors, and replace the impeller regularly (and the tstats as well if you’re in saltwater), you should be fine.

If you have the means to get a boat and a vehicle that can tow it, I would get a bass boat. I've had a canoe, a kayak, and now a boat. I do not miss carrying my hull on my back (then separately lugging my equipment back and forth to the car), nor do I miss paddling against the wind. I only miss the lower cost-of-ownership. Just make sure you go into this with a good understanding of all the costs associated with owning a bass boat. Maintenance on the engine every year, maintenance on the hull, maintenance on the trailer, insurance, registration fees, etc.

Yep, look on Merc's parts site. I would assume there is a restrictor plate on the lower models that isn't on the 60, for example. But most replacement parts would be the same for all. I've looked at this for my Yamaha, and I think the only difference between mine (50) and a 60 is the ECM and that restrictor plate.

You changed the pump and plugs, but how about the filter?

I've driven both, primarily in a 3000 acre lake that can get quite rough. My father has a mod V and I have a deep V. I would say the deep V will do a little better when it's rough out, but it's not a relaxing ride on the water. It's still bumpy and you can't go full throttle (or you'll get splashed). But it will get you across the lake faster and dryer than a mod V imo. But otherwise, a mod V feels more stable, and it's easier to reach down into the water when landing bass. I guess the only other advantage to a deep V would be that it's fall-off-a-wagon easy to drive the boat up onto the trailer (since there are only 2 base bunks you have to line up with, not 4).

Yeah, I would say you had some water in there. You definitely want to trace that leak, but I doubt your gears are damaged. To really confirm that the lower unit is sealed, you can connect a bike pump to the lower unit fill port. If it holds a small amount of pressure (10-15 psi) for a whole minute, then any leaks would have to be coming from that fill port. But it's possible one of the seals needs to be replaced. I do that test whenever I see any cloudiness in the drained oil.

Just wanted to update this, as I figured out the problem: it was a bad rear brake light bulb. As soon as I replaced it, my test light started showing 12V only on the brown wire with the headlights on and the vehicle in park.

I'm checking at the hitch plug. I'm going to do the rewiring today with new LED lights, and see what I get.

Hi All - My trailer is about 10 years old, and I've been having intermittent issues with the lights. When I started inspecting things last week, it was clear that the ground connection to the frame wasn't solid and the wires going to each light are pretty corroded. So I decided to rewire the whole thing and get some new submersible LED fixtures. Right now, I'm testing the 4-wire coupler on the vehicle side, just to make sure everything's ok there. However I'm getting some unexpected results on my test light, and I want to confirm if what I'm seeing is right or wrong. When I turn on my headlights with the vehicle in park, I'm getting 12V not only to the brown wire, but also to the yellow and green wires. I've tested with my test light and a multimeter, and I get the same results. My understanding is that only the brown should be getting 12V when the headlights are on and the brakes are not applied. Is that correct? Note that when I put the blinkers on, I see that my test light blinks as expected for each side (yellow and green). Nothing has changed with the wiring on the vehicle side since I had my hitch installed, and the lights did generally work correctly most of the time. But I thought green and yellow are only for the brakes and turn signals, so I didn't expect all 3 wires to get 12V. Is what I'm seeing expected, or do I have a problem with the wiring on the vehicle side? Thanks so much.

The rules for gear oil are different than engine oil. The primary reasons synthetic oil is superior are 1) it flows better in freezing cold temps (which most of us don't deal with in boating) and 2) it has additives which help extend the life of oil seals and hold in soot/other solid bits better (which don't typically occur in a gear housing). Unless you're seeing metal bits come out when you drain it, I would just keep using what you've been using. And if you are seeing metal bits come out, I wouldn't expect a synthetic oil to solve that problem.. it would help suspend those bits better (and not allow them to cause as much damage), but you'd still have a problem to fix.

If you inspect the bearings regularly, you don't have to worry.

In general, you have to focus your attention to the engine. You have to narrow down what "beat up" means. The engine's service manual will help you do that. Then you'll have a general idea of how much it will cost to fix.

What is wrong with the trailer and the engine? The answer really depends on that imo. Also, where did the other $1200 go from your $2000?

Check everything electrical.. bilge pump, aerator, horn, all the gauges, trailer lights, etc. For the engine, check the fuel pressure (assuming you're buying a fuel-injected model). Also drain the vapor separator. If anything but fresh-looking fuel comes out, I would look in your area for an injection cleaning service and get an idea of how much that would cost (usually it's under $100). Not a deal-breaker for buying the boat, but it does indicate that you'll need to really clean out all the components in the fuel system.. so you can ask them to drop the price by $500 or so. Also check the anodes and check for any air intake leaks. Inspect the fuel filter as well.. if you see fine black bits in there, that means the fuel hose is rotting out on the inside (common issue when people use cheap bulb assemblies). And look on manualslib.com. You might find the service manual for your potential engine on there (or one that's very similar to your model). That will tell you a lot about what to look for.

Sounds like it's not getting enough fuel at high rpm. As said above, definitely check for leaks in all fuel lines/fittings, replace the fuel filter on the engine, and replace the water separator filter if you have one. Also check the mechanical fuel pump(s) and make sure the check valves are working and the diaphragm isn't leaking. I do know that on some Mercurys, the pumps use these odd ring-shaped pieces as check valves, which can sometimes break and need to be replaced. Opening up and inspecting the pump(s) is worth doing for that reason. Not sure if your engine is carbureted or fuel injected.. If carbureted, it's possible the main jets are slightly clogged. You can try running it at a high idle with the intake silencer removed, and hold a rag over each carb intake for a few seconds. Sometimes, this creates enough vacuum to free up a partially clogged jet. It's also possible that the needle valves and/or floats are damaged or gummed up. To inspect/repair that would require you to take apart the carburetors. If fuel injected, it's possible that the injectors are clogged. First try a fuel injection treatment through the fuel tank (Lucas, SeaFoam and many others make these treatments specifically for fuel injectors). If that doesn't help, then I would remove the injectors and send them in to be professionally cleaned/repaired. It shouldn't be too expensive, and worth doing just to get new o-rings and baskets. If that doesn't help, then it's possible that the vapor separator chamber isn't staying full (due to a bad mechanical fuel pump or needle valve), or its internal filter is clogged. In that case, you would need to take apart the vapor separator. Another possibility would be a bad pressure regulator.

I agree with Crestliner2008. As soon as I moved from 3/8 oz to 3/4 oz spinnerbaits, I started getting a lot more bites. And when I downsized from larger finesse worms, I started getting a lot more bites. The only exception is color. For the waterway I fish all season (for the last 20 years or so), there is a certain color that they will hit no matter how big or small the bait is. This weekend I'm actually about to try a new spinnerbait in that color just to see what happens.

If you listen to enough pros talk, I think there's one common thing they all hint at when it comes to forming a strategy to find bass. And that is: they don't blindly search with any particular set of baits. They estimate what seasonal pattern the bass are in (based on recent weather, historical weather, wind speed/direction and water temperature), and they use that info (along with contour maps and sonar) to focus on certain areas of whatever waterway they're fishing on. Many of them will hint at this by joking about how they're now part-fisherman, part-meteorologist. To me, that's pretty revealing. Any new spots you try should be based on some kind of science and educated guessing. But once you decide which spots to focus on, yes, those would be good baits to start with. However that doesn't necessarily mean you should stop using them and slow down once you catch one. Especially during the middle portion of the day. I would be more mindful of boat position and being careful to not spook the rest once you catch one (as opposed to thinking about what slower bait to try next). Think of all baits as bass triggers, not bass locators.

I typically have the best luck with spinnerbaits, especially if there's a slight ripple on the water. If it's dead calm, I'll lean more toward a shallow jerkbait or a squarebill crankbait.

I would try a deep-diving jerkbait (Strike King has a good one that's not expensive). Also a Rebel Big Craw in 15-25 feet. It won't go down beyond 17 feet or so, but smallmouth will come up for it. You just have to match the seasonal color of the crawfish. Earlier in the year, it's brown and orange, then transitions to red with blue highlights later on. I've caught more smallmouth on that lure than probably anything else in the past 30 years or so. Smallmouth are generally roamers, so you have to power fish to find them imo.

But that outcome isn't fake. No one knows how often bass see the same lure, but the point is, fishing pressure is considered real by pros for a simple reason: bigger bass won't hit the same lure over and over again throughout the day. Throughout the year? Yes, of course they do. But memory and learning do factor into how they act. It's not like they think critically about anything, but they're smart enough not to bite the same thing over and over when it doesn't fill their belly and pulls them out of the water. And again, my main point isn't about fishing pressure, it's about bass becoming more nocturnal over time. They learn that it's easier to ambush prey in lower light conditions. So during the day, you generally have to trigger them more into biting.

His findings were simply that bass have the ability to learn and remember. Putting bass in an aquarium doesn't change their brain capacity. He didn't say "they'll never bite the same lure twice", but their memory does factor into it. That's why fishing pressure is considered a thing by pros. That's why KVD and others will talk about how important it is to "trigger the bite". If bigger bass acted no different during the day vs night, everyone who fishes small ponds would be catching monsters every day they go out.. because you don't have to search for them in those places.

As I said, there is a key difference between bass in the wild vs bass in an aquarium: the ones in the aquarium are fed real food on a regular basis. Bass in the wild don't know when their next meal is coming. So their instinct to bite generally overrides learned behavior. But the tests performed did prove that they hit the same lures less and less over time.. They remembered as far back as 3 months. What exactly about them being in an aquarium invalidates his findings? And try not to yell at me this time!