# Mercury 200



## tasthree (Oct 30, 2017)

New member here with questions about a 1966 Mercury 200 20hp engine. I'm considering going to go look at a 14' alum boat,trailer and the mentioned engine. The guy got the set up from a property forclosure so he dosen't know much about it. Like if it runs or not. Said the engine was stored in a shed and that everything else he got from the property was in running condition. The asking price is $300 so I don't feel to bad about that. It is a two hour drive from me though. I'll offer him two and see what he says. 
I've searched this site and the net about this engine and can't find much about it. What is anybodys opinion on these engines? Are they durable, parts still available, easy to work on,etc. I'm a grease monkey and love old iron so I have no issues about working on it. Thanks.


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## crazymanme2 (Oct 30, 2017)

The electronics can be a bit tricky some time but other than that they are good motors. I have a couple of that vintage.


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## tasthree (Oct 30, 2017)

When you say electronics are you talking about setting points or other? I'm a bit long in the tooth with injuries and health. If tuned properly how hard are they to pull start? If one was in good condition and running order what would be the spring/summer value of it?


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Oct 30, 2017)

Motor is getting pretty long in the tooth. Here in Ontario a good runner might bring 350 and the boat another 400 if in decent shape (without a trailer) trailer here is worth 400 with an ownership. That being said, don’t be afraid of running an older motor on your fishing rig. I run a 1983 and before that a 76, both run flawlessly with little maintenance. Lots of 60’s motors running around here. For a low buck fishing rig, it sounds like a good deal. I’d give that much for a boat motor and trailer sight unseen. Even if the motor is a boat anchor and the hull is a bit of a project, you can still come out looking good. 


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## Johnny (Oct 30, 2017)

I remember being in the saltwater environment in 1967.
the Mercs were not highly thought of at that time.
be investigative as to its past usage the best you can.
don't judge it just by "how well it runs in the barrel".






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## tasthree (Oct 30, 2017)

Talked to the guy this evening. I wanted some more info from him like what bolt pattern the wheels are. The tires are flat but I have a set of four and five bolt wheels and tires I can take with me. Also wanted a pic of the stern from the back. I asked him his best price and he said he would take Two for it so I'm going over Wensday to go get it. Figured at that price I couldn't lose much site unseen. I don't know what manufacture hull it is. He said it was 52" wide at the bottom of the stern. When I get it I'll start another thread with pics.


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## Drock (Oct 30, 2017)

You just might have an incredible set up for $200, I can't wait to see it.


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## tasthree (Oct 31, 2017)

Did some searching on the net last night. Based on the pictures I believe the hull is Challenger made by Rich Line. I can't seem to be able to forward any pics from the ad.


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## Johnny (Nov 1, 2017)

tasthree - you have not mentioned what state you are in.
does the boat, trailer or motor require any kind of registration
to be on the public waterways ?? (just curious).
inaccurate papers (or lack of) have caused a LOT of problems here on this forum.




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## Pappy (Nov 1, 2017)

To do an old points ignition Merc "properly" you need special tools to set up the magneto. Properly is the key word. Check and see if coils are available for that vintage as well as condensors. In all probability you will need these at the bare minimum. 
Check and see how much a carb kit is for the engine. 
Check and see how much a complete water pump assembly is and also an impeller. You may need a complete assembly. 
Check the gear lube to see if water is present in it. 
I would have these answers in your head before you jump on it.


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## tasthree (Nov 1, 2017)

I picked up the boat today. Will try to post some pics later on. Jonney.I'm in NC which is a title state for anything over 14'. I put a tape measure to it and it's 14'3" so I'll have to pay up for that. I have what I hope are all the notorized papers I need. Pappy. It's been a long time like over 30 years since my last outboard work. Rebuilt a evenrude 140. What special tool is needed for the magneto? I have a dwell meter and know how to use it. The boat, motor and trailer look in remarkable shape considering they are over 50ys old. After I got home with it I ran the number for the motor and it comes up as a 1967 not a 66. I know I need to change the impeller and lower unit oil. But why do you say I need "at bare minimun" new coils. Do these particular coils go bad just from sitting or something? When I order the impeller I'll order points,con and a coil anyway. I always like to have spares on hand.


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Nov 2, 2017)

I’d say see if it runs first, then go from there. 


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## tasthree (Nov 2, 2017)

Posted some pics. I want to add to what I meant that the boat, motor and trailer is in remakable shape. Considering the age AND what I paid for it all. I really don't have the time or energy to work on it right now. When I do I guess my plan is to get a service manual, change the lower unit oil. Then the impeller. Try starting it up and see what happens and go from there. Will problably need to clean the carb. If things don't go well with it I'll just go get me a running 15hp J/E and be done with that part. I want to keep this thread about the motor so I'll post pics of the rest in another thread.


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## Shaugh (Nov 2, 2017)

That looks like a running motor to me... before you believe you have to replace everything in the ignition I'd see if I could get it going as is.... might already have new everything... Just make sure the impeller and lower unit is functional first... My guess is that it was very well taken care of...


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## tasthree (Nov 4, 2017)

Well I went to drain the lower unit oil today and nothing but 1/4 cup of water came out. Don't know if the oil was drained out in the past for some reason or if it leaked out a bad seal. I was going to take the lower unit off anyway to change the impeller. Guess I'll be doing a leak test and go form there. Any suggestions?


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## nccatfisher (Nov 4, 2017)

tasthree said:


> Well I went to drain the lower unit oil today and nothing but 1/4 cup of water came out. Don't know if the oil was drained out in the past for some reason or if it leaked out a bad seal. I was going to take the lower unit off anyway to change the impeller. Guess I'll be doing a leak test and go form there. Any suggestions?


If nothing but water came out I would go ahead and pull it apart and do an inspection. That water in there on bearings has done damage how much you won't know to you look. Running it to it fails you can count on it doing more damage, possible with parts that are hard or next to impossible to replace.


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## Pappy (Nov 4, 2017)

How about, before you pull it apart, you pressurize the LU (Lower Unit) with a bit of pressure and have some soap around the shift shaft seal, the driveshaft seal, and the propshaft seal and o-ring areas? Save you some time locating the leak. Once found, go from there. 
How much pressure? 3-5psi should be more than enough. You should close off the lower drain hole and use the upper one for the test. All fluids should be drained.
The reason I suggested you purchase ignition parts is that old coils will typically run for a short time then arc to ground when they warm up. I choose peace of mind when bringing an old engine back into service rather than a cross your fingers approach.


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## tasthree (Nov 5, 2017)

Started some digging into this thing. Did a compression test first to make sure I wasn't sinking time into a dud. Got 115psi on both cyl. Took lower unit and upper half of the water pump off. I had a brake bleeder so I did a vacuum test. I could hear air sucking on the top shaft seal. pulled the bottom half of the pump housing. Saw some rust on part of the bearing cage. Going to have to dissasemble it. But. After the compression test I reinstalled the plugs. I then had the wife see if she could pull it. I don't think she would be able to start it in case of a emergency on the water. Heck I've enough health issues I might not either. She gave me the green light to find a ele start motor. I really like the looks of this motor on the boat. So I'm still going to proceed onwards with it while I look for a 90's or so ele/pull start 15hp two stroke motor. Anyone know of a good write up on a lower unit rebuild. With good instructions I'm not afraid to do such a thing.


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## nccatfisher (Nov 5, 2017)

tasthree said:


> Started some digging into this thing. Did a compression test first to make sure I wasn't sinking time into a dud. Got 115psi on both cyl. Took lower unit and upper half of the water pump off. I had a brake bleeder so I did a vacuum test. I could hear air sucking on the top shaft seal. pulled the bottom half of the pump housing. Saw some rust on part of the bearing cage. Going to have to dissasemble it. But. After the compression test I reinstalled the plugs. I then had the wife see if she could pull it. I don't think she would be able to start it in case of a emergency on the water. Heck I've enough health issues I might not either. She gave me the green light to find a ele start motor. I really like the looks of this motor on the boat. So I'm still going to proceed onwards with it while I look for a 90's or so ele/pull start 15hp two stroke motor. Anyone know of a good write up on a lower unit rebuild. With good instructions I'm not afraid to do such a thing.


Yeah, service manuals have them.


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## water bouy (Nov 5, 2017)

There's a guy in Sanford who always has small outboards on craigslist. Which part of the state are you in. There's another guy near Mt Airy, aka Mayberry.


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## tasthree (Nov 6, 2017)

I got the lower unit apart. All the gears and all the bearing but the top one are in good shape. Going to order a new bearing, seal kit and impeller for it. I guess at this age it could use some TLC weather I use it or not.


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## tasthree (Nov 6, 2017)

Pappy. I appreciate the advice. But. Sometimes new doesn't equate to proper function. A long story short. I rebuit a 140 Evinrude over 30ys ago in which I installed new coils. It ran fine test running it with the flush attachment. Launched the boat. Idled fine. Tried putting some power to it on the water and it started breaking up. Pulled boat out and went over things. Did this many times over a period of time. I was just about to tear back into the motor when I thought about running it at night. Turns out one of the new coils was arching out. Replace it and the motor ran fine. As a DIY that bad new coil just about drove me nuts trying to figure out what was wrong. These coils for this motor seem to be expensive so I'll have to procede carefully on the expenses. I could sink more into two of those than what I paid for the whole package.


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## tasthree (Nov 6, 2017)

water bouy. I'm in Franklin. The western part of the state. In the mountains.


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## tasthree (Dec 2, 2017)

Just wanted to update and finish off this as a successful thread. I've been working on others things while waiting on parts. Redid the transom on the boat. I cleaned and painted the trailer, rewired it including new lights, put new skids on the bunks, new winch cable, put new wheels and tires on it. I tore apart the LU. Put a new bearing in, new inpeller and all new seals. Got the LU back on, new condensers installed, set the like new points, new fuel line on, the carb and fuel pump rebuilt. Rigged it up on a stand with a water tub. With reserved anticipation I started pulling on it. After about a hand full of pulls it fired right up. Wahoo. Let it run for about five seconds and twisted it down to idle and it runs purrrrfectly. It shifted into gears good and had good flow out the pisser. I can hardly believe how well it runs after sitting for who knows how long. The boats last registration ran out in 2000. I'm a very happy camper. Thanks for all your advice and what not. Now to finish rigging up the boat, get my numbers. sticker and hope for some nice weather to get it on the water.


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## nccatfisher (Dec 3, 2017)

Those were good surprisingly strong motors. Glad you got it up and running. 

I had a friend that dumped one over the transom of a boat in a local river. It sat on the bottom from Nov. to April when he decided to finally come clean and tell a couple of us about it. We got a couple boats up and decided to go on a recovery mission. Now this is a pretty decent sized river that is bad for flooding in the winter and silts in also. I really thought the chance of recovery was slim. 

The water temps were darn cool when we were doing this and we got to were he said he lost it. We were diving and trying to find it and had made some drags. It was in about 10' of water. Of course there were the normal snags etc to be found but somehow we located it and got it up. 

We did have the good sense to take it straight home drain all the fluids pull the plugs etc clean it and blow out the cyls. sprayed the cylinders with light oil, cleaned the carb and new LU oil. After drying the points and cleaning them we didn't pull that motor 5 times and it fired right up. It ran another 20 years to he gave it to his son. I lost track of it then.


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## Brian121804 (Dec 4, 2017)

tasthree said:


> fuel pump rebuilt.



tasthree,

Do you happen to know the part number for the diaphragm you used?

I have a 1967 Mercury 200 (20hp) which needs the diaphragm replaced.
As far as I can see 31503A1 should be it, however the outside profile is different & does not work.
Mine is is simply rectangular.


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## tasthree (Dec 27, 2017)

kdgrills. Sorry been busy and haven't checked this thread so I didn't see your reply. Mine is different than the picture you posted. It's only three bolt holes that is kind of round on the bottom and squared off on the top. On my parts list it is kit #23014A1. I don't remember if it was superseded by another #.


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## tasthree (Dec 27, 2017)

nccatfisher. That's a pretty crazy story. Goes to show you that it never hurts to try. Also a good reminder to make shure the motor mount screws are good and tight. This will be my first tiller motor I've ever had.


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## Brian121804 (Dec 28, 2017)

tasthree said:


> kdgrills. Sorry been busy and haven't checked this thread so I didn't see your reply. Mine is different than the picture you posted. It's only three bolt holes that is kind of round on the bottom and squared off on the top. On my parts list it is kit #23014A1. I don't remember if it was superseded by another #.



Thanks for the reply. I ordered a sheet of 1/64" thick rubber & some gasket material.
Probably have enough material to make 10 of them now, for cheaper than one kit costs.


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