Mercury 3.5 HP Outboard Junk?

[forsailbyowner]

I bought one new and would never consider buying another one. The gasket around the cowling is held on with double backed tape and fell off quickly. The shifter freezes up very quickly when used in salt water and is made of plastic, is easy to break and costs $75 if it were worth replacing. There are ferrous bolts and parts on the bracket that will corrode quickly. The hold down screws freeze up quickly on the bracket, are made with plastic handles with ferrous torsion pins that will rust away and break quickly. These engines are designed to run 3 years and thats it. They are junk junk junk. After i gave up on it I bought a 4hp mariner by yamaha for $400 that has already run longer for me than the merc and was built in the 80s and is still going.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by bloodline

Had a merc 3.5...

Couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Found a Yamaha 3hp, 2 stroke. My 8 year old can crank it, cold.

The Yamaha has a fuel filter that is inside the gas tank. It's held in place by the fuel line.

The merc has no filters. Needs one, badly. The pilot jet is insanely small.

I also have a street legal legal 2 stroke dirt bike. These small "Eco friendly" 4 strokes are just not my cup of tea. I reckon I've poured gallons of gas on the ground and in the ocean trying to start dead 4 strokes.

The filter on the Mercury is under the cover. You don't actually think a manufacturer would build an engine without a fuel filter do you?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I once had one of those 2 hp Johnson's... now THAT is a simple OB... no gears! You have to rotate the engine 180degrees for reverse!

We had one, a 1.2HP, Johnson, too. Loved that puppy. Shoulda kept it. We called it our Egg Beater.

[thomm225]

And btw, my 2011 Mercury 4 stroke 5 hp has run flawlessly since I bought it, and I have yet to do a thing to it.

Plus, I do not run the carb dry after use. It started today on the second pull after 2 weeks of non use. And it came with a 5 year warranty.

[Gemini Dreams]

9.9 mercury prokicker = nothing but carb problems. After 900 in repair bills over 15 months basically gave it away.

3.5 four stroke, rocker arms wore through while full of oil and pumping. Carb seems okay.

Need a 6hp now thinking about a used two stroke.

w

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by Gemini Dreams

9.9 mercury prokicker = nothing but carb problems. After 900 in repair bills over 15 months basically gave it away.

Next time you are looking to give one away, keep me in mind.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Gemini Dreams

9.9 mercury prokicker = nothing but carb problems. After 900 in repair bills over 15 months basically gave it away.

3.5 four stroke, rocker arms wore through while full of oil and pumping. Carb seems okay.

Need a 6hp now thinking about a used two stroke.

w

The 5 and 6 hp 4 stroke Tohatsu, Nissan, Mercury outboards work great. I have a 2011 5hp Mercury and it has given me no problems. I have done nothing to it yet besides add a little oil.

I wouldn't get a 2 stroke. For one thing they smell terrible and are well known for fouling plugs................

[Rustic Charm]

I know this is an old thread but just in case anyone else is considering.

I've purchased a 3.5 and have done less than an hour on it. I've had it back to the shop once and the mechanic convinced me I'm using it wrong.

It stalls constantly, after ten minutes use, turn it off on the beach, try starting it again and it takes as many as 20 pulls to get it going. My wife can't get it going at all after a stint to the beach.

Power wise I don't think it is any better than the 2.5 Yamaha we had which was very reliable until I sunk it. And this 3.5 uses a hell of a lot of fuel for hardly going anywhere.

When I get home, I'll be taking it back for a refund. An outboard has to be reliable. This piece of **** is not.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

. . GM really missed a big opportunity on that one, to make the first good small US car.... all they had to do was make the block cast iron like all their other cars....

Well, nothing wrong with the technology. Nikasil -- I put about 300,000 hard and fast miles on different Porsche 911's with Nikasil jugs. None of them ever missed a beat -- they were totally bulletproof although air cooled and producing about 75hp/liter (or 100hp/liter for the Turbo). In fact I never heard of anyone who ever even had to rebuild one of those -- the odd chain tensioner was the only problem they ever gave. So you can't blame it on the Nikasil blocks! GM just couldn't produce them right, for some reason.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I loved my Vega compared with my Pinto! but yeah....engine was short term! kinda let's you know that GM "testing" is BS doesnt it? My Pinto was a good car, but it was an early one with the British ford 1600 engine in it. My girl friend at the time had a later one with usa 2000 (?) engine... never did run good. The Vega just felt much more solid... GM really missed a big opportunity on that one, to make the first good small US car.... all they had to do was make the block cast iron like all their other cars....

There was later an Iron Duke engine I think it was called but being aluminum wasn’t the problem, overheating was the problem, plus other things. The Porsche 928 V8 motor was aluminum and I believe Four sandwiches if you will laid on top of each other cause Porsche didn’t have the ability to cast it in one piece. That is heresay and maybe incorrect, but as far as the Vega this is interesting reading.

It was not a Chevy car, GM has historically allowed its Executives run things and there are a long list of what could have been fine cars, almost were, but they the Execs got involved and killed them.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/car...-destroyed-gm/

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, nothing wrong with the technology. Nikasil -- I put about 300,000 hard and fast miles on different Porsche 911's with Nikasil jugs. None of them ever missed a beat -- they were totally bulletproof although air cooled and producing about 75hp/liter (or 100hp/liter for the Turbo). In fact I never heard of anyone who ever even had to rebuild one of those -- the odd chain tensioner was the only problem they ever gave. So you can't blame it on the Nikasil blocks! GM just couldn't produce them right, for some reason.

The problem with Nikasil, and Porsche, Jaguar, and others all experienced this, was an incompatibility with the sulphur in gasoline. At the time US gas was higher in sulphur than European, and variable in other regions, and all gasolines were a lot higher than they are now.

This is why you could have, for example, a very positive experience with a Porsche in the UK, while a Jaguar XJR owner in the US could have the engine fail in 50K miles or less.

Any Nikasil car that is fine right now will likely stay that way as sulphur content is much, much lower than it used to be.

So you could say that the Nikasil coating was fine, but shouldn't it be able to work with the gasoline that was sold in the countries where you're selling the car?

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I know this is an old thread but just in case anyone else is considering.

I've purchased a 3.5 and have done less than an hour on it. I've had it back to the shop once and the mechanic convinced me I'm using it wrong.

It stalls constantly, after ten minutes use, turn it off on the beach, try starting it again and it takes as many as 20 pulls to get it going. My wife can't get it going at all after a stint to the beach.

Power wise I don't think it is any better than the 2.5 Yamaha we had which was very reliable until I sunk it. And this 3.5 uses a hell of a lot of fuel for hardly going anywhere.

When I get home, I'll be taking it back for a refund. An outboard has to be reliable. This piece of **** is not.

Under what circumstances does it stall? I had a 3.5 for a couple of years and it worked great.

You are opening the vent valve on the fuel tank, aren't you?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, nothing wrong with the technology. Nikasil -- I put about 300,000 hard and fast miles on different Porsche 911's with Nikasil jugs. None of them ever missed a beat -- they were totally bulletproof although air cooled and producing about 75hp/liter (or 100hp/liter for the Turbo). In fact I never heard of anyone who ever even had to rebuild one of those -- the odd chain tensioner was the only problem they ever gave. So you can't blame it on the Nikasil blocks! GM just couldn't produce them right, for some reason.

Are you sure the Porsche didnt have steel sleeves in the alum block? Chevy ran hard steel piston rings on aluminum directly...
I just googled Porsche Nikasil and boy are there a ton of problems! You must have been lucky..

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Under what circumstances does it stall? I had a 3.5 for a couple of years and it worked great.



You are opening the vent valve on the fuel tank, aren't you?

I have this engine (the Tohatsu make). Works great. Starts every time with no more than three pulls. Needs a bit more throttle at first. Otherwise good.

[SqPeg]

I am into my Tohatsu 3.5 for about $700. It has =>10 hours on it. I used only alcohol free gas which I drove 50 miles to get @ $5/gal. Tohatsu says "too bad, you must have done something wrong". My Toro lawnmower runs great on anything and starts every time. Just sayin'.