first trip out - Maxum Boat Owners Club

BrentAshurst · 06-04-2012, 05:33 AM

i fired my boat (maxum 2300 sr 5.7 merc) after sitting for the winter it started right up no problem so we took it to the river about 15 into our journey up river to the sand bar a buzzer went off i checked my guages and they all seemed to be fine temp was 160 oil pressure was good and the alt was charging i thought nothing of it. kept pushing on then it shut off, we pulled to a sand bar let the kiddies out to play and let it cool down for a while. we checked for spark and fuel and had both it still wouldnt fire. after about 30 min we tried again it fired up and ran perfect the rest of the day. my question is does the merc have a thermostat and could it have possibly been stuff in the closed position from sitting all winter? if so do i have to run a mercruiser thermostat or can i go to napa and get a regular chevy one?

seapuppy · 06-04-2012, 12:58 PM

well...sounds like one of 2 things..since the temp was ok..I'd look at the drive oil res....make sure there's plenty in it....sometimes that sensor will give an erronious alarm...then check the connections to the temp sensor on the stbd side of the engine....THEN if you get an alarm again..change out the therm...you can use a napa one but be sure it's a marine therm...that's the only thing you need to be sure of......napa carries them..

SP

BrentAshurst · 06-11-2012, 01:08 AM

i replaced the thermostat just for precautionary purposes, havent had a chance to take it out yet, should i also replace the rubber pump on the stern drive to just in case? a little background its a maxum 97 2300sr 5.7 its not a closed motor(i thought most boats were). if i replace the stern pump is it hard to do? there wasnt any trash or rust stuck anywhere that i could see. what else should i do just as maintenance?

seapuppy · 06-11-2012, 02:14 AM

well...since it's relatively cheap..I'd replace the raw water pump...put the drive in fwd..drop the lower half of the drive....the impeller sits right on top of the lower half....there are videos showing how it is done..

SP

BrentAshurst · 06-13-2012, 08:44 AM

just out of curiosity what should the motor be timed at? it cranks over slow and i just replaced 1 of the batteries and all the cables look good so next thing would be check the timing i guess

seapuppy · 06-13-2012, 02:49 PM

last I remember was about 8Degs btdc......it should wind out when revved to about 21Deg btdc ...I think you disable the distr. somehow....

get the manual on how to time the engine...that should tell you what jumper to cross connect or disable..

SP

BrentAshurst · 06-13-2012, 04:58 PM

it cant be timed like a conventional chevy engine?

BrentAshurst · 06-22-2012, 05:58 PM

I disconnected the electric water temp sensor and it ran fine must have been a bad sender unit? I took it out to the lake it ran fine stayed cool we checked that it's pumping water from out side and the water pump is pumping it out. We went to the river last Saturday went down stream to wait for friends when they arrived we fire it up to go to a bigger sand bar it ran then shut off from an idle! It would restart the rest of the day it has spark and fuel but it cranks over slow and rough? The oil levels are all fine but the rough cranking and not firing now is what has me concerned I hope I don't have internal problems!?

BrentAshurst · 07-20-2012, 12:40 AM

took it to the boat shop and turns out i have water in all my cylinders he said he thought the exhaust manifold may have rotted so i guess i will be pulling it and doing a complete rebuild! any thoughts on aftermarket exhaust manifolds, or should i stick with stock ones?

seapuppy · 07-20-2012, 06:52 AM

check michiganmotorz.com....they usually have good prices and you can get a complete engine......

SP