Help me with My Mercury 200 20hp!!!

[jonmon]

I just bought a sail boat with a, I assume a 1971-75, mercury 200 hp. I am having trouble with it already. First, I started it after about the 7th or 8th pull. It fired, and water from the impeller line spat out, however, the motor died quickly. Next, I made a proper gas/oil mixture, I think the stuff in the tank was bad. A couple of pulls later it fired up and idle nicely for about 10-15 seconds then it began to make an awful loud rattling sound from the propeller side below the spark plugs. And, NO Water was coming out from the impeller line. I suppose this means the impeller is busted or something. If you have any ideas please share, Thank You!

[cor]

It is common for the water pump impellor to be bad on old motors that have been sitting for a long time.

Pull the lower unit off and take a look at the impellor, it is an easy job. One of the bolts that holds the lower unit on may be hiding under the anode (the little trim fin behind the prop). Once you have the lower unit off the impellor is under the cover that has the drive shaft running through it. Don't lose the little key that connects the impellor to the shaft.

C.O.
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