Motor maintenance question

I have a 2007 mercury 150 optimax. It only has around 60 hours on it. I bought the boat two years ago with 30 verified hours on it (it is a long story). It had been sitting up for years. owner had it serviced right before i bought it. I may have put 30 more hours on it in the last two years.

My question is....

Does this motor need to be serviced yearly by a certified mercury shop? Boat service centers seem to want me to believe that it should be done regardless. The boat center said that it was suggested that I replace the impeller/water pump every other year even if it was working fine. Are they trying to get some easy business?

Other than draining the lower unit and replacing fluid, what really needs to be done? Unit was running like a top when I put it up in October.

I dont mind a little grease under the nails, but I don't have a chip reader/diagnostic unit. Does this motor really need to be tuned up each spring?

I have an 05,115 opti
Had since new
Put new plugs in once
Don’t know why just did, keep lower unit serviced & seafoam in tank, no problems yet
And don’t want any


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

I would just change lower unit oil and the only reason being to check for water. If pump sits ladle for to long rubber can harden and take a set. It then can become brittle and start coming apart. If previous owner changed pump then no. If he didn’t I’d change it just for peace of mind. 30 hours or so are no hours on that motor. You could do a pump every other year with no problem. Remember those guys are in the business of selling service. Watch a couple of YouTube videos, your good enough mechanic to do your own pump.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cray

I would just change lower unit oil and the only reason being to check for water. If pump sits ladle for to long rubber can harden and take a set. It then can become brittle and start coming apart. If previous owner changed pump then no. If he didn’t I’d change it just for peace of mind. 30 hours or so are no hours on that motor. You could do a pump every other year with no problem. Remember those guys are in the business of selling service. Watch a couple of YouTube videos, your good enough mechanic to do your own pump.

---

I have replaced several water pumps. Did one in my 90 merc a few years ago. This is a lot more motor than that one was.......
I think im gonna pull to the lake tomorrow instead of to the dealership!!!

On the Opri`s they recommend every 2 years when I did not stick to that I would get an overheat alarm. The symptoms once it was warm and idling when I would get about half way up on plane the over heat alarm would come on once on plain it would go off. The over heat was a solid alarm hopefully yours is working.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iwannafish

I have replaced several water pumps. Did one in my 90 merc a few years ago. This is a lot more motor than that one was.......
I think im gonna pull to the lake tomorrow instead of to the dealership!!!

---

You might just need a little help. That’s a pretty hefty lower unit. Think time at lake would be well spent. Save that for a rainy day.

I’m with Cray, lower unit oil every year. Impeller every 2 years.

In my opinion a little service goes a long way. If your able to do the work,parts are not going to cost you that much. If the boat does not have a external 10 micron fuel filter I would highly suggest you installing one. The motor is 12 years old and water pump impellers do get brittle.It sounds like your not using it much so I hope your storing it with non-ethanol gas in it.

I have this if your interested as I had a 115 opti on my 2002Taho s/f and Merc replaced it with a 150efi. I sold the Taho and have a tracker 175tf and have no need it them.