[Letter of complaint]

Wiley,

I'm suffering eye strain and attention deficit disorder due to your placing of Rachel Uchitel's cleavage shot next to every topic on this forum.

Please stop before I go blind! ...............and thanks for the picture :1946_headbanging:!

jc

[HAPPY NEW YEAR!]

Happy New Year and best wishes to all! Let's hope the next decade proves more prosperous to all.

Please don't forget our troops. Been there, done that, and this is about the loneliest time of the year, when your away from home and in harm's way.

jc

[Four Strokes]

I have a Mercury 115 four stroke with over 2000 hrs on her. I have it a 17 foot Lund that my brother and I run the hell out of. And what I mean about run is running it at almost full throttle for hours on end then trolling for hours too. I thought I would of blown this engine hours ago but it just keeps running like its new. The only problem I ever had was the power trim switch went out. This motor is a real work horse and you cant go wrong with one.

I wonder who made the Mercury 115 Four stroke? Yamaha perhaps?

[Recent outboards]

My biggest concern is buying USA (the boats are)... The Merc's I looked at are made partly or totally in Asia... Tt, it may become a bigger boat and have an inboard with a USA engine...

Damned hard to support USA when the manufacturers do not...

Perhaps "made in the USA"should be replaced with "assembled in the USA" . My bet is the ignition is Siemens or Bosch, the injectors may be from Mexico, the rings from the US, the rods and pistons from China. the gaskets from India and so and so on

[Marine Adhesive]

Double sided automotive trim tape?

You can easily remove it by slipping dental floss under the cap and sliding the floss back and forth

[which 150]

I have a 2007 Suzuki 150 - Very happy with it- Quiet and lot's of torque. Suspect Yamaha and Honda owner's would have the same thing?

[Are you using your engine's Aux charging capability?]

How would you integrate this into a twin engine setup (F225s)? I am about to add an ACR to isolate my house batteries.

My Suzuki aux cable schematic shows two start batteries, with each battery having a dedicated positive and negative battery starting cable from a motor.

The third battery shares the negative of both start batteries, plus the two positive aux cables. For a four battery setup, I would split the two aux cables

[How many miles are on your boat?]

250 miles on new Humminbird GPS fishfinder - Gosh only knows how many on the boat before adding.

[Boat Crash Video]

Ten minutes in the water? Who filmed this? Where were they?

I noticed the film boat was still making a straight wake after the boat has gone airborne, crashed, and the guy is now floating in the water- hmmmmm?

[Recent outboards]

I think it is a combination of things.

I think all the brands have come a long way with theri products. However, at the same time, I think we are seeing people move away from outboards for efficiency and technology reasons.

Although the sample size is small, I know of several people that have switched from outboards to single diesels for efficiency. At the same time, I know of plenty that have switched to gass inboards because they are less technologically advanced and people do not need to call MIT when they need service.

Just my casual observations on the matter.

Are you saying all gas and diesel inboards are still shade tree mechanic repairable? Today's diesels and gas engines are very sophisticated and controlled by electronic control modules and high pressure injection.

Today's four stroke outboards are also automotive based, so I'm not sure where you are coming from?

[Diminishing Returns]

I was in the same 'boat' (no pun intended). 1992 cat with 1992 175 Merc.

Strong motor with low hours but I hated the exhaust smell while trolling, followed by noise, and then MPG.

I bought a used 2007 Suzukee 150 four stroke and love both the boat and the motor combination. MPG has doubled and the silence at idling/trolling is a true joy. No regrets after six months and find myself using the boat much more, and with more peace of mind when venturing out.

A good four-stroke should last many many years, so you need only replace your boat on the next go-around.

My two cents and way over-priced

[Are you using your engine's Aux charging capability?]

FWIW - For you Suzuki owner's out there- my 2007 Suzuki DF150 also features the aux charger. You have to move a fuse and add a charging wire to use. Plugged aux wire is pink and located under ECM. If you need detail on fuse placement PM me.

Pre-assembed charging wire setup runs around $80 to 90 bucks or you can fabricate one yourself.

You can run all your electronics and 'toys' on one battery, and use the other for motor starting only.

JC

[Hub temperatures?]

I'm a big believer in non-contact thermometer's (some call then' laser' but laser only shows you what you are pointing at.

I tend to look for deviations from the norm rather a specific temp. I routinely check my tire temps and hubs at rest areas (both motor coach and trailer).

The heat sensor detects heat similiar to a pointed ice cream cone. The closer the gun the smaller the area checked.

The gun is also great for checking radiators, refrigerators, air flow on a/c's etc.

I gave one to a friend who in turn used it on his wife. Big mistake when he reported the results around the campfire.

[Lifetime (Plastic) Storage Shet]

I have had one for two years now and it seems to be holding up well.

You best be good with following instructions as this is not an " I don't need no stinking manual" type of project