Age of motor

[Pete Makra]

G'day guys, haven't made up my mind on what new boat to get yet but had to have somethin to get me out & about over xmas. Bought a little tinny with an older 25 mariner on the back. When I checked out the boat, motor started 2nd pull (albeit with a puff of smoke), ran fine, pumped water ok and gears worked (a bit clunky though).

The tinny and mackay trailer are in great nick & I'll probably keep it. Problem is, I don't know how old the motor is. The motor itself has a few different 6 digit numbers around the place but the inside of the engine cover has the following sequence of numbers/letters - 699 - L - 320773.

The missus loves fishin and usually wants to come out with me so for peace of mind, I'm thinkin about upgrading the old 25. Depending how old it is, I might just run it till it dies.

Anyhows, any ideas on where I can find out the year of manufacture. I've tried the web and previous posts here but then again, I aint real flash on the net. Any help is appreciated, cheers.

[finga]

If there's no build plate on the leg area to get the numbers off then a picture might get a rough idea of age.
Where are you??

[Steeler]

Little puff of smoke at start up no prob for a 2 stroke,good sign of oil.Little clunk engaging Fwd or Rvs is ok but if it does worry you a bit of Nulon G70 when next changing the oil is a good preventative measure.

All up go forth enjoy your rig and catch plenty.

And Finga drawing a straight line to the coast would make you a New South Welshman,now there is something to aspire to

[joey_1987]

Age of the motor may not be the best indicator of how much life is left in it, outboards that are 20-30 years old but with regular use and maintenance can run for many many years. New 25's are about $3000 depending on what brand you go for, if the Mariner 25 you have started 2nd pull then it most likely is in pretty good condition, plenty of water being pumped is a good sign, a bit of smoke is normal (all carby 2 strokes do this). Just make sure you keep running it on a high quality fuel/oil mixed at 50:1.
Cheers.

[finga]

Some of the older Mariners had a serious problem.
The Yamaha made rebadged Mariner 20's and 25's used to crack between the cylinders.
Easy to see if your is applicable or not. Just look for the Yamaha tuning forks on the block.

[cgibbo308]

email Mariner with the engine number they will tell the day it was built and where it was shipped to in the first place...
we did the same with the old brit bikes my father and i used to rebuild. many times we would find a book that would even give the engine number range and the year that, that engine number was built in and what factory.

i did find one for merc http://www.marineengine.com/mfr/mercury_models.html
but havnt found one mariner yet

[Pete Makra]

If there's no build plate on the leg area to get the numbers off then a picture might get a rough idea of age.
Where are you??

Hey Finga, sorry haven't replied but youngest son's stuffed our computer with viruses. Have only just got it fixed.

No build plate on motor but local marine bloke says its around 15-20 years old. Motor checked out fine, not so lucky with gear box. Went to drain the oil and only water came out, followed by a bit of glugy oily sludge. It wasn't milky as one would expect so my way of thinkin is that the motor's been sittin for a while cause the water & oil were separated.

Filled her up with oil and gonna take her for a good run and then recheck to see how bad the seals are leakin. Still a great little tinny though, even with the seals gone.

[Pete Makra]

Little puff of smoke at start up no prob for a 2 stroke,good sign of oil.Little clunk engaging Fwd or Rvs is ok but if it does worry you a bit of Nulon G70 when next changing the oil is a good preventative measure.

All up go forth enjoy your rig and catch plenty.

And Finga drawing a straight line to the coast would make you a New South Welshman,now there is something to aspire to

Hi Steeler, sorry so long replying but youngest son stuffed our computer . My local marine bloke says the motor's around 15-20 years old. Motor checked out fine, not so lucky with gear box. Went to drain the oil and only water came out, followed by a bit of glugy oily sludge. It wasn't milky as one would expect so my way of thinkin is that the motor's been sittin for a while cause the water & oil were separated.

Filled her up with oil and gonna take her for a good run and then recheck to see how bad the seals are leakin. With the Nulon G70, how much do you put in. It can't be much as it doesn't take that much oil, cheers

[mozzie1957]

G'day guys, haven't made up my mind on what new boat to get yet but had to have somethin to get me out & about over xmas. Bought a little tinny with an older 25 mariner on the back. When I checked out the boat, motor started 2nd pull (albeit with a puff of smoke), ran fine, pumped water ok and gears worked (a bit clunky though).

The tinny and mackay trailer are in great nick & I'll probably keep it. Problem is, I don't know how old the motor is. The motor itself has a few different 6 digit numbers around the place but the inside of the engine cover has the following sequence of numbers/letters - 699 - L - 320773.

The missus loves fishin and usually wants to come out with me so for peace of mind, I'm thinkin about upgrading the old 25. Depending how old it is, I might just run it till it dies.

Anyhows, any ideas on where I can find out the year of manufacture. I've tried the web and previous posts here but then again, I aint real flash on the net. Any help is appreciated, cheers.

'Day,
if you have a look on the side of the motor, same side as your tiller arm, you should see a silver plate 'bout the size of a 20c coin. On that plate should be stamped a series of numbers eg: OD266612. Take note of that number then go to www.storesonline.com/site/573683/page/599331 and that'll take you to the Mariner Engine look-up guide. Click on the link for 25hp and 'nother page'll open. Simply search the list for a series that would include your number.
For example the numbers D182000-OD277999 would include the above number. Simply read across and this'll give you your year of manufacture. The example given would be a 1993 model. Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Mozzie