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Outboard Advice

teamhart2

teamhart2

Well-known member
Hey guys, I might have a chance to pick up a 1988 merc XR4 for a decent price. The guy doesnt have compression numbers on it, but it was rebuilt 3 year ago and sounds like the guy had it pretty well maintained, he claims he had the carbs tuned every year etc. Hes gonna send me some pics later this week, but I figured I would ask what you all thought of this engine, and what the rebuild a few years ago might mean either good or bad. Thanks for any input.
 
be a great motor for that boat
ask him why he rebuilt it, if it was just to ring it or caus it blew up...i'd also ask if he did it himself or not
bring a compression gauge if ya go check it out, you can do it in 15 min
 
sounds good, He said he has all the paperwork on a rebuild three years ago, so Im guessing it was done professionally.

83, Im not worried about strength since im redoing the transom but as far as the weight of these guys, I dont want water coming over the back, will I have to worry about swamping the boat with an engine this big on it in rougher water or anything??

again this is prolly a little more than im looking for, but if i can hit 60s with it without a ton of setup and def have enough power to pull up some skiers thats about what im looking for.... and I can always catch the speed bug later.
 
why would he "tune" the carbs every year? was it done wrong each time? i always think somthing is fishy whan the seller brings up carb work weather it be just tuned or needs to be rebuilt.
 
Yeah, I would look into the history a bit, but who knows, maybe he is one of those guys that takes it to a Marina and has it "prepped" or "tuned up" each spring.

I would check the compression, the gauge to do it isnt very expensive and can save you A LOT in the end.
 
the way he wrote it it sounds like he had it tuned up every spring by a marina. Ive got the compression gauge and if I go to look at it Ill def take it with me, I was just wondering if a rebuild three years ago might make it more likely to have good compression still. Unfortunately its a few hours away so Id hate to drive down there with cash and have to drive home with cash cause he didnt check the compression
 
A compression gauge is a handy little tool to have.

Sounds like he had a marina do all the work and the carbs were one of their little 'extra' charges that every shop in the world tries to get away with these days.
 
I have a 175hp 2.0 on my enticer. It also has water logged foam in the back and I dont think it sits to low. I bought a 89 xr4 in peices and plan to build it to about 200hp and hang it on the back. That engine should push you to 60 no prob. My old 175 not running to full potential last year got me to bump the 60 mark a couple times( floats had sunk and was running WAY too rich). I don't know the exact specs but I wouldn't think a 2.4 would weigh much more than a 2.0




l_c477d58757cbdaa236d375562e5fdf7f.png



Heres how low mine sits with the 2.0
 
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