"Superceded" engine part

[bkgoodman]

I have a Mercruiser 4.3LX 262 205HP Gen-II Serial Number

I need a new distributor.
The part number I found was:

90747A15

But *some* web sites say this part was "superseded by"

805185A37


So - does this mean I should order 805185A37?
Will it be a "direct replacement"?
Is there anyplace "official" to find this info, rather than getting confilicting info from different web sites??

[pascavone]

call mercruiser or email them from there web site, and ask the technical rep.

[mcoffey]

Yes, you need to order 805185A37.
Just for FYI, here is a site I always use to look stuff up. I don't buy from them but you certainly could if you wanted. It is BAM Marine.
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/

Here is what I found for your 1992 4.3 Gen II (serial # range 0D714107 thru 0F000877)

http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show_...ION+COMPONENTS

Seems they want $316.06 for it too.

GLM seems to make an aftermarket one for a bit cheaper (and on Amazon) here:
http://www.amazon.com/DISTRIBUTOR-AS...ords=805185A37


Good luck.

[bkgoodman]

Awesome...thank you!

[mcoffey]

No problem. Got to get that thing running before summer is over :-)

What is wrong with it if you don't mind me asking? Is this what caused the cracked rotor or just something else that was noticied during that investigation?

[bkgoodman]

Loooong story!

Rebuilt long block put in. Engine ran GREAT first five hours, then just spontaneously died!!

As it turns out - I THiNK it might have just died due to a bad kill switch!!

Anyway - lousy mechanic (Hingham Shipyard Marina, Hingham, MA) couldn't even get the engine STARTED after working on it for THREE WEEKS. Finally took it to a "friend of a friend" - some 70 year-old retired mechanic (who I have a suspicion was once kicked out of the Hell's Angles because he was "too crazy for them").

Anyway - this guy found the intermittant kill-switch issue - and then figured out it was a cracked rotor in about an hour. We replaced the rotor and the thing fired up and ran link a champ. However, when we got it on the water, it wouldn't run up to speed correctly. He then noticed the distributor/rotor was wobbling - which meant it was probably bent.

He was speculating that - because the distributor is JUST under the EDGE of the hatch cover, that either the idiot who installed the engine - or the idiot who tried to fix it after it died - tried to remove and/or install the distributor while the engine was in the boat, and basically bent the shaft trying to squeeze it in due to the interference by the edge of the hatch.

So - I think the new distributor will have everything working smoothly.

Of course i am omitting major parts of the story - like how the fuel line was interfering with the throttle linkage and causing problems who's repairs would just cause more problems.. Or that the spark plugs were "finger tight". Or the engine mount bolts weren't even tightend at all. Or when I found the boat, the hull, and the outdrive (outside and INSIDE) were CAKED in a THICK layer of MUD (mechanic denies moving the boat - let alone beaching it in mud). And i had an overheating issues ehen n plane My new mechanic seems incredible, so it's worth working around various leagal/zoning issues he is having...

[Jerryh3]

Go here and put it your serial number. You'll get the most recent info. Then you can search for cross-references.

http://www.mercurymarine.com/parts-a...parts-catalog/

[mcoffey]

Wow, what a mess. Hope you get it all sorted out soon and get back to having fun. I bought mine with a newly installed rebuilt engine and whoever the PO hired to install it should be shot like a dog. Found similar inteference with fual fill lines, wires, loose brackets, etc... Boat ran pretty good but after warm and idling for a bit, it would be really sluggish taking off again. Decided to tune it up since it had original wires and unknown everything else. Found out that 3 of the 8 plugs (mine if 5.7 2bl) were cracked and that all 8 were not even gapped correctly. I assume the guy just took them out of the box and put them in. After I did all of that, boat ran like a top and my sluggish issue was gone. Now I can idle through a no-wake area and when on other side, just launch her and back up on plane I go.

I was a mechanic for about 7 years and I am always surprised at some of the work others do. Maybe I was lucky as I was in the Fleet side working for a construction company keeping everything they owned running. So I had to just figure it out for a lot of stuff. These normal shops only have to do 1 thing and they try and do it so fast they end up messing things up bad. It is a shame as there are not many that actually have any pride in their work. Just get it in, swap some parts and get it out again so they can make more money. Forget about happy customers

[mcoffey]

Oh, almost forgot my latest run in with the local Marina mechanic. Last year my front driveshaft seal decided to go and dump about 1 quart of gear oil into the bilge. So I pulled the leg, dropped it off at recommended marina for them to check out and reseal. I asked them to inspect, reseal and check out u-joints. During the downtime while they had it, I decided to replace bellows, gimbal and some other stuff while it was off. The gimal was shot and it did growl when trimmed up and turning so that is why I asked them to check u-joints. 3 weeks later I get the drive back. They said all was good so just resealed it and charged me $362.00 for this (top end reseal only). I put the leg back on and it seemed good. Most of the growling was gone (probably because of new gimbal) but there still was a litle more than I expected when turning and trimmed. I know a lttle is normal under hard turn and 3/4 trim but I was getting it at half turn and half trim. Anyway, fast forward 1 year (ok, more like 11 months) and I am getting sick of the growling. I decide to yank the leg again and replace the u-joints. I also noticed the outdrive reservior is a bit low (maybe 1/4 full). Se get the leg yanked and found the oil, the front shaft seal is leaking again. Are you kidding me? So gimbal felt good so I order 2 u-joints, top end seal kit and outdrive gasket set.

I then go to tear it apart and found wht the seal leaked again. Seal was installed crooked and drive shaft yoke had deep groove where seal rides. How hard is it to install a seal into a removable plate? So I clean up yoke, install seal straight and I bit deeper so it rides on good area of yoke. Then install u-joints in shaft, preload shaft bearings and put it all back together.
Installed the leg 2 weekends ago and man what a difference. Now it only growls on hard turns and no noise at all when trimmed up half way. So far no oil leak but I guess time will tell on that repair.

So at the end of the day, I paid $362 to buy myself 11 months (maybe using the boat for 3 of those). Then had to do it all again myself spending abother $150 for all parts and maybe 5 hours of labor for all of it.

[bkgoodman]

Wow! I know the incompetence! I haven't even gotten into all the little stuff my new mechanic found - o-rings missing - washers missing - (Yes, the plugs that were installed weren't gapped) - trim limiter switch HANGING off the back of the outdrive. I also had bad outdrive seals - had to replace yoke due to low oil carving a groove into the yoke, etc.

Hopefully I'm almost done - I mean the thing ran AWESOME when it ran!

[mcoffey]

Sounds like you found a good one there. Don't piss him off so he keeps fixing it right
Good luck on the rest and hope you get to enjoy it for a bit before you have to lay it up for winter!