After getting Mercury to replace my 225 Optimax with a new 2003/2004 model I was anxious to break it in. My fishing buddy and I launched in Everett and ran over to Scatchett Head on the West side of Possession for some blackmouth fishing. The new Optimax was awesome....completely redesigned and very very smooth. I got one of their SmartGuide digital gauges so I can see all the functions of the motor including GPH and gallons of fuel used. This will help when splitting the cost of gas on the longer trips...The gallons per hour is helpful with trimming and setting optimum cruising speed.

Anyway I was so happy with the big motor that I forgot to check the Mercury 15HP BigFoot four stroke kicker to make sure it was peeing water. It wasn't and I only noticed it when it overheated. bummer...We trolled around on the big motor for a bit watching a big blackmouth get netted right next to us. I chose not to run the new motor at idle for long so we went home before we even got started. When I got home I checked the pee hole and ran a wire up into it..ouch!...no obructions..The motor started up fine but no water pumping out. I suspect this is not an easy fix. I have never had to change an impeller. I gave up working on my own boat when I got the new one. Is this a big deal? Wonder why it went out? I had the motor tilted up during the recent freezes so maybe some water was trapped inside and broke something. Anyone have any ideas? How much does this cost to fix? Thanks for all the help.

We can fix ya up. steve's marine repair,, 253-569-4138

The impeller is rubber and rots. Its fairly easy to do. It took me about 2 hours. The parts for my Merc 20horse were $110. I would have taken it in as I am wierd about getting out on the water and having something fail but I was on my way to fish and needed it now. It worked fine and the motor was stolen later that summer.

Dont forget to pull the thermostat and check that out and backflush the system if you do it yourself. As theking said, the impellers are rubber and you end up with lots of little pieces to plug the lines up if you dont flush all that debris out. Good Luck!

Just got my Honda fixed, for about $150.
If they run dry, the impeller can melt in about 15 seconds.