Mercury Classic 50 year made?

[Katfish50]

I have a Mercury Classic 50 Serial #0C102865. Most of the other numbers on the plaque are worn off. The engine is in excellent shape, but I am told that to have any work done on it I need to year it was made as they were made differently for each year???  I also understand that to look on all the charts posted that the 0 at the beginning is to be dropped off the serial number so my number would be C102865……………….but I still can’t find any number near this. They are start much higher. Can anyone help with this?

 

Thanks!

[billw]

I think the “classic 50” was actually an inline 4 cylinder 45 hp. If that’s the case, I am going to call it a 1989. Staring serial number for the that group was 0B393190. Most of the time, Mercury doesn’t care too much, if any, about model year. They mostly care about serial number range, when looking up parts.

Long live American manufacturing!

[crosbyman]

great motors btw.. smooth trollers  had one with T&T  long shaft   cable steering on a  home built wooden console

years of fun and fishing

impeller carbs easy to service

 

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by crosbyman.

[Katfish50]

Thank you for the info. It was the outboard motor mechanic who said I needed the year. Appreciate the info.

[Katfish50]

Thanks!

[billw]

If you have an outboard mechanic that says you need the model year for a Mercury, you might need another outboard mechanic.

Long live American manufacturing!

[crosbyman]

btw mine  did eventually need a new switch box due to hard /intermittent starting… they were pricy at the time + labor but now you have them on AMAZON

what work do you expect the mechanic to do for you ?

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[Katfish50]

LOL

[Katfish50]

Thank you for the info, y’all. Mechanic is replacing the water pump and doing a general cleaning and tune up. Just making sure it’s in good shape.

[billw]

I would definitely do a water pump on those every two years. The high pressure/low volume pumps take a set in the impeller blades pretty easy. Also, the brass hubs of the impeller would come unfastened from the rubber, leading to a near instant overheat, before you even knew what happened. Changing the impeller every two years prevents this. Also make sure the gear oil is fresh. Other than that, I wouldn’t be picking any scabs on it. One thing that was known to be a problem was wire insulation failing. Just look at it and make sure it’s not falling off, exposing bare wire that could cause a short and a fire. If the insulation looks good, leave it be.

Long live American manufacturing!

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