Outboard serial number cannot be found

Greenheart

Greenheart

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I've acquired a Mariner 5hp. I'd like to download the full operating/servicing manual, but I can't find any visible numbers anywhere, including under the cowl.

I'm pretty sure the previous owner said it's a four-stroke, but I haven't located an oil reservoir under the cowl. Shouldn't the dipstick/oil top-up opening be pretty obvious?

I believe the engine is around fifteen years old - judging by a website I found which dated cowl insignia. Is there likely to be an embossed ID number somewhere, to complement the absent serial number sticker?

My photos aren't great, but possibly there's enough to show folk more knowledgeable than me (everyone) whether it's 2 or 4-stroke.

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Another vote for it being a 2 stroke.
Is there any useful info on the two stickers on the top of the flywheel in the 1st photo?
 
That thought has worried me in the last hour, too.

Thanks for the guesses so far. If it's 2-stroke it's certainly a surprise, but it makes sense...although opposite opinions are welcome too.

The flywheel stickers may be usefully instructive, but no trace of a serial number as I'd recognise one.

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This one only adds to the frustration... :rolleyes:

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Is there any residue fuel in that biege tank in the 1st photo? If there is and if it's blueish, then the engine is most likely a 2 stroke. Same logic if the engine came with an external fuel tank.
 
I haven't looked in the internal tank, and the fuel in the external tank was reddish - which I assumed was fuel stabiliser.

Is it likely that the nature of the lube system can be distinguished by weighing the engine?

I thought it was a shocking weight when I collected it, relative to a Merc 3.3 two-stroke I had recently handled...

...which also fed my belief that it was a four-stroke. But I'm not sure how much difference it makes.
 
Serial numbers are sometimes near the clamp. Post a picture of the whole engine with cover on, someone is bound to recognise it.
 
Hmm, it's been a few years since I became boatless, making it entirely possible that I don't correctly remember the colour of 2 stroke oil. Hopefully, someone has some close at hand and can check?
 
Goldie said:
I found it embossed beneath where the fuel tank is located.
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D'you mean underneath the whole powerhead, or was it necessary to remove the fuel tank to find it?

ithet said:
Post a picture of the whole engine with cover on, someone is bound to recognise it.
Click to expand...

Ithet, am I being over-sensitive or are you casting aspersions? :eek: I've no reason to believe the engine wasn't honestly owned and sold.

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I expect I am being oversensitive, sorry. By the way, it's a Mariner, not a Merc.

Having shown that photo of the outboard stand I constructed, I must now proudly (and irrelevantly) show the finished article...

...I realise it isn't quite symmetrical. I think of it as M.C. Escher's outboard stand.

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Tokoloshi, Does that photo on the French website show a section of the 4-stroke engine that is sure to be distinctively different from the equivalent in a 2-stroke?
 
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stingo said:
Hmm, it's been a few years since I became boatless, making it entirely possible that I don't correctly remember the colour of 2 stroke oil. Hopefully, someone has some close at hand and can check?
Click to expand...

Red, blue, green depending on make and type. I've even had some which was a sort of light brown oil kind of colour....
 
CalicoJack said:
2 stroke. Look where the carb is. It’s sucking into the bottom of the crankcase, if it were a 4 stroke it would suck straight into the inlet manifold.
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That sounds very convincing Jack, thank you...although I hardly know how to identify the components you describe.

LW, I haven't started it yet, mainly because I'm reluctant to put the wrong fuel in.
 
I just typed in the numbers from your label hoping it would help! That is the pull start unit! apologies if its a red herring!
 
Clever. Should have thought of that myself, I normally would.

But I wonder if that same component would differ in any way if it were fitted to a 4-stroke versus 2-stroke?

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