Recent content by nben

I had a shoot-thru on my 99 180 prior to my upgrading to a Garmin plotter. I found a spot to the left of the engine that would give ok readings while stopped (or near stopped) in clear or salt water only, but it never worked that great. When I upgraded to the Garmin, I went with the transom...

p.s I won't have my boat out of storage for a few weeks yet, otherwise I would be happy to verify for you.

Haven't had one apart since last year so I cannot remember exactly where the water should and should not come out. I will offer this advise though........the housing is hollow and does allow some "blow by" while under hose pressure. I do remeber mine running water from the side drain hole...

As I posted above, the mounting points for the 4.3 seem to be moulded into the bilge. He has a 180 that is the same era as mine. The 4.3 came in the 182 which is the same hull. My dad has a late 90's 175 and it is a smaller hull than the 180 that I have. As far as wiring, it should not...

I have often thought the same thing about my 180. I have even gone as far as to compare the mount points etc. with a friends Crownline with the 4.3. When comparing, it looks as though our hulls have the mount points already molded into the fiberglass to accept the mercruiser 4.3 engine mounts...

I might still have the receipt when I bought everything if you need more specifics. I can look when I get home tomorrow night.

I have my 440s RAM mounted to the windshield support to the left of the steering wheel above the dash. I didn't want to drill any holes either and there were a few on here that did the same before me. If you search I bet you can find the thread with RAM parts #'s that are needed. I don't...

I still sometimes use the 20p 4 blade for watersports, but have to be super careful with the rpms. I can still get to almost 5k with the 23p......about 43mph on gps. The 20p keeps me around 36-38 mph gps but I have close to 1/3 throttle to go at 4800rpm. These #'s are all with the smart tabs...

I would say it is probably better on fuel but I honestly don't keep track. I had to re-prop though, went from a 20p 4 blade Michigan stainless to a 23p 4 blade Hill Marine stainless. Faster and flatter plane, better while pulling and much faster top speed, especially with the new prop.

The smart tabs do everything as advertised - I would put them on again if I had it to do over. The reason I went with the stronger struts was based on the experience of a few others who ended up swapping the 60 for the 80. I never tried the 60 myself.

Here you go. Camera phone so they are not great

I have them on my 99 and they worked out just fine. I will try and swing by where my boat is stored to snap some pics for you. The tie downs run very close but there is no interference. I did not contact smart tabs about the placement. Someone else on here has them and posted up some pics...

I had a similar problem with my 3.0. The problem started right after a complete tune-up. I went round and round with the fuel, filters, and separators. I was about to dive into the distributor but swapped the plugs again on a whim (cheaper than a module and coil). Problem solved!

I blew the large fuse at the starter on my 180 and had the same symptoms. Check it again with a meter or test light. If you boat is equipped, it will look like a small box that goes onto one of the studs near the solenoid.

I put smart tabs on my 99 180 this spring and couldn't be happier. They did everything as advertised and are probably my best add-on yet. I did end up with the 60lb. struts vs. the 80lb. struts that their chart recommended. I am currently running a ss 14.25 x 20p 4 blade (for...