100hp Mercury FourStroke outboard motor | Jack's Lap

The 100hp Mercury FourStroke is a four-cylinder, 2.1lt EFI outboard motor. This Mercury is the engine that will power our Stabicraft 1650 Fisher

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MERCURY FOURSTROKE OUTBOARD

The 100hp Mercury FourStroke is a new product in the Mercury Marine range. Fitted with the Mercury Command Thrust gearcase, what we have here is the first of its kind in the world selected for field-testing of this kind.

The Command Thrust gearbox is a large gearbox that runs on a larger diameter torpedo. This in turns means the engine can run a larger diameter propeller. This combination results in a lower plane speed, plus better top end performance. It has a gear ratio of 2.38:1.

The propeller is an Enertia 17in pitch with a Flo Torq hub. This is inserted inside the centre of the propeller to reduce prop rattle at idle.

The design of the 100hp Mercury FourStroke is based around a single-overhead cam. Maintenance is relatively very easy. For example, overhead bucket shims dispense with valve adjustments.

INTEGRATION

The outboard setup is made to be fully integrated with other electronics components. It makes full use of SmartCraft SC1000 digital gauges but — for the traditionalists — there are also analogue-style speedo and rpm needles. Even so, engine parameters can be checked on the analogue gauges via scrollable, LCD displays using the MODE button.

One cool feature on this boat setup is the NMEA 2000 gateway. For those unfamiliar with the concept, this allows engine information (coming from the SmartCraft gauges) to display on the Lowrance HDS-9 screen. You can even split the screen, with a chartplotter and sounder on one side and engine diagnostics on the other.

Wonderful, right?