Shellback

Have you priced out a bracket and outboard yet? If buying new, I'd bet the conversion will cost you almost 2X what it would cost to replace the I/O engine and drive.

So what kind of boat did you buy? Your signature shows a Crestliner with a 50HP Merc 2 stroke. That can't be the boat, it wouldn't have a bellows.

Hopefully your transducers are dual frequencies. For instance 200/83 or 200/ 50 etc. If so, you can run them in different frequencies to eliminate interference.

Are you sure he installed a marine shortblock? I followed a motor issue on another website where the fellow didn't have power at higher RPM's. Ran fine at lower RPM's. Turned out to be the camshaft. Auto or truck engine cams are designed to get power at lower RPM's. Whereas boats get power at higher RPM's. Scratch some paint off a freeze plug, if it's a marine engine, they should be brass. If it's steel, it's most likely not a marine engine.

I'd start at the battery. Remove and clean the connections, no matter if they look good or not. Then go to the battery connections at the motor, probably at the starter solenoid. Next there are fuses under the cowl of the motor. Another check would be the harness connection to the dash, under the motor cowl.

Take a good look at the Garmin Echomap series. I have an Echomap 50S, and liked it so much, I bought a 70DV. I now use the 50S for GPS and the 70DV strictly for sonar. The 70DV is a touch screen unit. Here's a screen shot.

You should be able to take a screen shot with your 50DV. Put a mini SD card in a slot, select the option to take screen shots from the menu. Then you just hold down the Home button for about 5 seconds. Here's a sonar shot from my 70DV, my 50S works the same.

Hope it's on higher ground!!

A 25HP Merc 4 stroke lists for well over $3000. If it sounds to good to be true, I'm sure it is!

http://news.yahoo.com/military-could-help-looking-drone-lost-lake-ontario-144230402.html

Saw this one on another forum. http://www.crappie.com/crappie/personal-classified-ads/265379-norvise-sale.html

If you bought a heavier axle, they use different hubs. I think the change is around 2000#s. Lighter axles usually have the same inner and outer bearing, and the heavier axles usually have a larger inner bearing.

Saw these on Allentown,PA craigslist. http://allentown.craigslist.org/boa/4032420684.html

For trouble shooting, it's easy enough to just new wiring over the deck, directly from the battery to the D/R. If it doesn't trip your breaker, you'll know what to do.

Lew, Personally, I wouldn't do an update unless I was having a problem. If you have the unit registered with H/B, you can see what updates are available and what improvements or corrections they make. I've got a 998 and the latest updates have caused problems with screen shot pictures, so I haven't done them. Like the old saying, " If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

From Mercury's website. Not sure if this has any bearing on a 2005 motor. Innovating the industry with battery-free power. Mercury FourStrokes have long led the pack in clean, quiet, fuel-efficient outboard power, and now the gap grows even wider. We combined innovative engineering with advanced reliability and features to make our outboards run clean, stay quiet, and deliver smooth, responsive performance – all while cutting your fuel and maintenance costs. The 25 and 30hp FourStrokes have an industry-first battery-less EFI system for easier starting, smooth running, and improved efficiency. That’s not a misprint – they feature electronic fuel injection with no battery

Unfortunately, it's America's Homeland security that started all the B/S. You don't need a passport to get into Canada, but you need one to return to the states. The US wanted to play hard a**, and Canada is returning the favor. US border agents look like the Gestapo! Our southern border is wide open with illegals walking in everyday, and we are worried about our neighbor Canada? I don't like some of the issues Canada is enforcing now, but we only have ourselves to blame.