doesnt start all the time HELP

[toyotaman]

i got a merc 65hp not sure on the year its a blueband and i had it running on the weekend an when i stopped for an hour it wouldnt start. got it home changed the plugs, fuel lines, an cleaned the carbs. then it started and a little hard to start but not to bad and today i went to start it and it wouldnt start it was almost there but wouldnt fully start and some times it would crank normal an then it wouldnt crank fast enough to turn it over then it would. any ideas whats wrong with it?

 

[jlams73]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

I had a simliar problem with starting and used a test light to check the battery. The light would flicker and once the posts were thoroughly cleaned the light stayed on solid. It has been much easier to start since then.

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

thanks for the reply but the battery is brand new and connections are clean any other ideas?

 

[outboardnut]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

It sounds like you took a shot in the dark at fixing the motor with no real troubleshooting.

Start with spark. Do you have good hot blue spark, should jump at least a 3/8 gap?
Do you have spark when the motor is being hard to start?

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

there is hot blue spark on all 3 cyl. and all 3 cyl. are 150 plus compression. what can i check next?

 

[Jake_MN]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

If you have spark, and you have compression, then the next thing to check is the air/fuel delivery. When it's hard to start, are you getting fuel to all three cylinders?

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

how would i check to see if there is fuel getting to the cyls.? i know there is fuel getting to the carbs when i prime it.

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

Ttt

 

[Jake_MN]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

Pull the plugs and wipe them bone-dry. Re-insert them and turn the engine over for a few seconds. Re-pull them. If they are wet you're getting fuel to the cylinders. If not you stlll have fuel delivery issues.

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

good point. haha ok so i pulled the plugs out and wiped them off and then put them in i cranked it over without the kill switch on and the wires were off too and the plugs were still dry wiped them off anyways again and put them in this time i put the wires on and turned on the kill switch and it fired right up only off a couple cranks so i shut it down and pulled them out they were all equally wet. wiped it and repeated it. when the kill switch is off it dont seem to get fuel and when its on it gets fuel so i guess thats how it should be?

sorry to make it so long

 

[Jake_MN]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

That seems odd to me. Normally kill switches ground the ignition. I wonder if it was just a coincidence that they were dry the first time (kill switch off) and wet the second (kill switch on).

So the symptoms before were that it would run, you'd shut it down for a while and it would not start again, correct? You've changed out a few things and have had difficult getting it started since, correct? Today you got it started, correct?

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

heres how it went haha. took it out got it in the water was a little hard to start but got it going, ran it for about one and a half hours then stopped for about and hour or so then went to go back out and it wouldnt start, very close would fire but only for about a second or two, then the cranking got real slow and wouldnt be able to turn over the motor thought the battery was dead and sat for a minute and it started cranking fast again but still not starting then it stopped cranking and at that point im sure the battery was dead. so now i had changed out those things i listed above and i couldnt get it to start still. checked the spark and there is hot blue spark and the compression is 150+ in all 3 cyl. and there seems to be fuel getting to the cyl. and today it started fine on the first couple cranks i shut it off an did it about 3 or 4 times and it started everytime but with the kill switch off it doesnt seem to get gas

 

[toyotaman]

Re: doesnt start all the time HELP

Ttt