mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

[Wendell]

First of all, I'm a first time boat owner just full of ignorance.<br />I have a 1985 Sea Arrow with a 5.0 liter mercruiser 898. It has been sitting for at least 2 years before I bought it. The previous owner rebuilt the carb just before i bought it. It ran great for about 1 hour and then just died in the water. It restarted without any trouble and would run at 1000 rpm's all day long, but when I tried to accelerate above that it would run great for about 40 yards and then just die. The seller said that he had changed the fuel/water separater, added an inline fuel filter, and changed the "paper" filter in the carb to a "stone" filter. I searched the archives and didn't find my situation. Also, if I left out any info that might be helpful I'll try my best to find it for you, thanks in advance for the help!! Love the board!!

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

Check your fuel/water seperating fuel filter agian, bet it's full of water. <br />The previous owner probably changed all the filter hoping to get it to run so he could sell it. Now, they are all full of water again.<br />You should probably do a full tuneup on it also, and check the gear lube, and since it's new to you and sat for 2 years, you probably need a raw water impeller, and need to check the bellows, ujoints, gimbal bearing, and alignment. Hard to say what all hasn't been looked at for a long time.

 

[Wendell]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

Wow! that was a fast answer! Thank you so much. I am going to buy a Mercruiser service manual. But untill I can find one I hope you don't mind another question or two. I also checked the model number on my carb as I didn't include it before. It's got a tag on it that says, MCM 898, and 1389-8488. Don't know if that helps or not. <br /><br />1)What is a raw water impeller?<br />2)What are the bellows?<br />3)Will any product like Heat help the situation?<br /><br />I am also open to any and all advice you feel like sharing with me as I am a first time boat owner and know virtually nothing. Thanks again Don, now I see why everyone seeks you out for advice and help!!

 

[Kevin70]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

I'm nowhere near as experienced as Don, But I can answer a few of these.<br /><br />1)The raw water impeller, if you follow the intake line coming from your outdrive, is inside a small round housing and looks like a rubber hub with rubber vanes radiating off of it. Any imperfection with this can cause problems so it's best to change it every season, needed or not.<br /><br />2) Bellows are the rubber accordian tubes that go from engine to outdrive. there is a larger one for the u-joints and a smaller one for exaust. Any pin-hole in these can be bad. ( I've got rusted u-joints to prove that)<br /><br />Hold out for a manual written by the manufacturer. Clymer's and Seloc, although they meant well, are just not specific enough in some areas.

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

When you go looking for a service manual for your engine, you need book #3. Merc pn 90-95693.<br />The outdrive manual is book #6, and it's online for free. Here is the link to it. It's the bible of Mercruiser Alpha drives, everything else is a shortcut or pieces of it.<br /><br /> http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6covr3.pdf <br /><br />Here is a link that will also help answer a LOT of your "What's That" questions.<br /><br /> http://www.mercstuff.com/howdoi.htm

 

[Wendell]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

Double Wow!<br />Kevin & Don, Thank you for taking the time to answer my silly questions! You guys are the greatest!!!<br />Thanks for the links Don, I've already saved them to my favorites and downloaded the outdrive manual. Can't even begin to think of how much money that saved me!!<br />Sincerely,<br />Wendell

 

[Wendell]

Re: mercruiser 898 dies above 1000 rpms

Don and Kbeach, thanks again for your help.
I changed the fuel water serarater, the inline filter and the filter on the carb. I also went ahead and pumped all the gas out of the tank and replaced it with new. I also put in a bottle of HEET. Now everything is running great. Don, I'm gonna check all the other things you mentioned, Got new oil, oil filter, and gear oil just ready to go in as soon as I get a little more time to look at it.
You guys are the best!! Thanks!!
Wendell