I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

[IBrokeMyFreakinNeck]

IT WON'T START . What do I do now??? The motor is spinning but it won't turn over. I pulled the plugs and they didn't look bad to me, but what do I know. Do I check for spark the old fashion way by putting a screwdriver next to the plug wire? Also, the cheap *** fitting that came with the tank that hooks to the fuel line cracked in half, so I put the line straight into the tank and put the little tank screen on the end. The gas seems to pump just fine that way(a temporary fix).<br /><br />(1972 Mercury 1150 Inline 6)<br /><br />Advice from all you experienced Merc owners needed. Thanks.<br /><br />Billy

 

[Elmer Fudge]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Did you prime it first? make sure that the fuel lines are air tight, you probably need to do a compression test.

 

[JB]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Go to FAQ, Billy.<br /><br />Follow the guide in "Outboard Wont Start".<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[Cannon]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Merc. fuel connections are finicky. You have to have a solid connection on both ends. Air leaks are the down fall. <br />Make sure that you have an air tight connection at the tank end. Also make sure that the o'rings on the engine connection are there and are seating.

 

[roscoe]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Fuel, Compression, Spark, Vroooom.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Is this by chance the first time you're trying to start this motor? Old Mercury's can be pretty picky to start. Make sure you prime it, and that you have the cold start lever all the way up. If it still won't start put some gas/oil mix in a spray bottle and spray it in the carbs. If it won't start after that something is definately wrong.

 

[andrewkafp]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

As JB says.. Follow the fault diagnosis. It is a process of elimination and should narrow down the likely causes.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

hello<br /> dude in following this post it becomes clear that you need to do some reading. buy a manual and read then re read. its cheaper and easier. if that merc has sat a long time I would check the gearcase for water or excessive metal in the oil. then I would buy a compression tester and test the compression. if both are good then test spark. a spark tester can be made with nails and a 6"piece of 1x4 wood. I use a stevens s-48 myself. you may as well make or buy some test equipment now and save a lot of money and heartaches later. if the compression and spark are good then buy a fuel pump diaphram kit,carb gasket kits and a water pump kit. install all of them and it will work.<br /> read the manual while eating breakfast lunch and dinner. then read it again. invite some friends over for a reading. get familiar with what your doing before you do it.<br /> good luck and keep posting.

 

[Elmer Fudge]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

YEP! reading the service manual over and over can be a bore,however like Rod said it'll save you a bunch of money in the long run.

 

[IBrokeMyFreakinNeck]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

I do have an outboard manual that covers my year motor that I have been reading. I do need to get another one from merc that is more specific though.<br /><br />Here is what I did today:<br /><br />I have fuel primed and it is going in and out of one fuel pump for sure. I checked fire on several plugs and its there. I put some of my gas mix in a small bottle and squirted it in the carbs. It still won't turn over.<br />I bought a compression tester and here is what I have, though the battery was getting weak from all the use so I'm pretty sure the lower numbers are from that. I am charging it now and will do it again.<br /><br />1. 95<br />2. 115 (I did this one first and the battery was getting weaker)<br />3. 100<br />4. 100<br />5. 100<br />6. 90 (that battery was almost dead)<br /><br />I talked to the previous owner about a week ago who did have it running before. He said he put a lot of money into it but didn't state exactly what was done. There is some new looking gasket sealer around the head. He said it always gave him problems on the water. He said it ran fine on the muffs.<br /><br />I don't think the choke button on the shifter works. I had my brother turn the plastic bar that attaches to all the carbs while I was cranking it. Is this what the choke button does, or the throttle? If not, how and where do I manually choke it? Thanks.<br /><br />Billy

 

[ZmOz]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

That compression is a bit low, but it should fire. If the choke is working you will hear a click sound when you press the button. You need to make absolutely sure your battery is not only charged but in good condition. It takes ALOT of power to turn over one of these things fast enough to start. I had the same problem when I first bought mine, sounded to me like it was going fast enough but it wouldn't start until I jumped it. Try barrowing the battery out of your car...

 

[IBrokeMyFreakinNeck]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

The battery is brand new and just a couple of days old. Where is the choke button wire attached to at the motor? <br /><br />Billy

 

[mulliganmagic]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

If I'm not mistaken there's a manual choke on the frot of the motor that you can use if the electrical one isn't working. I'm not positive about this because we had one of these motors for less than a year and it spend more time in the shop than at home. Also, despite the fact that we spent $3000 having it rebuilt. I hope that I helped.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Originally posted by IBrokeMyFreakinNeck:<br />The battery is brand new and just a couple of days old. Where is the choke button wire attached to at the motor? <br /><br />Billy

Make sure it is completely charged. If you've been trying to start the motor for a while and haven't charged it, it's most likely not charged enough anymore. The wire to the choke comes in at the top of the motor, it goes into a solenoid that pulls a metal cable when the choke is activated, which covers the top two carbs with a plastic plate. You can probably manually push the plastic choke over the carbs if something is wrong with the choke cable.

 

[IBrokeMyFreakinNeck]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Thank you Tyler and ZmOz !<br /><br />I think and hope thats my problem. I just checked it and there is a manual choke button, though not hooked up but can easily be done. I can also just have someone hold the rod for me while i crank it.<br />I really appreciate your reply, you brightened up my night! Now I can dream of my motor running tonight <br /><br />Billy

 

[Clams Canino]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Though the inline 6 will start warm with a bump of the key, cold starting is a "process". You gotta **** near *flood* the thing to start it.<br /><br />1. Pump the ball till hard - then squeeze some more to force a little gaz past the float needles.<br /><br />2. Advance the cold start throttle a bit.<br /><br />3. Choke it and crank while choked. Once it catches, release the choke and "bump" it a couple times till all 6 catch.<br /><br />4. Warmup a full two minutes at 1500 to 2000 rpm.<br />Do NOT exceed 2000 rpm with no load on the motor.<br /><br />-W

 

[mulliganmagic]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

When we had our inline 6 (1978) rebuilt it was winter when it was finished, and we had to wait until March to try it out and brake it in. When we did we took it out two days that week and both days we had the worst time getting it started. I believe that on both days someone with a similar motor had to help us start it and the first day we refused to turn it off afraid that it might not start again. However, before long we figured out the process of getting it started easily. If you take the cowl off and pump the ball until gas is dripping out of all three carbs and then choke it it should start pretty easily. We figured this out to soon blow up the motor due to water in the gas. So I hope your experience with this motor is better than our's was.

 

[IBrokeMyFreakinNeck]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

ZMOZ, Thanks for the tip about jumping the battery for more starting power. I FINALLY GOT IT RUNNING. Apparantly the choke button on the shifter doesn't work. Also, the choke cover for the 3rd carb is missing. So I had my brother stuff a rag into that carb, and hold the other carbs closed using the linkage. I sprayed some fuel mix in them first and we still couldn't get it started (bulb was rock hard).<br />So acting on the tip from ZmOz I jumped the battery for more power and it finally started. WOO HOO! I let it run for about 20 minutes and it sounds strong.<br />Thanks to everyone for all the advice on getting it started! <br /><br />Billy

 

[andrewkafp]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

You can check that choke solonoid easy by running a jump lead from the battery to the live side of the soloniod. It will "Click" if it's working. You NEED it to work when cold, because these Mercs like to be choked hard when cold. It may be just the way you've untangled those wires that's causing it to fail.<br />BTW How is the telltale stream looking ?

 

[ZmOz]

Re: I hooked up the fuel line and turned the key, guess what.........

Originally posted by IBrokeMyFreakinNeck:<br />Also, the choke cover for the 3rd carb is missing.

There's actually not suppost to be one there...good design huh? While you're tuning it up go to Napa and get a can of deep creep. Spray it in the carbs while it's idling and it should run smoother and start easier. Mine wouldn't start cold, period, unless I jumped it, but after I used a can of deep creep on it, it starts just fine with one battery.