175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

[jigmister]

when I squeeze the bulb it dose not seem to become firm as it once did. The boat is a bit harder to start and somtimes dies at idle. The bulb is pretty old. Could the problem just be an old primer bulb?

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

Yes...

 

[jigmister]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

I should add that it blast off fine and runs perfectly from just on plane to WOT.

pretty sure this is not related but I have seen this problem with my motor as well as other guys with the same vintage. In the morning and through out the day everything runs fine. Then after a days fishing you run back to the dock and when you get there she stalls out. hard to start and idle is poor. fire it up get it running and drive onto trailer. soon as let off throttle it dies on trailer. I know mine has acted this way off and on over the 6 years I owned her. Seen the same thing with multiple other engines of same model and time frame.
Is this just the way they are or whats going on?
This sound familar? any ideas?

thanks

 

[Coloradolakeboy]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

They can be hard starting, old vintage motors like ours need maintenance, but can and will run well. Do a compression test first. The least expensive and generally the most effective way to start narrowing down the problem is to start with the fuel side of the system. Replace the old fuel lines, primer bulb and fuel pickup hose on the gas tank first. How old is the gas and did you stabilize it? Some things changed in 1987 from my motor, so I will leave it at that. JMartin has alot of experience with these motors and has helped me tremendously. He is one of the guys here that can help you get it fixed. Report back your progress.

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

Actually, it's a little known feature in most machines called a critical needs indicator. At the end of a day, you're under pressure, (need the biffy) you're tired, your wife is antsy about the meat in the slow cooker, and you just need it to idle onto the trailer in a well behaved way one more time. The critical needs detector senses this and shuts it down.

It's the same device that makes the dollar bill changer in the coke machine spit your bill back when you are really, really thirsty.

Seriously, it's usually just tune in general, maybe coupled with an attempted start with the engine tilted up near the end of a tiring day, and it'll load up. If I mess up like that, when I get it started I take a 10 second WOT loop before I stuff it on the trailer. Just seems to make the durned thing happy and well behaved.

hope it helps
John

 

[jigmister]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

hmm well normaly at the end of the day when this happens it is in a pretty long no wake zone. and with alot of idling around at the weigh in. so I imagine maybe it is loaded up.

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

hmm well normaly at the end of the day when this happens it is in a pretty long no wake zone. and with alot of idling around at the weigh in. so I imagine maybe it is loaded up.

You need a good tune-up, all the way to the fiberglass reeds.

 

[jigmister]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

where do I find the carb kits for this thing and how much should I expect to pay? Reeds as well. I looked around on line and found some stuff but seems like the wrong parts

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

Mercury gaskets at about 7 bucks apiece (x3) here. Usually hard parts are fine. Fine passages need cleaning, and float adjust is all there is to do.

Chris Carson Marine reeds direct from him, 'bout 115 bucks to the door.
His customer support borders on nagging.

hope it helps
John

 

[jigmister]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

I was planning on needle and seats since its coming that much apart.
I will look around

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

I was planning on needle and seats since its coming that much apart.
I will look around

Usually not needed unless you have one flooding and no obvious reason for it, like hose inner tube debris in the inlet passages.

 

[jigmister]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

yikes! I priced the carb kit at the local marine dealer. 100 bucks each and 3 is needed? think I will pass on that. How can some TINY gaskets cost that much?? insane.

 

[j_martin]

Re: 175 hp merc 1987 primer bulb

yikes! I priced the carb kit at the local marine dealer. 100 bucks each and 3 is needed? think I will pass on that. How can some TINY gaskets cost that much?? insane.

Slowly you're beginning to understand. About the only thing that goes wrong with these super simple things is they get dirty, usually from contamination in the fuel. If you open them up, you will not be able to get the used gaskets to re-seal properly. A 7 buck gasket kit covers that. It has all the inter gaskets, the jet holder gaskets, and a base gasket. If you have a sunk float or a wrecked needle, you deal with that one at a time. It's about 1 per 50 carbs. How many do you have on your engine?

21 bucks and a couple of hours of time brings this job into the realm of annual maintenance.

hope it helps
John