1985 115 no power after repair shop visit.

[SGTCOFFEE]

I have a 1985 115 it would start and idle on the first outing but would stall and die when you would put it in forward or reverse.
Took it to the local boat shop and told them the prob and asked them to check it out and call me.
They called and said it looked o.k. for its age and that the wrong plugs was in it , had a leaking fuel line and needed the idle set. Told them to fix it.
Launched it today and didn't get it off the trailer, it started but would no idle and when you throttled it up in idle it had no power at full throttle and when you put it in reverse it would just die.
Any ideas out there as to what has happened???

 

[DavidMoore]

To me it sounds like an idle speed problem, the idle should be set with the boat in the water and the engine in forward gear. Is this what the shop did?

I would increase the idle in neutral to about 100 to 150 RPM faster than the normal idle speed, see if it will slip into gear then without stalling.

If not I would then suspect a lean mixture probably because of gummed up carbs. Open the low speed mixture screws increments of about 1/8th turn and see if it helps.

If it does then I would still schedule in a carb clean as soon as practical.

 

[SGTCOFFEE]

O.k. got in touch with the mechanic and he told me to bring it back in this morning and he would take it out on the lake and see what was up. So back to the shop.
I mechanic on all of my vehicles cause of all the problems i have had with shops in the past. This is my first boat so I don't know anything about these outboards.
How hard is it to learn to fix these motors yourself?
Are the manuels on the iboat store good, cause I'm thinking about getting one if just for the info.

 

[Chris1956]

You will want a Mercury-brand service manual. They are a whole lot better than the Seloc or Clymer manuals, but pricier as well.

For someone who is just starting to learn about outboards, the Mercury manual is the way to go. The Seloc and Clymer manuals have lots of incorrect info.