1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

[nhmaina]

I saw another thread on a different Mariner with a similar problem but not sure it's exactly the same. i have a 1988 Mercury Mariner of my fathers that I wanted to fix up for sentimntal reasons. i had it repaired by my parent's neighbor last year and he did $500 dollars worth of work on it! Since the repairs, I have tried it either in the yar or at a lake about 5 times since then. Almost every time it starts hard, I thought it was a cockpit error (me) because I was always pushing in the choke when I turned the key. However, today, after about 10 minutes, I was able to get it started and it would stay running (sometimes it would stay running for 1 or 2 seconds and then die). Initially, when cold, this motor alway runs rough, like its missing or something. Anyway, today I then had the problem that when I put it into gear I could hear the gear engage then it would sputter and die. This happened several times out on the water. I found that if I "nailed" it instead of gently putting it into gear, it would sputter but then manage to catch and get going. Once going at half to full throttle for a while it would running very smoothly. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what is the issue with it (or me). My brother thinks it could be an ignition coil.:facepalm:

 

[Jeff Lindquist]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

I am the other post with a 1982 80hp 4 cylinder and you just described the exact conditions i experienced before i put boat in storage over a year ago. I should be able to try turning the key again this weekend after my solenoid and plug wires come in. If things are ticketyboo, i wil let you know the processes i went through and what i repaired/changed. I did find a few wires in pretty rough shape between the switchbox and the coils (mine has 4, 1 for each cylinder), so i reiwred all 8 including grounds. Also, some of the plug wires may or may not be making contact on all 4 cylinders, as it pretty tight between plug inlets on coils and throttle/spark arms. make sure of those as well. get em good and deep in the coils before sliding the boot over.

 

[nhmaina]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

I am the other post with a 1982 80hp 4 cylinder and you just described the exact conditions i experienced before i put boat in storage over a year ago. I should be able to try turning the key again this weekend after my solenoid and plug wires come in. If things are ticketyboo, i wil let you know the processes i went through and what i repaired/changed. I did find a few wires in pretty rough shape between the switchbox and the coils (mine has 4, 1 for each cylinder), so i reiwred all 8 including grounds. Also, some of the plug wires may or may not be making contact on all 4 cylinders, as it pretty tight between plug inlets on coils and throttle/spark arms. make sure of those as well. get em good and deep in the coils before sliding the boot over.

Thanks, Yes, I would like to know how it comes out. Talked to my brother again and he thinks it may just be a mixture problem and is going to help me with the low speed idle. Also, he thinks that I may have been stalling out because I had 5 people in the boat and that may have been loading the engine too much when moving forward slowly. Not sure i agree, but either way, we are going to look at setting the mixture. I believe the guy who repaired my boat replaced all the plug wires, but I will take a look. wouldn't wires always make the engine run rough? It really purrs once it gets going.

 

[Jeff Lindquist]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

i will let you know how things go. good luck in the meantime

 

[nhmaina]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that mine is a 50hp Mariner.

 

[Jeff Lindquist]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

no worries. the basic power flow and components are similiar in function and arrangement. might help pinpoint the trouble area

 

[catfish44]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

i will let you know how things go. good luck in the meantime

From recent experience, clean the carbs carefully. Hesitation is nearly always caused by restricted fuel supply. Try pulling the choke or give it an extra spurt of fuel. If this helps you will know that it is lack of fuel.

Additionally, raise the foot to help relieve the exhaust pressure.. (that helps some..temporary measure)

 

[nhmaina]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

From recent experience, clean the carbs carefully. Hesitation is nearly always caused by restricted fuel supply. Try pulling the choke or give it an extra spurt of fuel. If this helps you will know that it is lack of fuel.

Additionally, raise the foot to help relieve the exhaust pressure.. (that helps some..temporary measure)

Ok, dumb question...the manual choke is placed inside the housing, to choke it while starting I push in the key. If I just push in the key while moving into gear will that cause the choke to happen? I still don't understand why it worked well for about an hour, then, only after letting it set for about 15 minutes off and then restarting it did I have a problem.

 

[catfish44]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

Yes, the choke is a solenoid that dispenses a small amount of gasoline into the carb throat when the ign. key is depressed. If it is lacking fuel this will tell you. Without explaining the fuel and ignition timing relationship try this if it is a lack of fuel that is causing the problem you will be able to decern this. Without sounding boastful I have been running outboards since I was five years old (now 73) and do have much experience with this sort of thing. Although I recently had this to occurr with my 4-cyl 40 hp Mariner. Cleaning the carbs and checking the float level solved this problem.

As you can imagine there are many dynamics happening when an outboard is running..... just try it. If the acceleration improves, you will know it is fuel starvation.

 

[Part-time]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

I have an older 85 merc and you just described what my motor does as well.
My motor only has 1 coil and a distributor cap and I know spark isn't the isue.
I was thinking timing but now I'm leaning more to the idea of fuel isues.
Maybe water in the gas, dirt in the carbs or a week fuel pump?

BTW, the choke is aplied by pushing the key in, if you turn without pushing in the choke won't come on.

 

[nhmaina]

Re: 1988 Mariner Starts hard and bogs down when shifting into gear.

What I was wondering though, is with the engine running and idling, if I push in the key (not turn it, just push it) WHILE moving the throttle to forward, will that still choke the motor?