1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

[ebrich2]

i have just replaced the stator and trigger in my 150, idles great and sounds like everything is firing but it won't get up on plane, won't get up to about 2500 rpm's, i have also had all three carbs off and cleaned and re-installed, i don't know how to do a link n synch and was wondering if someone could guide me along or if anyone has any idea what it is? thanks

 

[j_martin]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

I'll help you. Go get the Mercury Maintenance manual, that at full price is much less than you've spent for parts already, unless you've put in tear off used parts with crossed fingers.

In it will be diagnostic and maintenance procedures that are the shortest and least expensive path to a repair.

As far as guessing what's wrong.... well, some of them could burn down yer powerhead beyond economical repair in a few minutes. Best do it right.

Oh, and welcome to iBoats.

hope it helps
john

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

the idle stabilizer is probably your problem...CDI electronics has a great free troubleshooting guide, it includes instructions on how to remove your idle stabilizer and readjust your timing...this part has caused much problems and is NLA because Mercury found out they should have never used them to begin with...I bet you a happy meal that is your issue

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

the idle stabilizer is probably your problem...CDI electronics has a great free troubleshooting guide, it includes instructions on how to remove your idle stabilizer and readjust your timing...this part has caused much problems and is NLA because Mercury found out they should have never used them to begin with...I bet you a happy meal that is your issue

thanks for all the help guys, i will pursue all leads at this point, do any of you think it may have to do with the trigger linkage as i'm not sure i have it back to original setting?

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

just came back from river and to no avail, only reaches 1800 rpm when i try to take off, i even removed idle stabilizer and had the same result, thanks again, someone please help lol

 

[Superjetjim]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

I'll help you. Go get the Mercury Maintenance manual, that at full price is much less than you've spent for parts already, unless you've put in tear off used parts with crossed fingers.

In it will be diagnostic and maintenance procedures that are the shortest and least expensive path to a repair.
john

Some good advise there buddy.. wish I'd just done the same looking back.

The manuals are on here for free at the URL below I think:

http://1manual.com/Mercury manuals/Service Manual PDFs/TwoStroke/878079/cover.pdf

Jim

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

did you adjust the timing as instructed after removing the idle stabilizer???? if so..you need to check spark, compression, and fuel lines/connections and carbs...new plugs and follow the flow chart in the CDI trouble shooting guide..

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

i just backed the boat in the water and ran the engine, then pulled it up, took the stabilizer off, backed it back down and had exactly the same results, should had i seen something different without it?

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

well you HAVE to adjust the timing.. I specifically told you this. download the trouble shooting guide at CDI electronics and follow the instructions

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

You still haven't determined if you have an ignition problem or a fuel problem.

Lack of adequate fuel can also cause low performance.

Disconnect the fuel line AFTER the fuel pump, crank the motor and observe for a strong fuel stream.

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

well in my further discovery of my motor i found a pinched bleed line and a half crimped fuel line BEFORE the fuel pump, put ear muffs on and sounds even smoother then before, going to check it out on the river, thanks to all your help, and a special note to sparkieboat, i don't think it may be the stabilizer cause when i had it idleing with the ear muffs on when i heard the rpm get really low it kicked in and sped it back up to normal so i think its working, i hope so anyway but thanks alot for your help and everybody elses, ill let you guys know how it turned out!

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

it may not be the stabilizer but it is still a good thing to remove it and adjust your timing per instructions...1 less thing to have to worry about..and it could psooibly cause damage to your engine..that is why they are NLA from mercury.

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

OK guys i give up. i absolutely give up, this thing runs beautiful sitting there idling and runs great going thru a no wake zone on out to the channel but what ever is suppose to tell this thing to haul *** when i put my foot in the gas is not saying jack crap so whats up with that? i checked the timing carbs gas fuel lines and even made sure i didn't leave any streaks in the toilet!
this is what has been done to the motor in the last 2 months
1. stator and trigger replacement (tried to be sure everything was placed right back where it was)
2. dismantled carbs and cleaned everything and put them back where they belonged, non-adjustable jets in all carbs.
3. dismantled intake to replace reed block gasket and replaced damaged reed valve

 

[nbnewbie]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

had same problem (exactly) same frustration what i haven't seen in your posts is a compression test mine even had a decent compression test finally pulled heads found cracked piston ring hope yours winds up less dramatic

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

thanks nbnewbie, my only thought though is this thing ran like a scolded cat before i replaced the stator and trigger, the only reason i did that was it would bog down a little when idling then all of a sudden it would speed back up on its own and the local mechanic said it was the stator going out and may as well replace both while i had it apart and now here i am. done nothing but gone from bad to worse.i did an ohms test on the stator tonight and are coming up with some really bad numbers. could that be the cause? i thought the stator was like an alternator on a car and that was it.

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

p.s. thats the only reason i am looking at electrical instead of mechanical because of how it ran before, it didn't start messing up till i started putting new parts in it.

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

Did ya check the fuel FLOW after the fuel pump?

Also, 'float' test the idle stabilizer and reset the timing. Trust me, tho it may be working now (at an idle) someday it WILL fail, and fry your motor when it does. It ain't worth keeping.

 

[j_martin]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

Odds are good the old stator is better than the new one. Original problem was simple engine tune, being compensated for as designed by the idle stabilizer. Probably slightly low float and/or slightly plugged idle circuit on a couple of cylinders, or linkage misadjustment.

You may have done a newbie stupid thing like put in the wrong stator, put a long stator mount screw in and pin the trigger, tie the trigger wire harness down real tight so the trigger can't move as designed, swapped wires, etc.

This is a common sense fact that seems real hard to get people to understand:

If it ran when you walked up to it, and you did something to it, and it now doesn't run, it's what you did to it.

 

[ebrich2]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

the original problem was more than simple i believe, when ever i would go thru a no wake zone it would start to bog down and the when i patted the gas a couple of times it sounded like the whole boat was about to stand straight up in the air so i took it to the local mechanic (very highly recommended in these parts) he checked everything from bad plugs, bad gas, bad fuel filter, even put on a new set of switch boxes. thru his diagnostics he found the only bad part was a very old and tired stator. so me not being a rich man and can't really afford to pay 60 bucks an hour for labor i told him i would change that and the trigger myself, i am a pretty mechanically inclined individual as i work on printing presses for a living and have a photographic memory. i changed everything and put everything right back like i found it, even the very same screws that came out went back in the exact same way, although i spent the day today doing my own diagnostics and the only bad part i found was a bad stator again as i believe i have received on that was built on a Friday lol, done compression check and all the cylinders are banging on 120 psi woohoo. so please believe me when i say i have checked and re check every moving part on this ole merc and i am learning her well lol

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: 1988 mercury 150 xr4, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

use your photographic memory on this page...
http://issuu.com/cdielectronics/doc...t.xml&backgroundColor=000000&showFlipBtn=true