Mronin' All...
Sunday morning and raining like a pig, so since I can't go out and tinker around the boat for a while, I thought I would post and annoy instead.
1984 Merc Inline 6 2 stroke. 3rd trip out this year. The season began like this - Took the boat to a local boat mechanic just for an engine check. Said the plugs were fine, motor started up great, he greased some points and changed the impeller Said nothing out o the telltale.
Took the boat out the following week and it ran great (Hard starting, but I learned here that all Merc 115's are a pain, so I learned the proper sequence and it starts easy now). Third trip out the wind was too rough - got the boat off the trailer and found I had no reverse. After being in the way of many others who were giving up and coming in to the ramp and with no reverse, my buddy and I decided to quit.
Took it home and put on the muffs - prop spun in reverse. Had ny buddy throttle back a bit while I held a 2x4 against the prop and sure enough, not turning under load.
Called the mechanic after learning here that when dropping the lower unit, if the shift shaft is not aligned correctly, gears could be messed up. Since he had recently changed the impeller, I thought...aaaahaaaa. Took it up to him and we backed it in to his big outside tank so he could check it under load. Sadly he did find the gear was stripped - I was with him and he showed it to me and replaced with one he had on the shelf - saved me a great deal of money.
Put the boat back in the tank and it shot roster tails when he throttled it up. I don't know the RPMs he got up to but the engine sounded great. But he did decide then that since he had the boat in the tank, he pulled the cowl and did some carb adjustments - said just to tweak the engine.
Next trip out was yesterday - could not get the boat to plane - sounds good, runs smooth but as I attempted to accelerate, it would begin to stall just before planing out. When I did go too far and stall, it would start back up with just a bump of the key.
I did have my buddy drive while I squeezed the bulb - found it squishy and a few pumps would bring it back to firm but it did not have any impact on the stalling. However, should the bulb be firm all the time????
A little back history - boat was bought at the end of last season - had a sluggish problem on the water and the replacement of the bulb seemed to solve that. Also drained the gas and replaced with new. Did not check the tank for sloudge, etc. And when I took it to the mechanic this season before going out, I used Seafoam in the tank at the mixture recommended on the can.
Anyway, being someone who grew up around a family owned garage, I instinctively feel it is starved for fuel and I am suspect of the adjustment the good boat mechanic made. I also read many posts here where it is said that most times when a motor drops out under load it is electrical.
Should I wait until tomorrow and call the mechanic to see if he wants to take fault in carb adjustments or should I start playing with the fuel filters, tank pickup and carb cleaners?
The way the old girl sounds, it sounds fuel starved.
Sunday morning and raining like a pig, so since I can't go out and tinker around the boat for a while, I thought I would post and annoy instead.
1984 Merc Inline 6 2 stroke. 3rd trip out this year. The season began like this - Took the boat to a local boat mechanic just for an engine check. Said the plugs were fine, motor started up great, he greased some points and changed the impeller Said nothing out o the telltale.
Took the boat out the following week and it ran great (Hard starting, but I learned here that all Merc 115's are a pain, so I learned the proper sequence and it starts easy now). Third trip out the wind was too rough - got the boat off the trailer and found I had no reverse. After being in the way of many others who were giving up and coming in to the ramp and with no reverse, my buddy and I decided to quit.
Took it home and put on the muffs - prop spun in reverse. Had ny buddy throttle back a bit while I held a 2x4 against the prop and sure enough, not turning under load.
Called the mechanic after learning here that when dropping the lower unit, if the shift shaft is not aligned correctly, gears could be messed up. Since he had recently changed the impeller, I thought...aaaahaaaa. Took it up to him and we backed it in to his big outside tank so he could check it under load. Sadly he did find the gear was stripped - I was with him and he showed it to me and replaced with one he had on the shelf - saved me a great deal of money.
Put the boat back in the tank and it shot roster tails when he throttled it up. I don't know the RPMs he got up to but the engine sounded great. But he did decide then that since he had the boat in the tank, he pulled the cowl and did some carb adjustments - said just to tweak the engine.
Next trip out was yesterday - could not get the boat to plane - sounds good, runs smooth but as I attempted to accelerate, it would begin to stall just before planing out. When I did go too far and stall, it would start back up with just a bump of the key.
I did have my buddy drive while I squeezed the bulb - found it squishy and a few pumps would bring it back to firm but it did not have any impact on the stalling. However, should the bulb be firm all the time????
A little back history - boat was bought at the end of last season - had a sluggish problem on the water and the replacement of the bulb seemed to solve that. Also drained the gas and replaced with new. Did not check the tank for sloudge, etc. And when I took it to the mechanic this season before going out, I used Seafoam in the tank at the mixture recommended on the can.
Anyway, being someone who grew up around a family owned garage, I instinctively feel it is starved for fuel and I am suspect of the adjustment the good boat mechanic made. I also read many posts here where it is said that most times when a motor drops out under load it is electrical.
Should I wait until tomorrow and call the mechanic to see if he wants to take fault in carb adjustments or should I start playing with the fuel filters, tank pickup and carb cleaners?
The way the old girl sounds, it sounds fuel starved.