86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

[blackdog1970]

I have a 1986 merc outboard i think. I checked a few websites and the closest serial # to my boat was A907777 and mine is A907943. I purchased boat last year and really started using it the first of the year. It has been tough to get started since I bought it. I finally figured out how to kinda start it. I push in key and once and put trottle down and usually will start. I feel like if I push key to many times motor seams to flood easy? Anyway i have also noticed the primer ball does not stay firm. This week i had to keep pumping ball to get back to the dock. I thought i would replace the fuel line and keep my fingers crossed. There is one other thing I found when months after i bought boat. A friend who is a mechanic went fishing with me and thought motor seemed to sound strange. He said to check the compression which i never thought about when i bought it. All cylinders are at right at 100 and he thought that was low but he is a car mechanic so wasn't for sure.

Any knowledge or ideas with what i have explained would be very much appreciated. Thank you and God Bless

 

[latin monkey]

Re: 86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

if it runs better when you pump the primer bulb then its not getting enough fuel, you need to rebuild the fuel pump. those compression numbers are kind of low but all the cylinders are the same so you're good there. are you sure you checked it right?

 

[latin monkey]

Re: 86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

you could get a new fuel line and primer bulb for it first just to rule that out. if the line or bulb is cracked it could be sucking in air

 

[blackdog1970]

Re: 86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

Let me first say thanks for your response LM. I had my buddy check the cylinders for me so im pretty sure it was right, they were all very close being right at 100 or so. I bought a new fuel line to try that, it looks like the original line is on it. One other thing is when i first start boat and get out of no wake zone after ideling for a bit when i give it more throttle to get up on plane it will hesitate and sometimes die out. I will restart and then ease on trottle until it finally clears out and takes off. After it is running for awhile it seems to be fine. Im just trying to give as much info as possible to diagnose this problem. Thanks again

 

[15yroldmechanic]

Re: 86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

Hello. You could have some gunk in the carb. I belive you might have the wrong serial number. it should start with a 0 or1. For example mine is
0B116484. LM is right also. When you give it throtle, look at the carb. Is gas coming out of the carb? Underneith your carb there should be two small black vacume lines. One is air and other is gas. Make sure those are torn. That happend to me going upstream on the Arkansas river.

 

[latin monkey]

Re: 86 Merc 115 Fuel Line Trouble ?

yes it seems you need a good carb cleaning and mixture adjustments