'95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

[davidthomas.04]

I just bought a '95 Caravelle last friday with an equipped Mercruiser 4.3LX. The boat and engine were both taken good care of and had logged 295 hours at the time of purchase. Also note the boat was properly winterized last year and the gas tank was filled for storage in October. I took the boat out on saturday and ran it without incident all day long, nearly exhausting the entire gas supply. On sunday i put the boat back in the water and it wouldn't start. The battery is supplying plenty of power but i'm not getting any fire to turn over the engine. I've checked the kill switch but i don't have enough experience with the engine yet to start blindly tinkering. Has anyone had this same problem or happen to know how to fix this?!

 

[Don S]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

Do you have spark?
Check for 12V at the + terminal on the coil

 

[davidthomas.04]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

thanks for the suggestion. I fixed the problem last night. The boat briefly started after spraying starting fluid in the carbuerator, so I figured out it must be the fuel filter. $7 and a few swear words later and i had replaced the filter and was back on the water.

 

[Don S]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

You made it work temporarily, but you didn't fix the reason the filter needed changed.

 

[davidthomas.04]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

what do you mean? i assumed that since i had ran to fumes last weekend i had probably sucked up too much junk out of the bottom of the tank, what else should i be concerned about? please advise.

 

[Don S]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

If water was the problem, it can still have water in the tank. The water will sink to the bottom and could fill up the next filter.
Did you dump the old filter to see what caused the problem? There is usually a screen on the fuel pickup tube that will pick up big pieces of dirt.

 

[davidthomas.04]

Re: '95 Mercruiser 4.3LX trouble

i saved the old filter, i'll check it out when i get home. thanks for the advice