And suddenly the engine doesnt wanna start 9.9 gamefisher 1994 (mercury made)

Eric Fife

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
39
Hey all

I bought a 94 9.9 gamefisher a few months back. This engine is mercury made according to the serial number. Well taken care of and looks just a few years old inside and out. It was running like a champ mostly. This engine always started this summer with 1 pull of the rope cold no choke needed. And it started all day long (each trip) 1 pull. i never even had to use the priming bulb on the front of the engine. i would push the bulb but nothing happened like you'd expect. Normally a priming bulb should be rather stiff and you can feel the gas in the bulb being forced as you push it. I figured the bulb was bad.........

About a month ago while blasting along the way the engine cut out for 1/2 a second. On this day, this happened about 4 times. I checked the plugs and noticed a lean condition existing on just 1 plug. It stopped doing this on the next trip. after that day but would occasionally run strange at medium throttle.

The meat of the problem: I put the boat in the water the other day. I pulled the rope and it fired up for about 3 seconds and died. It took me 15 minutes of pulling the rope to get it started. So we blasted to the other side of the lake and i shut it off. We fished for about 2 hours using the trolling motor. Again i tried to fire up the engine and nothing. After another 15 minutes it fires up again. Fished for an hour or so and tried to start it again but this time it wouldnt start at all. I gave about 5 good squeezes on the fuel tank primer bulb and noticed the primer on the engine stiffen up. So i pushed the engine primer 3 times, feeling the gas being forced out of the bulb, pulled the rope and the engine starts! Blasted down the way and tured it off again, wait another hour and tried again. Again it doesnt start. I tried priming it from the fuel tank....no go.
Finally i got pissed and primed it about 15 times from the fuel tank and as a result, it becomes very hard to pull the rope. I keep pulling the rope and over time it gets easier to pull. After 5 minutes or so of this it starts to hit, another 2 minutes and it starts finally.

With the lean condition and the needing primed from the tank , im thinking fuel delivery issue. Im not sure how to proceed....any advice?

thanks in advance.
 

w2much

Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
1,289
Bring a spray bottle of fuel or a sea foam fuel mix. Next time it is hard to start spray it down the carbon throat. I have a 15 gamefisher force mercury also. Does the same thing. Waiting on a carb rebuild kit.
 

Eric Fife

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
39
i ran mechanic in a bottle through the engine before all this happened. it was idiling kinda rough. 1 tank of gas with the additive and it idles smooth now.

so your thinking i need a carb rebuild?
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
#1 rebuild the fuel pump, easy cheesy, $10-15 for the kit. The diaphragm was not ethanol rated and it could be split, dumping fuel into the crank case.

If there is an air leak in the fuel hose assembly the engine can run out of fuel, I have replaced 2-3 of the quick disconnect fittings on my GameFisher/Force/Mercury due to this issue. Pump the primer bulb up and hold pressure on it, then inspect for fuel leaking anywhere. When I've experience this issue, I can grab the primer bulb and pump it every 10-15 seconds, to milk the outboard back to the dock...

If you haven't replaced the impeller in the lower unit, that should be done also.

Be aware that these outboards have weak ignition systems, lots of threads due to BIM coils dying. I upgraded to the CDI ignition, and it's been rock solid. Not saying this is the issue, doesn't sound like it, but just a heads-up.
 

Eric Fife

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
39
picked up rebuild kits for carbs and pump from ebay...now the wait starts.
 
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