Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

surfsidewood

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
30
Hi I have a 2003 Mercury 225 4 stroke (Yama-Merc) that I just bought used and put on my 1990 22' Hydra Sports. I took the old motor off, drained most of the premix fuel except for about 10 gallons and added about 60 gallons to the tank with fresh fuel.

When throttling up it just bogs down and every once in a while backfires through the intake. I can find a spot on the throttle where it will run smooth, but this spot is never in the same range. Sometimes I can get it wide open and run for 30 minutes, sometimes I can't even get to 1000 rpms. It's acting like it's running out of gas.

Replaced the entire fuel line from tank to motor, new fuel/water separator, new fuel filter on motor, and a new filter on the vent line for the vst. The only filter I haven't changed is the one inside the VST on the bottom of the fuel pump. Listened to the injectors and they sound fine.

The fuel tank is a plastic tank and does not leak. The cap has a rubber o ring in place. The vent is clear. Drained some gas from the filter into a glass jar and found no water. Old motor never had any problems with fuel. I usually always add stabilizer to the fuel. If it was the VST filter wouldn't it just be stopped up all the time? Is there anything it could be that I'm not thinking of to cause a problem like this? I wanted to make sure before I go and spend another $100 on the vst filter.

Should I be concerned about these Compression numbers?:
#1- 150
#3- 150
#5- 175
#2- 175
#4- 170
#6- 160

Fuel pressure reading 44 psi

Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is driving me absolutely nuts and I just want to go fishin.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

j_martin

Admiral
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
7,474
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

First impression is you bought the problem, or quickly instilled it.

Plugged injectors.

The reason I suspect you bought the problem is compression numbers possibly indicate internal damage of the kind caused by lean burn.

my 02.
John
 

j_martin

Admiral
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
7,474
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

I was thinking 2 stroke. Something isn't right. On a 4 cycle low compression could be a cylinder washed down with fuel (no lube) and not firing.

Squirt a little motor oil in the low plug holes and recheck. If it comes up, that's the likely cause, or else the rings are worn out.

Otherwise I don't know much about these engines. I should not have taken a crack at it.
 

surfsidewood

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
30
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

The two cylinders at 150 psi is kind of making me think it's got some bad valves, but why would it run good at different rpm's at different times? I would think that if it had valve problems it would just run crappy all the time.

Anyone have any ideas?
 

surfsidewood

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
30
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

OK so I took the boat out on the water again today, same problem would barely get to 1000 rpm's without coughing and sputtering. Drained the water/fuel seperator from the plug on the bottom, and waalaa..... took off got up on a plane. After about 20 second started falling off again. Drained the filter again, and again it takes off no problem. Once I slow down and get back to idle it starts acting like it wants to die again. There was absolutely no water in the filter at all.

Can anyone help me with this? I'm completely frustrated and about ready to take it in to a mechanic.
 

btruong

Seaman
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
51
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

did you try bypassing the fuel/water separator for a test run?
 

surfsidewood

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
30
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

Yes, I ran a fuel line directly into a portable gas tank and still had the same problem. I am going to take apart the vst tank today and see if there is anything blocked up. It just doesn't make sense to me that if i let air into the system by opening up the plug on the water separator that it would run good. Very odd.
 

surfsidewood

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
30
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

Took the vst tank apart replaced that ridiculously expensive filter, put it back together and whallaaa. Ran perfect.
 

RadarRick

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
189
Re: Anyone want to take a crack at this one?

Thanks for posting solution! Go catch some fish!
 
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