Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

[henrymbrito]

My first set-back with boat. Took to lake and could not get it to start after many attempts. I throttled twice before starting, and normally it starts right away, but this was not my day. It cranked and cranked but the motor would just not start. I looked inside carb and had someone throttle forward and I could see gas going into carb. I then sprayed some starting fluid and still no go. I let it sit for about 20 mins and attempted again to no avail. The boat had no problems at all when I took boat to lake 3 weeks ago. Just to throw it out there.. before I took to lake, I started with the ear-muffs with the trim all the way up and noticed lots of water coming out....could I have shot the impeller by doing this..?? All and any help will be apreciated.

 

[Elk Chaser]

Re: Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

Check your igntion system, make sure you are generating a spark at the plugs, I'd guess that something went wrong with it. I am sure if you had the muffs on correctly that you did not damage the impeller and even if you did I don't think it would stop the engine from starting.

 

[henrymbrito]

Re: Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

Thanks for your response. The one thing I forgot to mention is that I did pull the wire that comes from the coil into distributor cap....held on to the distributor cap end and placed it next to the block while someone started and it did have a good spark...I did not however check the spark plug sparks individually, which I probably should have as well.

 

[henrymbrito]

Re: Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

Problem corrected. Before I took to shop..I cleaned out the insisde of the distributor cap (which was dirty) and removed plugs as well..cleaned and filed them...made sure gap was correct...remove all wires one at a time..make sure connections were good...and then it started..no problems since..I am buying new cap/rotor however.

 

[MH9371B]

Re: Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

You might just want to replace those plugs alltogether. I have a similar problem with the exact same engine and I spent the whole $8 it took to replace all 4 plugs.

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine cranks but won't start (1995 Merc 3.0 LX)

One thing that really helps out on boats, especially due to the marine enviornment and the fact that they get put up a few months out of the year is to do a complete tuneup at the beginning of the boating season. That includes plugs, cap, rotor, (Points and Condenser if you have them), check the timing and the advance timing, adjust the carb, even do a compression test and record it so you can see any changes before it gets too bad. Prevents a lot of problems during mid to end of season.