Merc 5.7 Carb Help

[sicboater]

First post so hope this is in the right spot. I have a 94 23’ Rinker Fiesta with the original 5.7L and it has the 4 barrel Quadrajet. I know full history of the boat. Engine and carb are original and carb hasn’t been touched. Engine is very hard to get running when cold. When warm runs fine. My dad has a 5.7 in his old boat and didn’t have an issue with starting.
So my thought is this is a carb issue. Called a local boat mechanic and they quoted me $600 for a rebuild. I can buy a new Edelbrock 1409 for about $500. Been googling a lot reading up some of the posts were 10+ years old. Any good shops I can mail the carb into or should I buy the 1409. I read there is some slight modifications to get the 1409 to get setup.

 

[alldodge]

With it only having trouble when cold, that would mean it just needs a choke adjustment. When motor is cold, pump the throttle one time and look to see if the choke plate has closed. The choke is adjusted by the rod attched from the pot mounted on the intake. If the pot has gone bad it can be replaced

The Q-jet is a great carb, easy to tune and fairly easy to rebuild

 

[sicboater]

Thanks for your reply. Boat comes out of storage in 2 weeks so I’ll take a look at the choke plate then. I figured if was due for a rebuild due to age. Been reading online the ethanol in the new fuel degrades some internal parts in the carb. Not sure how true that is.

 

[alldodge]

One of my boats is a 95 Rinker with the Weber carb and it still runs fine. Did adjust the choke some years ago, but otherwise it has not been touched

 

[stang32]

if you do need to replace the carb, i use National carburetor, they do a new quadrajet replacement for $350.00 and a rebuilt for 280.00. i have used them several times and had no issue

5.7L

nationalcarburetors.com

 

[Bondo]

Called a local boat mechanic and they quoted me $600 for a rebuild.

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,.... That's a Stupid price,....

Either he doesn't want the job, or is insane,..... find another mechanic,....

 

[alldodge]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,.... That's a Stupid price,....

Either he doesn't want the job, or is insane,..... find another mechanic,....

Hey Bondo
Maybe he buys a rebuilt one for 350 and installs it for 250

 

[sicboater]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Going to take a look at the plate noted by alldodge. Looking into National Carburetor for a rebuild as plan B.

Not sure what is going on with that shop I called. Couple of marinas by me won’t touch any boat if it’s x amount of years old which limits my options.