Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

[Big Pete]

Today was an absolute belter , 35c and the sea calm and flat in short brilliant boating weather thumbsup.gif

So me and Mrs BP get the drinks ready and toodle down to the Marina..

I hop on the boat remove the cover , prime the fuel,switch on the Batteries and drop the engine in the water ..

I place the key in the ignition give it a couple of clicks on the electric choke and she spins over ,

She spins and doesnt fire so i reprime the bulb on the fuel check all is on etc , give it another 5 clicks on the fuel choke thingy , and
still no fire up.. angry.gif

I have the idle on full up as how i normally start it and last time and normally she just bursts into life ,

i give it a few more choke injections and she bursts into life
runs with full idle up and then just slowly dies .. rechoked again nothing strong smell of petrol so i assume i flooded it ,so leave it to settle try again with NO choking nothing..

Go back through entire start up sequence again giving it 5 bursts on the auto electric choke thingy and once again she bursts into a smokey running mode , the smoke dies and then she just slows down as if its running out of fuel again ..

yes it has fuel indeed you can see it dripping from around the Carbs ,

Now the last time the engine was run was 6 weeks ago and it poodled around the harbour fine , since then its sat tilted out the water in the blazing heat we have had for last month or so..

I have a hunch maybe fuel dried out in the carbs and needles stuck perhaps or something ?

SO whats the verdict ? any ideas or thoughts ?

The fuel is old over 12 months which i intended to run out and refill today , but obviously that went out the window...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

12 month old fuel huh? And was fuel system stabilizer like SeaFoam or Stabil added 12 months ago? If not, you have bad fuel. At this point you have a couple choices. 1) suck the old fuel out and dispose of it. 2) If the tank is not full, add fresh fuel to dilute the bad stuff. It may take a bit of coaxing to get the old girl (the engine) to run but once the fresher fuel gets to the engine it should run better. The remainder of that tank of fuel will likely have the engine down on power so do not run wide open throttle. Since your boat apparently sits for long periods, ALWAYS add fuel system treatment and run the engine long enough to get the treated fuel into the carbs.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

12 month old fuel huh? And was fuel system stabilizer like SeaFoam or Stabil added 12 months ago? If not, you have bad fuel. At this point you have a couple choices. 1) suck the old fuel out and dispose of it. 2) If the tank is not full, add fresh fuel to dilute the bad stuff. It may take a bit of coaxing to get the old girl (the engine) to run but once the fresher fuel gets to the engine it should run better. The remainder of that tank of fuel will likely have the engine down on power so do not run wide open throttle. Since your boat apparently sits for long periods, ALWAYS add fuel system treatment and run the engine long enough to get the treated fuel into the carbs.

I intend to run it out if i can get the thing to run for more than 4 seconds or so..

It sat in the blazing sun ,not through choice i can assure you but due to circumstances beyond my control..

What i need is to get it running any ideas its sitting in the water at the moment so the carb strip down is gonna be a pain .

 

[sschefer]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Hold on.. Get your self a small 1 gallon 2 or whatever you have that's clean and fuel safe. 4-5 liters will work also. Fill it with fresh high octane gas and the recommended amount of Merc Quickclean for the amount of fuel in the temporary tank.

Remove your primer bulb hose from the boat tank side and stick it in the gas can. Prime the bulb with the motor down and then press and hold the choke for 5 seconds. DO NOT TRY TO START THE ENGINE. Go do something for 5 or ten minutes. When you get back squeeze the primer bulb to refil the bowls. DO NOT RE CHOKE THE ENGINE. Pull up the fast idle lever and start the engine. Repeat as necessary until the engine runs normally.

Put an appropriate amount of the Quickclean in the normal gas tank guessing how much fuel you have or top off the tank and add quickclean,(do not drink even though it does have a lot of alcohol in it.)

Reconnect to the normal fuel tank and go have fun.

In my opinion, there's way too much hoopla about bad gas.. I see it as an excuse for just about every engine problem.

As far as leaving you engine out in the hot sun...God forbid and pray for foggy summers... These motors will sit in the sun for as long as you want and will still run. Might dry up the crankcase like yours did but they can easily be recovered. Just got to know the signs. I think you've got that part down.

If it happens again remember to choke and then walk away for 5 minutes. This will give the fuel time to wet the crankcase.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Hold on.. Get your self a small 1 gallon 2 or whatever you have that's clean and fuel safe. 4-5 liters will work also. Fill it with fresh high octane gas and the recommended amount of Merc Quickclean for the amount of fuel in the temporary tank.

Remove your primer bulb hose from the boat tank side and stick it in the gas can. Prime the bulb with the motor down and then press and hold the choke for 5 seconds. DO NOT TRY TO START THE ENGINE. Go do something for 5 or ten minutes. When you get back squeeze the primer bulb to refil the bowls. DO NOT RE CHOKE THE ENGINE. Pull up the fast idle lever and start the engine. Repeat as necessary until the engine runs normally.

Put an appropriate amount of the Quickclean in the normal gas tank guessing how much fuel you have or top off the tank and add quickclean,(do not drink even though it does have a lot of alcohol in it.)

Reconnect to the normal fuel tank and go have fun.

In my opinion, there's way too much hoopla about bad gas.. I see it as an excuse for just about every engine problem.

As far as leaving you engine out in the hot sun...God forbid and pray for foggy summers... These motors will sit in the sun for as long as you want and will still run. Might dry up the crankcase like yours did but they can easily be recovered. Just got to know the signs. I think you've got that part down.

If it happens again remember to choke and then walk away for 5 minutes. This will give the fuel time to wet the crankcase.

I will do what you say tomorrow , thanks that makes good sense to me ..

i will let you know how it goes ..

Thanks again ..

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Ok Update time ..

I did exactly what was suggested , couldnt get the actual merc cleaner but was told the quickslilver is the same , so went with that ..
It worked a treat fired up and revved fairly smoothly high revs and kept running , so was pleased ..

Then i noticed a hell of a smell of fuel , and could see drips running from under the engine cowling closer look and as per video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWANWTnjpNA what they call in the manual BOWL VENT JET squirts fuel out at low tickover ?

Now not being mega brave and knowing that spraying fuel on engines and electrics is not to clever , so i shut it down ..

I risked it once more after cleaning plugs incase it wasnt burning the fuel and to show you guys .. so have a look and tell me if ?

If Its normal and its just excess fuel i have in the thing ?

or something else more sinister ?

And could i not just blank the thing off and ignore it totally , ie' no leak no fire risk ?

what is the thing meant to do anyways ? surely Merc wouldnt design an engine to vent fuel inside an engine ?

 

[njrextreme]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

It sounds like your carbs need rebuilt. It should hold a prime not pour fule out. Most outboards have a small fuel catch tray.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

It sounds like your carbs need rebuilt. It should hold a prime not pour fule out. Most outboards have a small fuel catch tray.

A Tray ? very safe that isnt it

 

[sschefer]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Good and bad, sounds like it's starting fine now but at least that top carb has a float/needle/seat problem.

Remove the airbox and see if any of the others are doing the same thing. Tap the side of the bowl to see if you can free it up. Even if it does, I would rebuild the carbs as has been previosly recommended.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Only the top carb has a bleed valve ...

Would i be able to maybe remove the top and clean it out from there do you think ?

the top of the carb as you can see on video has easily accessible top ..

 

[njrextreme]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

A Tray ? very safe that isnt it

What would be more safe, having it pool up in the bottom of the motor? My motor has a tray and a hose to get rid of any overflow. If the carb's needle and seats are bad, it will pour gas out of the front of it. You may be able to clean them and it be ok.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Only the top carb has a bleed valve ...

Would i be able to maybe remove the top and clean it out from there do you think ?

the top of the carb as you can see on video has easily accessible top ..

Just from the sound of this I can tell you don't have a service manual for your motor. Before you proceed in fixing it yourself you should invest in one.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Mercury 80hp 1989 engine help needed

Spent yet another day messing with it , got it running and starting on the button every time , was well pleased excepting the fuel from that stupid crock of bowl venting junk idea !!

So i figured the Marina must have engineers around or know of some , so i pop in see the young lady and she tells me of one who is just round the corner ..

So as i am on the way i see his van coming along the Marina so i stop him and explain he says He has to much work on and is booked up till August !!!

Then he asks whats the engine doing etc etc.. so i tell him he says needs Carbs off and a reset clean blah blah blah .. BUT !!! he says why not run it out and give it some stick it can sometimes clean and clear itself .

Is that ok i say with the fuel trickling out at idle , well he says have never heard of one catch light yet .. worth a try ..

So i mention this to Mrs BP she is not over happy but we decide that its worth the shot and if we wear lifejackets if it catched light Brilliant we
can jump of and let it burn and claim insurance thumbsup.gif

This is at dinner time after spending a further 2 hours fiddling and risking life and death getting on and off the boat lol_5.gif

So i leave the second battery charging and we pop back for lunch and get ourselves syked up ,,

Around 4.30pm we go for the big launch and run .. down we go to the boat Mrs BP has the fun job of casting ropes off etc , we decide we will leave the engine start til the moment we are ready to go , logical move right ? less fuel spewing out etc etc..

So after getting the bimini hood and everything on board ready the front ropes are released and Mrs BP very bravely may i add jumps on the boat . we get all settled i switch batterys on lift the idle tab decide no choking needed and turn her over .. broom straight into life and a nice steady idle ..

Thinking great all is well i remove the Stern rope ( the rear rope ) so now we are floating away from the Marina wall , i settle in the seat and guess what ??

Yep the bleading thing stalls !! No probs i just give it a little more idle lift and restart as its been good last day or so .. Does it start does it hell !!!

So now we are floating into the middle of the Marina , Mrs BP is panicking and words like this pile of shi* and you and your fuc***g Boat seem to flow at as fast a rate as we are floating away into the Sea ..

Now luckily having advance boat trainning and after completing my Trainning i purchased some oars , so out comes the oar and i paddle us back to the Berth, all the time Mrs BP is muttering things like this fuc***g pile of junk and get me off this Heap of ****ting load of bollocks , and other pretty annoyed terms ..

Just to really please Mrs BP even more rolleyes.gif she has the task of making the 2 foot leap from the wobbly front of the boat back to dry land so we can tie her back up in position .. She is not a happy bunny but credit where due she jumped without falling and held the rope til i could get us back securely tied up , with the aid of some good old grannie knots .. as i forgot the proper knots i was shown ,but then again i was also pretty annoyed with the days adventure also !!

So now the pile of crap boat is going to go either as a gift to anyone who wants her or for money , gonna try and sell it first obviously ,BUT i never particularly would like to take it out anymore . I have LOST all confidence in her ability to be trusted anywhere on water unless on a small pond maybe , she will let me down and could leave me abondoned at sea , that is no good ..

So going to have to look at newer boats which are reliable and bigger , more sturdy with a cabin BUT most importantly with a damn good reliable engine.

I need to be able to just arrive at the Marina park up chuck bags on board turn key remove lines and get out to sea . NOT spend some 4 days messing around fixing them in the blazing heat etc..