Hello all, let me first give you a little history on my problem. I'll apologize in advance because this may be a wee bit long winded. I have a 3cyl, 60hp, Mercury OB with serial number OB126644. It is a 1986(ish) vintage. I am going into my third season with this boat/motor.
The first season I had the boat it had a strong telltale at all times. Towards the end of the season the carbs got all gunked up because the previous owner didn't take care of it too well. With the fuel system cleaners and good fuel I must have loosend up all the gunk and clogged up the carbs. After some rookie attempts at getting it running right I burnt up the impeller. At this point it was November so I just winterized it and put it off until spring.
At the begining of last season I changed the impeller and rebuilt the carbs. The motor ran great but the telltale was very weak at idle. Its almost like it was just spitting/dribbling. When i first got the boat it had a great telltale, even at 600rpm, so this worried me. Once you got it to 1500rpm the stream is much stronger. Last season I made sure I didn't idle long and didn't troll much basically out of paranoia.
Now here we are for season 3. I've learned alot and I plan to overhaul the entire cooling system. I am going to install a new thermostat/poppet kit, a new water pump kit (housing, gaskets, and impeller). I also plan to do a thorough inspection of the tubes and hoses to make sure nothing is obstructed. I'll blow some compressed air through the passages while I'm at it to try and flush any debris out.
Am I on the right track? Does anyone have any ideas on why I might have had a weak stream? Should I have a strong stream at idle? Any things I should check? Thanks in advance!
The first season I had the boat it had a strong telltale at all times. Towards the end of the season the carbs got all gunked up because the previous owner didn't take care of it too well. With the fuel system cleaners and good fuel I must have loosend up all the gunk and clogged up the carbs. After some rookie attempts at getting it running right I burnt up the impeller. At this point it was November so I just winterized it and put it off until spring.
At the begining of last season I changed the impeller and rebuilt the carbs. The motor ran great but the telltale was very weak at idle. Its almost like it was just spitting/dribbling. When i first got the boat it had a great telltale, even at 600rpm, so this worried me. Once you got it to 1500rpm the stream is much stronger. Last season I made sure I didn't idle long and didn't troll much basically out of paranoia.
Now here we are for season 3. I've learned alot and I plan to overhaul the entire cooling system. I am going to install a new thermostat/poppet kit, a new water pump kit (housing, gaskets, and impeller). I also plan to do a thorough inspection of the tubes and hoses to make sure nothing is obstructed. I'll blow some compressed air through the passages while I'm at it to try and flush any debris out.
Am I on the right track? Does anyone have any ideas on why I might have had a weak stream? Should I have a strong stream at idle? Any things I should check? Thanks in advance!
