Mercruiser 140 carb adjustments

[sheboyganjohn]

Have twin 140's in my 73 Sea Ray project. Put them back in after all the work and hooked the cables back up to both. At WOT on the control the butterfly inside both carbs appears to be only 1/4 open at the most. I have messed with the adjustments on the linkage between the throttle cable and the carb and cannot get better then 1/3 to 1/2 open while still being able to close it all the way when I pull the remote back to neutral. I have the factory manual on my computer and cannot find anything on how to adjust the carb linkage, or should I be looking at the remote control? Bought the boat and other then checking that the engines ran, went right into the restoration. Don't know what the PO did to it. Seems odd that both carbs are opening the same minimal amount.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott Danforth]

check your binnacle controls. many times you can change which hole the throttle cable is in to get more movement

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Thanks Scott. I will have time tomorrow morning to look into that. I assumed it might be something along those lines since both carbs were equally out of travel adjustment. I'll post back what I find.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Any chance yer confusin' the choke plate, with the throttle plate,..??

 

[sheboyganjohn]

I wish it was that simple. I have an electric choke plate that rides on the very top of the carb, the issue is with the two butterflies down in the carb (throttle plate). The electric chokes seem to work well, except when I turn the key to the run position and then dink around too long before trying to start a cold engine. So far the electric choke is the only thing I am not completely thrilled about on these old motors. I prefer something I have a bit more control over. I may mess with something different, like a linear actuator, in the future.

 

[fishrdan]

Post up a pic of the throttle linkages at the carb/engine. Sounds like something isn't connected properly.

Is there another spot on the carb throttle that the linkage could connect to, that would give more throw?

I have a 73 140HP, and can compare. I seem to remember connecting the carb linkage wrong when I rebuilt everything years ago.........

 

[Scott Danforth]

I wish it was that simple. I have an electric choke plate that rides on the very top of the carb, the issue is with the two butterflies down in the carb (throttle plate). The electric chokes seem to work well, except when I turn the key to the run position and then dink around too long before trying to start a cold engine. So far the electric choke is the only thing I am not completely thrilled about on these old motors. I prefer something I have a bit more control over. I may mess with something different, like a linear actuator, in the future.

Electric chokes are extremely simple, easy to adjust and extremely reliable. Once you understand the theory

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Thanks for the offer but I finally figured it out. I have a binnacle mount. The previous owner must have had the entire shifter apart at some point. When they put it back together they put both handles at dead center for neutral. When you shift into forward you run into the dash, which I thought was the end of the travel. Turns out I still had travel left in the shifter, but no room to move it. I just moved both shift handles back about 20 deg. Now I get about 25% open in reverse, and 100% open when I hit the dash.

Scott, I'll give the chokes a chance for a while. I agree they seem very simple and may very well be reliable. I just like the idea of deciding myself when I do and when I don't need the choke.