Who made the Mercarb for Mercruiser?

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
188
Hi Guys

Does anyone here know who made the Mercarb for Mercruiser engines? A customer service rep from Mercury, Fond Du Lac, emailed me that it was Nikki, but I have e-mailed them with no reply and I cannot find any reference anywhere that they had anything to do with it.

Any idea's?
 

midcarolina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Messages
631
Does the answer depend on someone winning a bet? or are you looking for replacement parts?
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
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May 19, 2004
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27,468
It's a Rochester look-alike... Apart from one idle mixture screw (Rochester had 2) and a few other minor differences, they are the same.
 

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
188
No bets midcarolina, still cannot find a Power Piston/Power Valve Actuator without buying a recon carb, so a £10 part I can get for a Rochester is about £300, but I'm told the dimensions require a new manifold as well.

Hi Chris, it is a Rochester lookalike but there are differences and the rest of the carb is fine. I've got a local engineering works who could build a Power Valve Actuator for a small amount but don't have anyone who can give me specs.

Looks like it will be a remanufactured Carb from somewhere. :blue:
 

midcarolina

Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 16, 2013
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631
Ahh......... was that your thread I remember about a missing PV actuator? It;s a shame you can't find a boat yard that has a junk mercarb you could grab.
 

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Apr 21, 2009
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188
Hi thanks fastatv, yes I mailed them because they sell a Power Piston for the Rochester at about $10, so because I had read the Mercarb was a Rochester copy I thought it would fit, but when I checked the dimensions and then asked them it was a no!
This is possibly one of the most frustrating things that's ever happened, I even triple checked my garage in case I had done something really stupid when stripping the carb and maybe didn't notice it, but as I took pictures and am the careful sort (anal retentive I've been told) I know it definitely wasn't there. Was it there originally? Has the carb been changed at some stage before I bought her, I dunno, but it looks like I'll have to buy a part which is 10 times the price just to have it working correctly.
Thank you all for your help, it is much appreciated.
 

Fastatv

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Sep 28, 2013
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258
Hi thanks fastatv, yes I mailed them because they sell a Power Piston for the Rochester at about $10, so because I had read the Mercarb was a Rochester copy I thought it would fit, but when I checked the dimensions and then asked them it was a no!
This is possibly one of the most frustrating things that's ever happened, I even triple checked my garage in case I had done something really stupid when stripping the carb and maybe didn't notice it, but as I took pictures and am the careful sort (anal retentive I've been told) I know it definitely wasn't there. Was it there originally? Has the carb been changed at some stage before I bought her, I dunno, but it looks like I'll have to buy a part which is 10 times the price just to have it working correctly.
Thank you all for your help, it is much appreciated.
Hi English, I have some questions for you.
- How long have you owned this boat,
- Did it run great maybe a year or two ago
- For you to build the carb..what were the symptoms
- Are you 100 % certain that the carb came with the actuator
- Have you tried the carb since you rebuilt it
I asked you some of these questions because if my memory serves me correctly, the power valve actuator is "staked" into the air horn, and is not normally removed on a rebuild...and actually not removable. This make me wonder if the carb came with it.....I imagine it did, but still makes me wonder.
 

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
188
Hi Fastatv

1/ 6yrs
2/ Yes, I could get at least 50 out of her at WOT when I first got her. I've had it serviced by several different people because I kept her on a trailer at a marina and I have wondered if someone had switched the carb.
3/ I had a drive bellows go on me which let in sea water, which in turn caused the Gimbal Housing to corrode quite badly. I was about to have the engine taken out at a cost of about £2000 and have the Housing replaced when I found a welder who welded in a bead. It was out of the water for a while, I stupidly ran it on the old fuel so decided to do a carb rebuild.
4/ Actually no I'm not entirely sure but I can honestly say that it wasn't there when I opened it up. As you say they are staked in.
5/ Yes I've been out several times. She runs OK, there's a little misfire at tickover but not much, however she won't run at WOT. She'll do about 30-35 and then struggle.

I have to say, the hole where it is supposed to be doesn't look as if it has ever had a stake chipped into it, however there was a Power Valve in it, which was replaced. Not being a Carb expert I started to wonder how the Power Valve worked so looked into it. The Sierra diagram which came with the kit didn't show a Piston, but the Adobe Mercruiser Manual shows it in the Carb breakdown pictures but again not in the Schematic.
 

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
188
Thanks Rick, reply pm sent. :)

I'm now interested to know if there could be a batch of these carbs out there, I had someone else pm me with the same problem? Anyone else found the Power Piston missing?
 
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