87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

achilles555

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Bought a 1987 Bass Tracker with an '87 45 HP Mercury on it. Floats were stuck, so I had to have both carbs rebuilt. Took it out for the first time this evening. Went right up on plane, and I was running 5,000 RPM at WOT (about 30 MPH). All of a sudden, the motor bogged down, and died. Started right back up, but now won't throttle past 3,000 RPM in gear and won't plane out. In neutral, it is fine...throttles right up. What do you guys think is going on? Signed...frustrated in Missouri!
 

CharlieB

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Apr 10, 2007
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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

Pull the spark plugs out and look to see if one or more are sooted and fouled.

Check for spark on all cyl's.

One dead cyl, no spark or fouled plug, and the engine will not perform under load, yet will rev freely in neutral.
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I pulled all the plugs and looked at them. The only one that was dry was the bottom one. Other 3 were wet w/ fuel and had a little black sludge pooled in them. Hard to really tell because the plugs are brand new. I took some pics, will post a little later. If the top 3 aren't firing, am I looking at the switch box as the problem. One other thing...my 6 gallon tank only had about 1/2 gallon of gas left in it. I was only out for about 1 hour, and 30 minutes of that was idling back to the ramp. Seems like it's pulling a lot of gas. Also, the bulb was soft when I got it home. Thanks so much for thee help. Aaron.
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

Photos of my plugs can be seen at the following addresses:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24479981@N03/sets/72157618016421208/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24479981@N03/3523583153/in/set-72157618016421208/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24479981@N03/3524390450/in/set-72157618016421208/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24479981@N03/3524390280/in/set-72157618016421208/

can you guys tell me anything from these photos? thanks again for the help. not sure what i would do without the advice you guys give on here. AC.
 

sportsmanphil

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I had the same issue with my Classic fifty and I had a piece of the fuel pump get stuck in the jet of one carb.
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

thanks phil. i planned on pulling my fuel pump apart this weekend. maybe i'll find it's torn apart. just not sure at this point. AC.
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

thanks for the help, guys. when i had the carbs rebuilt, he didn't replace any of the fuel lines or rebuild the fuel pump. is that something you would recommend (if compression and spark check out ok)?

i did buy a new merc supply line and tank when i bought the boat, so i should be good there.

is it possible one of the diaphrams or something let loose in the fuel pump and is clogging a jet on the carb? i really don't want to rebuild those carbs again.

thanks again for the help. ac.
 

sportsmanphil

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

Yep.

I just went through my entire fuel system. Not sure if this is your problem but it solved mine.

Search "Mercury TSB" in this section and find a posted TSB for "fuel starvation"

Merc has a revised 'alcohol safe' fuel pump (for E10 gas) The valves are different. The revised pump's part # is 21-857005A1. It was 30 bucks at the dealer, I found mine on Ebay for 8.99 'buy it now'

You also need an alcohol friendly prime bulb/hose. Old primers have shuttle valves which can come apart with the gas we use today. New ones have metal check balls and springs. The hose should have 'alcohol safe' printed on it.

You should also use the silver tipped Merc inlet needles in the carb's. If your carbs were rebuilt with an aftermarket kit, the inlet needles could stick.

*******

After I replaced all that I still ended up with issues like you are having. The fuel line that runs to the fuel pump inside the engine compartment started to fall apart. I found debris from the hose in the carbs (AGAIN) so I took the fuel system apart (carbs included) replaced the fuel hose in the engine compartment, cleaned everything out again and found rubber pieces in my main jets and in the carb bowl.

Once everything had a final cleaning, she ran like a raped ape.

Its a pain in the butt but not expensive. The fuel hose was $3, fuel pump kit $10, inlet needles $8, fuel filter $10.

Good luck
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

do you guys think i might have a bad stator? i have a good outboard multimeter, i guess i could do some testing over the weekend. however, i don't want to test if this doesn't sound like a bad stator.

i'm planning on rebuilding the fuel pump and replacing fuel lines on friday. i'll let everyone know results. thanks, ac.
 

cell

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

Don't get ahead of your self....replace the fuel parts first,and then post back with the results.
 

markhoekstra

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Nov 2, 2008
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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I had the same problem on a 1982 50hp. Had the carbs apart a bunch of times except I never unscrewed the fuel nozzel inside the bowl. It had a little hunk of something in it that let enough gas in to idle and run at slower speeds, but then starved the engine when it really wanted to drink. Be sure to unscrew the brass fuel jet inside the bowl and make sure it is clear.
 

cjames8

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May 13, 2009
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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

This is similar to a problem I had with my 88 Merc Classic 50. I acquired the boat and motor from a friend for free, he told me it ran, but that the motor was underpowered for the boat...its a Tyee4.9 so I figured to myself that there was just something major wrong with the motor, since it only went 6 mph. Several things are like your problem......the first thing that we had done was the exhaust system was full of carbon from years of useage...I would look into that for sure. Next, after the carbon was out, it ran at 25 mph, for a month, then start to power down, and then kick in and run good, then power down.......that was the power pack, pretty easy to replace if you have any mechanical ability...just look at the old part and the new and compare as you go.
Hope that was helpful.....after replacing and cleaning those two things, the motor runs great. Could be carbs too, but we put in new kits and that didn't effect the motor at all.
 

cjames8

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I just replaced the stator on mine yesterday.......but with the stator bad, it wouldn't start at all...I think if you are running still at 3000 it's not the stator.
 

achilles555

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

thanks cjames. i'll look into the exhaust. specifically, which part of the exhaust system needs the cleaning? one other thing...is the power pack the same as the switch box? thanks again, ac.
 

festerized

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I finally fixed my classic 50
My motor wouldn?t tach up over 3000 RPMs
At first i had the ethanol blues,? so I cleaned my carbs, put in new fuel pump, new fuel cell, new lines
Motor ran good for about 10 min
Took everything apart 2 more times checking everything
Come to find out the 2 screws on my throttle actuator had stripped out, preventing full throttle
Mercury no longer makes the upper and lower throttle actuator, so I helicaled the screws,
Took a little bit to adjust throttle actuator, but I got it and it runs great
Be careful what you touch, I found out the hard way that 2 different problems produced the same 3000 RPM results
 

CharlieB

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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I don't see where you have tested spark with a spark tester set to 7/16 gap.

The three upper plugs are firing normally, however that bottom plug hasn't fired at all. either the bottom carb is severely flooding or that coil is not firing the plug.

Stator is fine, switchbox or coil could cause a 'no spark' but you first need to test to determine if it is spark or fuel related.
 

FishinInMizzou

Seaman Apprentice
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Jul 26, 2009
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Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I just bought an 87' basstracker pontoon boat that has a 1986 classic 50 on it. It too would only wrap to 3k rpm. Before I bought it the owner took it to the shop (had left gas in it all winter) and had both carbs rebuilt and the motor gone through. We put it on the lake and it ran well, up to 5k rpm. Bought it, took it to the lake two weeks later, which was two weeks ago. It would open up to 5k easily then after a few minutes start powering down - if you squeezed the bulb, it would power back up. I had bought a new tank for it and the line was a little loose. I bought a brass fitting for the top of the tank that fit the line from the motor. The line is for an OMC/Johnson, not a Merc. Any suggestions?
Ken
 

CharlieB

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Messages
5,617
Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I just bought an 87' basstracker pontoon boat that has a 1986 classic 50 on it. It too would only wrap to 3k rpm. Before I bought it the owner took it to the shop (had left gas in it all winter) and had both carbs rebuilt and the motor gone through. We put it on the lake and it ran well, up to 5k rpm. Bought it, took it to the lake two weeks later, which was two weeks ago. It would open up to 5k easily then after a few minutes start powering down - if you squeezed the bulb, it would power back up. I had bought a new tank for it and the line was a little loose. I bought a brass fitting for the top of the tank that fit the line from the motor. The line is for an OMC/Johnson, not a Merc. Any suggestions?
Ken

This is typical of a weak fuel pump OR air being sucked into the line from a loose connection, old cracked hose.
 

FishinInMizzou

Seaman Apprentice
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Jul 26, 2009
Messages
44
Re: 87 Mercury Classic 50 won't throttle past 3000 RPM?

I know the line is new from the tank to the outboard - I replaced the connection on the hose as I said - I have not had it back on the water to see if that fixed. NOW, I have oil leaking out of the prop. I am going to pull the prop to see if the gasket is leaking. This is new for me - I have not worked on an outboard before.
 
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