1963 Mercury OB 3,9

jennis9

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
396
I bought a really cool setup that came with a Merc 3.9 - 1963. The guy who sold me the boat (14 foot aluminum, electric minn Kota, the Merc 3.9 and a flawless trailer for $400!) told me that the motor hadn't been started in about ten years, knew it ran the last time he had it out and was tossing it into the boat packeage to make room in his garage for his new boat.

SO

Put a new spark plug in it - got the bucket out and pulled it started after about four....

Cool, put it on the boat and the problem we're having with it is it will start, idle and run for about a minute. Once it warms up, it gets going but runs LONGER with the cowl off. but still konks out.

The fuel line is new - so there are no leaks there. Gas tank was vented.
Fuel is fresh
Flip between 'choke' and 'fuel' to get it to run longer. but it still quits
It pees, but it's not a stream, more like a splatter

Any ideas where to begin on getting it to keep running?

ALMOST feels like we hit the jackpot, would really love to fix it and get out on the lake.

Thanks in advance.
 
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