The motor has been performing well all summer after cleaning the carbs and installing new carb kits (with new hard plastic floats and SS-tip needles), installing new fuel lines & primer bulb, new spark plugs, new water-separator type fuel filter and changing impeller. Engine serial 9403250, made in Belgium if I recall correctly.
Last Sunday we did a boat trip. After one hour of driving, about 5-7knots being the average speed (a 5 month baby on board, she doesn't like speeding..yet), we stopped to have lunch.
After lunch we came back to the boat and the engine just wouldn't start. The battery had normal voltage. Plenty of gas in the tank. Engine was turning over normally by the starter but I didn't hear a single cylinder pop. After cleaning the plugs, spraying some CRC on the thickest cords and wiping them dry and looking for leaks no difference. All plug ends were coated with "healthy brown" residue and were slightly wet of gasoline as well. With my 2-year experience on this outboard I would say the plugs didn't look like they were my problem. I had the service manual on board but I didn't perform any spark tests to my plugs because it started raining and the boat was rocking too much in the lousy pier spot we had. I tried to start the engine for maybe 10 times all in all, choke or no choke and with the gas handle in various positions, without a single ignition event of a cylinder being heard.
I went back to the boat after a couple of days after reading some information on primer bulbs. You see, all summer I've been using my boat without ever getting the primer bulb "rock-hard" as it should get. It would stay soft, but the motor still started fine all summer, though. I just wanted to check out if that was my problem this time. Twisting the fuel line so that the primer's gasoline outlet end points skywards (not downwards as it is installed on my boat) did get the primer harder than ever after about 4-5 times pumping, but that didn't help me either. But I did note that the engine did leak some gas, maybe a few tablespoonfuls (hard to tell based on how it looks on the water). I noticed this after tilting the engine back up. Maybe there lies my problem, but then again, is that a problem that can occur after engine working properly for 1hr? Maybe the needle just "stuck up" ? If it had stuck up and leaked gas, would the primer still get hard as it did?
After typing all this I'm starting to think of a spark test and carb clean (a yearly routine for merc owners perhaps?) and maybe testing the ignition components more widely. What do you guys think? Please ask for more info, since I may have forgotten to tell some details. This may be a no-brainer for some older guys here, but I'm a young enthusiast. I really like my boat and engine (a Finnish-made Vator 17-foot glassfiber classic, with deep-V hull). The engine has low hours and good compression on it since it has been on low use despite it's age. I'm not going to sink it and buy a Yamaha as my buddies at work tell me to do
Last Sunday we did a boat trip. After one hour of driving, about 5-7knots being the average speed (a 5 month baby on board, she doesn't like speeding..yet), we stopped to have lunch.
After lunch we came back to the boat and the engine just wouldn't start. The battery had normal voltage. Plenty of gas in the tank. Engine was turning over normally by the starter but I didn't hear a single cylinder pop. After cleaning the plugs, spraying some CRC on the thickest cords and wiping them dry and looking for leaks no difference. All plug ends were coated with "healthy brown" residue and were slightly wet of gasoline as well. With my 2-year experience on this outboard I would say the plugs didn't look like they were my problem. I had the service manual on board but I didn't perform any spark tests to my plugs because it started raining and the boat was rocking too much in the lousy pier spot we had. I tried to start the engine for maybe 10 times all in all, choke or no choke and with the gas handle in various positions, without a single ignition event of a cylinder being heard.
I went back to the boat after a couple of days after reading some information on primer bulbs. You see, all summer I've been using my boat without ever getting the primer bulb "rock-hard" as it should get. It would stay soft, but the motor still started fine all summer, though. I just wanted to check out if that was my problem this time. Twisting the fuel line so that the primer's gasoline outlet end points skywards (not downwards as it is installed on my boat) did get the primer harder than ever after about 4-5 times pumping, but that didn't help me either. But I did note that the engine did leak some gas, maybe a few tablespoonfuls (hard to tell based on how it looks on the water). I noticed this after tilting the engine back up. Maybe there lies my problem, but then again, is that a problem that can occur after engine working properly for 1hr? Maybe the needle just "stuck up" ? If it had stuck up and leaked gas, would the primer still get hard as it did?
After typing all this I'm starting to think of a spark test and carb clean (a yearly routine for merc owners perhaps?) and maybe testing the ignition components more widely. What do you guys think? Please ask for more info, since I may have forgotten to tell some details. This may be a no-brainer for some older guys here, but I'm a young enthusiast. I really like my boat and engine (a Finnish-made Vator 17-foot glassfiber classic, with deep-V hull). The engine has low hours and good compression on it since it has been on low use despite it's age. I'm not going to sink it and buy a Yamaha as my buddies at work tell me to do
