I recently purchased a 1987 Tracker V-17 with a Merc Classic Fifty 45HP engine. This is my first boat and while I am mechanicly minded, I have never touched an outboard engine before.
First trip out it became clear that there were carb issues or so I thought. I immediately got some new carb gaskets and went through the carbs as there was at least one fule leak via the bowl gasket. After reinstalling the carbs, the engine idled a bit better but not that well and would still stall at idle and between gears. I also got a Selco service manual but that is pretty difficult to decifer becuase the pictures rarely resembled my engine.
Next I did some searching and found this forum and dug further and found out about Clamscanino and a bit more digging led me to some of his threads. One of which was a how to on setting up the carbs and timing. At first read, I was confused. I never imagined setting up the timing with the engine not running and 3 of 4 plugs pulled out. I also had no idea that the timing had such a big impact on the idle rpm. The manual does it differently.
By now I had already found an email address for him and sent him an email and he was kind enough to refer me back to his instructions as well as answer a few other questions. After a second read and refering back to the service manual for clarification here or there, I got my boat running pretty well. I did it in my driveway with the hose hooked up for cooling and a large cooler filled with water to submerge the prop. That helped to create some load when I put it in gear as well as some back pressure on the exhaust. I must admit that things were pretty messed up to begin with. I dont think the carbs were open 50% at full throttle.. Timing seemed to be way off as well.
I wanted to thank Clamscanino for his time as well as his contibutions and all the others that contribute to this forum. As I get deeper in this boat thing, I can see this becoming a very valuable resource!
Sorry for the long first post. For those that dont know what "how to" I am talking about, here it is. If you have an older merc and it doesn't run well, this may be a great help!
How to:
First trip out it became clear that there were carb issues or so I thought. I immediately got some new carb gaskets and went through the carbs as there was at least one fule leak via the bowl gasket. After reinstalling the carbs, the engine idled a bit better but not that well and would still stall at idle and between gears. I also got a Selco service manual but that is pretty difficult to decifer becuase the pictures rarely resembled my engine.
Next I did some searching and found this forum and dug further and found out about Clamscanino and a bit more digging led me to some of his threads. One of which was a how to on setting up the carbs and timing. At first read, I was confused. I never imagined setting up the timing with the engine not running and 3 of 4 plugs pulled out. I also had no idea that the timing had such a big impact on the idle rpm. The manual does it differently.
By now I had already found an email address for him and sent him an email and he was kind enough to refer me back to his instructions as well as answer a few other questions. After a second read and refering back to the service manual for clarification here or there, I got my boat running pretty well. I did it in my driveway with the hose hooked up for cooling and a large cooler filled with water to submerge the prop. That helped to create some load when I put it in gear as well as some back pressure on the exhaust. I must admit that things were pretty messed up to begin with. I dont think the carbs were open 50% at full throttle.. Timing seemed to be way off as well.
I wanted to thank Clamscanino for his time as well as his contibutions and all the others that contribute to this forum. As I get deeper in this boat thing, I can see this becoming a very valuable resource!
Sorry for the long first post. For those that dont know what "how to" I am talking about, here it is. If you have an older merc and it doesn't run well, this may be a great help!
How to: