Mercury 850 starts but idles rough

dmgunther

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Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
1
I purchased an e-bay special a 1974 boat with a 1974 Mercury 850 outboard. The engine starts but runs rough. It never really settles down to a nice smooth idle. I have only started it in a trash can so I don't know how it will run when opened up. It runs like the gas may be bad. There is half a take in the built in gas tank. My thought was to top off the tank with some clean gas and some stabilizer to help with the existing gas. Any ideas what I might look for or what I might do to help get the motor running smoother? I am planning to try and take it out this weekend and see how it runs when opened up.

Thanks,
 

Laddies

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Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
12,218
Re: Mercury 850 starts but idles rough

Yes try new gas, if the unit has been sitting for a while it needs a good ck over and probably the carbs cleaned
 
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