[boatinlikeafool]

I have a 2000 Mercury 2 stroke 50hp motor on the back of a 20ft pontoon boat.We bought the boat used off a private seller.

It runs good at full throttle, and half throttle all day long.It dies when I pull back to a slow throttle or all the way to nuetral. It usually runs for about a minute or two then cuts out. I have noticed that the primer bulb does not stay very hard at any time. When we go into no wake zones, and if we pump the primer bulb every so often it keeps it running.

Here is the list of things I've done to try and fix.

Drained and cleaned gas tank. (It was very dirty).

Put on new fuel filter. (Had black pieces of something inside old one)

Put on new fuel line.

One bottle of Quickleen to full tank of gas and have ran it.

New plugs.

It does run a lot better but still cuts out.

What do you guys recommend I do now?

Is it very difficult to disassemble the carbs and clean them? I am mechanically inclined and have worked on automobiles. Not very familiar with boats though. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[bhile]

A good chance some of that trash got thru the filter into your fuel pump and carb. They are very simple to rebuild if you have done auto carbs.

[Silvertip]

If squeezing the primer bulb helps keep the engine running, then consider a fuel pump rebuild/replacement as its starving for fuel. Lack of fuel also means a lean condition which means if you continue to run the engine that way you risk destroying it.