[fishdog4449]

Hey guys!
Yet another question for all you Merc Gurus!
While I have the beast on the workbench with powerhead off, I want to make sure everything on the motor is in great condition. The motor ran before, but as you may have seen from my other post, she was gettin a little water in number 3 so I'm replacing water jacket and exhaust cover gaskets.
However, when the motor did run it took lots of effort to start, even after the fuel system rebuild. I had heard on another post that sometimes these inlines can be made to start like fuel injected motors if the reed cages are sealed to the case with yamabond. Is this a fact, if so how difficult of a repair would this be?
I would like to get this ol inline as reliable and good running as possible as I intend to keep her for a while.
thanks in advance guys!

[Laddies]

It wouldn't hurt anything, we put 514 on our reed blocks for our racing engines not to prevent leakage but to steady them at high RPMs because the reed stops are cheated open as far as possible. I think as far as helping the engine startup if all the reeds are seated on the block properly thats about all you can do. Someone telling yamabonds will help startup I think was smelling the stuff to long.

[fishdog4449]

thanks laddies!!
I originally saw it on another post, which I now can't find, but what you said may be true

Well the motor runs fine on muffs and idles smooth (albeit have not done a boat test yet) the only problem is the hard starting. Other than that the motor has no issues, but if I decided to do it anyway, what is involved about getting to the reeds?
I've been doing some more research on the forum and found that many people have inlines which are hard to start even if they are in great condition. I just have a hard time believing that nothing could be wrong with the motor, yet it takes that much effort to start.

[gregpro50]

Mine starts hard when cold but once you've started it for the first time of the day it will start like it's fuel injected after that, even if it sits for a few hours. Both of the ones I have owned have been that way. I think these I6 Mercs start better and run smoother than any of the OMC's that I've owned.

[Laddies]

Really if the starter is in go shape so it turns the engine over well and if you have good voltage at the white switch box terminal while cranking the engine all thats left is getting the fuel to the engine, In some cases the choke plates don't seat well and also a lean mixture will make them hard to start. If you prime the carbs with a squirt can it fires right up I would look for a donor engine with a primer system and convert to it.

[fishdog4449]

It does seem to crank slower than my inline 4 80hp, but not sure how slow. Will check that when I get a tach.

Saw a picture of a primer system where the choke plates were removed and the solenoid rerouted to actually lets fuel into the front of the carbs through little copper tubes.

So if I found a newer model carbs (80s or so) with the enrichment circuit, that would work with my existing setup?

[Laddies]

You would use your carbs all you need is the fitting that screws into the top cab, primer assm and the plumbing. Think you will have to build the mount for the primer as the new engines the crankcase is tapped.