[insanecreators3]

I have a 85 Mercury 60 hp motor in a 15 ft skeeter bass boat. I just bought the boat and took it out once. It runs great once going but is very hard to start and then get into gear without dying. Now motor will not even start even with starting fluid. Has bright blue spark and good compression. I replaced the plugs with new NGKs (buhw). The fuel pump is working and the motor is getting fuel. I mixed the fuel 50:1 with 91 octane and quick silver oil. The motor will start every once in a while and run great until I shut it off and it will not start back up. Also I was wondering if I could get away with putting a 120 hp motor on this boat if I cant get this motor lined out. Thank you.

[TommyA]

First off don't use starting fluid with on 2 strokes. Second that engine should be fine for that size boat but if you wanted to upgrade the max you could put on it should be a 100hp.

From most of what you have provided it would seem that you are experiencing an electrical problem. What is needed is a good deal more informations about the engine, boat and some history behind both.

[insanecreators3]

Thank you for the response. I took it to a marine shop today and they dont know what it is yet either we looked at it for almost 4 hours. It has great compression 140-135-138 the fuel pump is working properly and we put it in correct timing. The only thing is sometimes the #2 and 3 cylinders do not have fire. We switched the rectifier and that was not the problem??? The mechanic is going to check the coils in the morning and go from there. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

[TommyA]

Make sure to check the stator. It has two windings one for high speed operations and one for low speed. Sometimes the low speed will cause problems with idling. A simple check with a ohm meter will let you know if there is a problem.

[hunpie]

I also have a 150hp Mercury outboard that was very hard to start, the first thing I learned was to press the ignition key until a hear a beep, that help a little with the help of the choke, the second thing someone mention to me was clean the gas tank air vent on the side of the boat (mine was on the side and close to the filler opening), I did with a soft copper wire and white flakes dropped out, now the motor working like a charm. Sometimes the problem is very simpl, so I would like to share my experience with you and others.

[insanecreators3]

The mechanic tested the stator and it was bad. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.