Re: 2000 Mercury 8 HP Will Not Start
Funny, I have similar issues with a 99' 8hp Mariner right now. Here's what I did to isolate. First, get a (new or well cleaned) spray bottle ( like houshold cleaners come in) and add some fresh 50:1 fuel mix in it. Open the throttle body butterfly by rotating the cam on the left of the carb and spay a few shots right down the thoat. Now give it a pull. If is starts and runs a few seconds, you have a fuel/carb issue. If it starts and stalls, try squeezing the ball on the fuel line to see if forceing it fuel helps. If not, go to an auto parts store and get a inline spark tester for $5. Put it on one cyl, pull the cord and see if you get spark. Then try the next. If you don't see consistant spark on both cyl, you have an electrical issue.
FWIW, mine is a fuel issue and I'm going to clean and rebuild the carb and fuel pump.
hth