We're dealing with an 83, Mercruiser 3.0 with R/MR/Alpha One drive.
Stranded me for a while today.
For a little back ground...boat sat under cover for three years without being started. Used a little Sea Foam through the carb, with fresh gas and she fired right up. First trip to the lake went pretty smooth, except after idling through the no wake zones, it was a little hard to get it going. Would die upon acceleration.
I figured it was a gummed up carburetor, so I got a Sierra kit, soaked it in carb cleaner and reassembled.
Next trip to the lake, boat cranked fine, and ran good for the first hour.
After running for that hour or so, we took a break in a cove to eat and swim a little, and when it came time to go, every time I'd shift from neutral into gear the engine would die. It didn't matter if I shifted it slow, or shifted it fast, it would still die. It died going neutral to reverse, as well as neutral to forward.
At the beginning of the day, I didn't know what a shift interrupter switch was...after an hour of reading the forum, I do now.
While I was battling it this afternoon....I did see the shift interrupter, and noticed that if I pushed on it, the engine would die. As a "what have I got to lose" move, I took the switch off, and unhooked the wires. At that time, I didn't know that's exactly how it was supposed to be working.
Even after I took the switch loose, it would still die. I must have a durn good battery, cause I must have cranked it a hundred times. I was probably stranded for the better part of an hour and a quarter, and was pretty much trying it the whole time.
I have no idea how it finally got going. I shifted it as slowly as I could with the engine idling....and it finally didn't die. I accelerated very slowly, and made my way back to the dock at the lake house. After it sat for a couple of hours, I cranked it to go to the marina to load up, and it did fine.
I did have the problem of it not wanting to come back to neutral, but I understand now that was because I had the shift interrupter switch disconnected.
So.......after all that rambling, now finally a question.
Where do I go from here?
Are there other electrical devices that could be causing this? ( I should mention, that before I ran it for the first time after the three year layoff....I tuned it up with new points, plugs, condenser, and coil. Cap and rotor both were clean and looked good. Timing was checked as well.)
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Stranded me for a while today.
For a little back ground...boat sat under cover for three years without being started. Used a little Sea Foam through the carb, with fresh gas and she fired right up. First trip to the lake went pretty smooth, except after idling through the no wake zones, it was a little hard to get it going. Would die upon acceleration.
I figured it was a gummed up carburetor, so I got a Sierra kit, soaked it in carb cleaner and reassembled.
Next trip to the lake, boat cranked fine, and ran good for the first hour.
After running for that hour or so, we took a break in a cove to eat and swim a little, and when it came time to go, every time I'd shift from neutral into gear the engine would die. It didn't matter if I shifted it slow, or shifted it fast, it would still die. It died going neutral to reverse, as well as neutral to forward.
At the beginning of the day, I didn't know what a shift interrupter switch was...after an hour of reading the forum, I do now.
While I was battling it this afternoon....I did see the shift interrupter, and noticed that if I pushed on it, the engine would die. As a "what have I got to lose" move, I took the switch off, and unhooked the wires. At that time, I didn't know that's exactly how it was supposed to be working.
Even after I took the switch loose, it would still die. I must have a durn good battery, cause I must have cranked it a hundred times. I was probably stranded for the better part of an hour and a quarter, and was pretty much trying it the whole time.
I have no idea how it finally got going. I shifted it as slowly as I could with the engine idling....and it finally didn't die. I accelerated very slowly, and made my way back to the dock at the lake house. After it sat for a couple of hours, I cranked it to go to the marina to load up, and it did fine.
I did have the problem of it not wanting to come back to neutral, but I understand now that was because I had the shift interrupter switch disconnected.
So.......after all that rambling, now finally a question.
Where do I go from here?
Are there other electrical devices that could be causing this? ( I should mention, that before I ran it for the first time after the three year layoff....I tuned it up with new points, plugs, condenser, and coil. Cap and rotor both were clean and looked good. Timing was checked as well.)
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
)