Fuel Dripping From Front of Carburetors

[jdeloney]

I have a 1984 Merc 90 "tower of power" inline 6 with 3 carbs. When I tilt the motor up for storage fuel drips from the carb openings and gets all over the carb bodies and some hoses. It also seems to be dripping from the gold "screws" depicted in the photos.
At the lake, the bulb pumps up fine in about 4 pumps. The engine is kinda hard to start (takes about 1.5 minutes.) When I get it started, I can move the throttle anywhere in the first 1/4th forward and the motor picks up slowly then suddenly jumps to that setting and is fine from then on. Any throttle over about 1/4th seems normal from there to WOT it is a fine engine.
Is this dripping normal? What can be done?

 

[Maxz695]

Re: Fuel Dripping From Front of Carburetors

because the motor is tilted the floats move and allow gas to escape the carbs through the overflow. This seems normal to me. This is probably one of those engines that run on two cylinders and at a certain point the other cylinders kick in. are you priming the choke when starting this engine? The best thing i can suggest to slove the fuel leaking is when you bring the boat in disconnect the gas line and run it dry before shutting it down. I,m not too firmiliar with this engine so wait for more reply,s to help you out.

 

[trmelvin]

Re: Fuel Dripping From Front of Carburetors

I know in my experience, running the fuel out of the carbs will cause a lean condition, which is very bad for your engine. Some people may not think so. I think fuel running out of the carbs when you tilt all the way up is also normal. If you look under the bottom carb there is a catch pan that should direct most of the fuel out of the cowling. Hope this helps.

 

[444]

Re: Fuel Dripping From Front of Carburetors

I also have an 84 merc 90hp inline 6, exact same as yours. Fuel leaking out the front when you tilt the motor for storage/transport is normal. Mine gets fuel all over the inside of my transom splash well. If your engine is hard to start and runs like crap during the first 1/4 throttle, then I would suspect the idle circuit on one of more of your carbs is plugged. I would give them a disassembly, cleaning and link/synch. My tower of power starts up like a dream. I set the throttle at 1/3 in neutral, hit the choke button 4 times(in this year the choke button is actually an electric primer) and hit the key and she fires in seconds.