Just For Peace of Mind

[ewpvic]

96 Merc 5.7 Alpha I Gen II:
Ran great first 3 times on muffs. Went to run it in water today...backed out of ramp fine...forward gear bogged down, died and that was the end of the sea trial. Only thing I did different was got 10 gallons of gas on the way to ramp. Not much in tank before that, but it had been stabilized. Noticed a Crack in distributor cap. I'm believing that this may be big part of problems. Seem logical?

 

[thumpar]

Well it needs replacing for sure so start there. Running on muffs doesn't prove much other than the motor runs with no load. They can act completely different on the water.

 

[NHGuy]

Thank you for spelling it peace. Forum posts that refer to "piece of mind" make me crazy!
And not like your grandma going to give someone a "piece of her mind."

OK, english language usage rant is now over.
Go back to boats. They are much more important and fun!

 

[NHGuy]

BTW read up on checking the lower shift cable. There's a possibility it could be causing your issue.
When the cable is sticky or stuck it causes the shift interrupt to actuate at wrong times, which in turn shuts off the spark.
Other things can cause a bog too, but if it's the cable the engine will just turn off.