1980 Merc 50 4 cyl. <br /><br />Motor's sat since 1999 but I've had it out (on the water) a couple of times. First time it fought a bit because it had been sleeping so long, but after a couple of weekends in the driveway and a couple of hours on the water, fresh fuel, news plugs etc it settled right down and ran (well). I'm now on my third (6 gallon) tank. Plugs, impeller etc are new but the previous owner maintained this thing like you would not believe...<br /><br />I ran it in the driveway (on muffs) before heading out and it fired on three, then four (within about 15 seconds). Ran fine after. Unloaded it from the trailer and ran it out in the inlet while the wife parked the truck/trailer. It ran fine and when it was warm, it hit 5400 rpm WOT.<br /><br />Picked up the wife and went for a ride. It (the boat, not the wife!) was a bit sluggish out of the hole and only would hit 4500 RPM. I gave up after about two or three minutes and pulled it back to 4000. We ran that way for about 15 minutes and then BAM...it picked right up like someone hit a switch. I ran ot WOT and we were back up to 5400. For the rest of the day it ran like a Swiss clock. For the most part we cruised between 3000 or 4000 but occasionally I'd pop it to make sure it was all there. And it was.<br /><br />Just as an FYI, the Merc mech suggested I run fuel stabalizer with the gas...said it can't hurt, might even help. I ran it on the first tanke, but didn't on the second... (I added it for this one again). I'd be surprised if that's related, but you never know...<br /><br />Also stopped a few friends docks and once at the gas dock. Every time I had to just touch thr key and it fired right up.<br /><br />any ideas?<br /><br />Nikko
