Cold start problems!

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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IHey guys. I have a 99 mercury 200efi. It is hard to start when cold. Worse in the winter. Acts like it is flooded after it does start cold. Smokes a little them clears up and runs perfect. Starts right up after too. Any ideas?
 

Texasmark

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Dec 20, 2005
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Have you changed your fuel filter lately? May sound silly but I started having a starting problem with it turning colder these days and after I changed my fuel filter, the bulb pumped up like it should and the engine started like you would expect. Was having funny performance at the upper end of the power curve but in error, I blamed it on some thing else.
 

dingbat

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IHey guys. I have a 99 mercury 200efi. It is hard to start when cold. Worse in the winter. Acts like it is flooded after it does start cold. Smokes a little them clears up and runs perfect. Starts right up after too. Any ideas?
I had similar issue with my 200 Evinrude.

Running out of things to adjust/check, I checked starter cranking RPM. Long story short, had a burnt winding in the starter. Installed a new starter and the problem went away. Cranks right up
 

flyingscott

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Have you checked anything. Since it's an EFI I would start the proper manual that has the information you actually need for that motor.
 

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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Thanks for the help guys. I changed the fuel filter about 2months ago. I have noticed my starter dragging just a little but it turns over fast and easy. May need to look at the starter though. I changed the plugs out and they everyone looked like they had been flooding and still covered in fuel. If I pump the bubble or give it a little throttle at cold starting it acts flooded worse. It starts a lot easier if all I do is let the electric fuel pump run a sec then start turning it over. But still have to crank on it a while then it will hit a little and finally start. In the summer it takes it just a sec the first time to start but not like this. Winter cold it's a lot worse.
 

Dukedog

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you may have one of tha injectors actin' up.. it fires a coupla of 'em (for prime) every time you hit tha starter.. they may/may not show up when its off idle and/or warm... there is a simple way to change it to prime/choke by pushin' key that gives you control like a carb motor... I have an pdf, oem manual for it if needed.. jus need an email address..
 

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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Dukedog. I messaged you with my email. Not sure if you got it but would appreciate it if you could send me that pdf. I knew it did that on the cold start up but did not know you could change it to manual like that. Thanks again.
 

Dukedog

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check and see if ya got tha pdf?.. it was actin' a little funny when attachin' it to your email?..

on your startin' solenoid there should be 2 yellow/red tracer on one of tha small post.. identify tha one that's tha START circuit.. should be tha one comin' outta tha main harness.. it stays on that post.. take tha other one off .. in tha "male" side of harness, UNDER ALL THA TAPE you should be able to dig out a yellow/black tracer wire.. that is tha push ta choke circuit from tha ign. switch.. it needs ta make up on tha OTHER YELLOW/RED you disconnected from tha solenoid

one thing if it is an injector type problem it may be time ta get 'em checked/serviced...….
 

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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I got it. Thanks for sending me that. I will work on it and see what happens. Thanks again
 

dp479

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So I haven't had time to finish it but I did find everything and for some reason they had the yellow/ red for that disconnected and taped up. So looks like it was not getting the cold start spray from the injectors. I'm going to connect it to the switch so I have control and see if that solves me problem. Thanks
 

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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Ok. Connected the wires and got it working but still same problem. Cold start it does not want to start then when it finally does smokes like crazy and acts flooded. After that starts right up and runs perfect.
 

Dukedog

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Oct 6, 2009
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if that yellow red was already disconnected from solenoid sounds like someone else was lookin' for same problem.. try this.. trim it up to level or justa tad positive.. if it improves it may indicate tha injectors may need attention.. one other thing is mechanical fuel pump may need attention also....
 

QBhoy

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It may sound too simple to be true...but with any sort of ecu and especially efi type motor...I can’t stress enough how important a really strong battery is. Especially exaggerated in cold weather.
you’ve likely covered this by now, but if not...make sure the battery is not only good enough to turn her over...but absolutely and without doubt in tip top condition for not only cranking, but also powering up the ecu, sensor and fuel injection systems at the same time. Anything other than a great battery will occasionally only do well at one or the other. Usually cranking will be at the detriment to the other if it’s even slightly weak.
 

dp479

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Dec 9, 2019
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Ok. Thanks again guys. Thebatyery seems to be great and isnt very old. Starter does drag every now and then. I did take the manual pump apart and it looked ok inside but did notice the check valves are raised on the edges and not sweating down all the way. Pump kit is pretty cheap so gonna put that in and the starter taken care of then try it again. I didnt mention before that when I bought this thing I ran into an issue with water in the fuel tank. I changed filters and took everything apart and cleaned everything even tank. But I didnt take apart the manual pump. Also have a slight leak at times at the top
 

hl

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May 2, 2010
Messages
237
Are you getting a good spark to the plugs. I had an older mercury that had the same symptoms. Changed the stator and it cranked right up with no problem. I believed the excess smoke your having is fuel building up in the cylinders from not firing up because of poor spark.
 

Texasmark

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Dec 20, 2005
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14,544
It may sound too simple to be true...but with any sort of ecu and especially efi type motor...I can’t stress enough how important a really strong battery is. Especially exaggerated in cold weather.
you’ve likely covered this by now, but if not...make sure the battery is not only good enough to turn her over...but absolutely and without doubt in tip top condition for not only cranking, but also powering up the ecu, sensor and fuel injection systems at the same time. Anything other than a great battery will occasionally only do well at one or the other. Usually cranking will be at the detriment to the other if it’s even slightly weak.

Agree on a strong battery any time cranking an engine, especially when one sits for long periods without being run and having fuel fresh in the powerhead. Other thing is the fact that starting current, even for a 100 hp engine could be up around 200 Amperes.

Considering a starter needs at least 10 Volts across it to spin up an engine to 200 RPM cranking speed (mentioned in service manuals), and a lot of 12V electronics is designed to run on 9V minimum, sucking 200 Amperes from a 12V battery and needing 10V at the starter while spinning the engine, means your wiring can't be more than 12-10 = 2Volts/200 Amperes = 0.01 Ohms........for the electrically challenged or unknowing definitions of the electrical terms are on the www and that isn't much corrosion, loose crimps, loose hardware, or too small a service cable diameter or too much length.

That means that all your cables, connector crimps, connectors and anything in the circuit between the battery and the engine including mounting points needs to be "clean and bright and tight"....clean on the inside where the current flows, not just on the outside where it looks pretty.

On the battery, static voltage testing isn't enough. You need to know the battery output voltage when its delivering your required 200 give or take Amperes....aka a load test. Auto parts stores can make this test for you or Harbor Freight sells testers for about 50 bucks. Older batteries that have "Sulphated Up"......Sulphur in the H2SO4 + H2O solution has deposited on the plates resulting in reduced chemical interaction area, making for increased internal voltage drop at high currents.

Internal voltage drop means that the battery terminals can't be at enough voltage to deliver 10 Volts to the starter (and electronics) under the starting load.

Phew.
 
Last edited:

QBhoy

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8,286
Agree on a strong battery any time cranking an engine, especially when one sits for long periods without being run and having fuel fresh in the powerhead. Other thing is the fact that starting current, even for a 100 hp engine could be up around 200 Amperes.

Considering a starter needs at least 10 Volts across it to spin up an engine to 200 RPM cranking speed (mentioned in service manuals), and a lot of 12V electronics is designed to run on 9V minimum, sucking 200 Amperes from a 12V battery and needing 10V at the starter while spinning the engine, means your wiring can't be more than 12-10 = 2Volts/200 Amperes = 0.01 Ohms........for the electrically challenged or unknowing definitions of the electrical terms are on the www and that isn't much corrosion, loose crimps, loose hardware, or too small a service cable diameter or too much length.

That means that all your cables, connector crimps, connectors and anything in the circuit between the battery and the engine including mounting points needs to be "clean and bright and tight"....clean on the inside where the current flows, not just on the outside where it looks pretty.

On the battery, static voltage testing isn't enough. You need to know the battery output voltage when its delivering your required 200 give or take Amperes....aka a load test. Auto parts stores can make this test for you or Harbor Freight sells testers for about 50 bucks. Older batteries that have "Sulphated Up"......Sulphur in the H2SO4 + H2O solution has deposited on the plates resulting in reduced chemical interaction area, making for increased internal voltage drop at high currents.

Internal voltage drop means that the battery terminals can't be at enough voltage to deliver 10 Volts to the starter (and electronics) under the starting load.

Phew.

As good an explanation of it, as you get. Nice one.
 
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