1150 tower of power problems

[ippielb]

Hello, first post, first boat, new to the outboards, but not new to 2-stroke engines. Anyways my story goes something like this.

I bought a boat in May, it came with a Mercury 1150 outboard that never ran, had fuel issues the guy said. I haven't had time to take any looks at it until three-four weeks ago. Replaced fuel lines, chased some wiring gremlins, charged up the battery. Bolted down one of the front seats a bit better. Added some hydro fluid to the power trim, fresh fuel, went to fire it up with the new primer, no fire. Turns out I had no spark. I did some trouble shooting and determined that the switch box was the faulty item, it was between the switch box and the coil being the problem, and the coils don't sound like they go bad on the old outboard Mercury motors, so I went looking for a switch box. Looked for a week, couldn't find any locally or on classifieds. Went to eBay found a left over new one for $200 shipped. Slapped that sucker on the other night added some fuel to a few cylinders to prime it, and it fired right up!

I took the boat out on the weekend for the first time. Once it got fuel it started up nice, and idled good. Went to take it down the lake and when I pushed the accelerator forward it never really accelerated. I stopped, pumped the primer and went to go again. Same thing. I idled around, and as it moved around it slowly got better, but still struggled to accelerate, it did get up to speed eventually.

The motor didn't sound terrible when accelerating, just had the odd bog down. When I squeeze the primer it never really gets hard, it just keeps squishing.

At idle the pee hole pushes water out just not as much as I expected to come out, but when the rpms go up it does push more water out.

Today i was rained out at work so I brought the boat out to investigate my symptoms, I found the vent tube on cylinder #6 intake port was rotted out, so it was splashing fuel and bleeding air. I cut it shorter and put it back on. I put the ear muffs on the water intake, turned the tap on all the way, ran and started the boat. It didn't start because I forgot to prime it. I primed the bulb, and then turned it over and it started up. But noticed something else.

Now when the motor runs, it is pushing water out the two upper exhaust ports right below the motor. The motor is sucking in water into the cylinders and pushing out the nasty chocolate milkshake sludge out the exhaust.

I panicked, turned it off right away. I went and got a tub to put the lower unit into so I could fill it with water to get the exhaust covered. Did that and started the motor. The exhaust milk got even worse. I thought it might have been just condensation or moisture, so I made the motor idle up a bit. And waited for the motor to warm up, the water coming from the pee hole is perfectly clear, But the water in the tub started to get black oil on the surface, and the water turned cloudy like someone added a little milk to it and a little coffee.

I did a compression test, these are estimates on the dial for my tester, it's not very precise, but they were all in the same range except # 2 cylinder.

#1 - 122
#2 - 117
#3 - 122
#4 - 122
#5 - 122
#6 - can't reach because of cowling.

The plug on #2 cylinder and # 6 were both clean, the others were brown. So I'm assuming the water is getting sucked in #2 or #6 or both.

Now I have read a bunch of different things about what could case the problem. Water jacket cover, and the lower crank seal were the top two things.

Does the motor need to be removed from the outboard to access the water jacket cover?

Here's a video when I first got it running.
https://youtu.be/dBUUTBGuzvM

Here's one from today.
https://youtu.be/4FNQs9l1c3U

I want to rebuild the carbs, fuel pump, and water pump on this outboard, but I don't want to invest my time and money into it if the block is cracked. Would hooking up the ear muffs to the water intake and opening the water all the way bust a seal?

Last problem, I washed the motor, and now when I try and start the boat, the started kicks in and out, the gear goes up, and it spins the flywheel, but randomly drops and instantly goes back up and hits the flywheel hard.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give as much info as I could to try and help.

So my questions are:

1. Would a bad fuel pump cause the primer bulb to never get firm?
2. Rebuilding the carbs help the hesitation when trying to speed up on the lake?
3. Is having a weak stream from the pee hole from the water pump normal?
4. Where do you think the water is getting into the cylinder(s)?
5. Where do I find the serial number to my motor?
6. Is my starter on its way out, or is it just wet wiring?

 

[clueless75]

Serial number is on the transom bracket either on the instruction plate or its on a small plate on one side of the transom bracket. Also, water coming from the exhaust ports are normal, and you might have a bad fuel pump if your motor is hard to accelerate. Other than that, I can't help you much with your other problems but someone here sure will!

 

[ippielb]

Serial number is on the transom bracket either on the instruction plate or its on a small plate on one side of the transom bracket. Also, water coming from the exhaust ports are normal, and you might have a bad fuel pump if your motor is hard to accelerate. Other than that, I can't help you much with your other problems but someone here sure will!

Thank you for the fast reply, water out of the prop with exhaust was normal. But the grey/tan milky sludge that comes with it now is not normal. The plugs are also washed clean on two cylinders by the looks of it. I am going to take my boat in tomorrow to get a shop to find my serial number or date my motor, there is no plate on the bracket or anywhere to be found, and I want to find the correct parts for it.

I also forgot to mention, my compression checks were with the motor cold. I wanted to look for consistency. To make sure I have an outboard motor and not an anchor.

 

[clueless75]

Not too many shops will work on motors as old as yours, but I can tell you that it's between 1976 and 1980 from the videos you had. The serial number can also be found on the powerhead somewhere as its stamped on it as well as on the transom mount (maybe it fell off or something?). My 1969 7.5hp merc turns the water in the bucket quite milky and gross, similar to what you have described. Other than that, the shop should know what to do hopefully

 

[ippielb]

Not too many shops will work on motors as old as yours, but I can tell you that it's between 1976 and 1980 from the videos you had. The serial number can also be found on the powerhead somewhere as its stamped on it as well as on the transom mount (maybe it fell off or something?). My 1969 7.5hp merc turns the water in the bucket quite milky and gross, similar to what you have described. Other than that, the shop should know what to do hopefully

There is only one shop anywhere close to me that will work on old boats like these. We took my grandparents boat there last year and they did a full tune up on it, 70 Johnson . Came back running great. I did not feel comfortable working on my grandparents boat, they have owned it since new in 83 I believe.

i've invested around $1100 into my boat and trailer, I'm more willing to work on something of my own.

The plate must have fallen off in its life time, I am unclear of where to look on the motor for my serial number. And I was hoping they could tell me and sell me the carb rebuild kits, fuel pump rebuild, and the water pump rebuild.

And one of the power trim cylinders is leaking from the end cap. They should be like a normal hydraulic cylinder and have an o ring sealing the end cap on? Just unscrew with a spanner wrench, remove the rod, and install a new end cap?

 

[clueless75]

I'm not sure about the power tilt/trim units so I can't say anything about that, however these motors are fairly easy to work on and great to learn with. If you start tinkering with it yourself you'll find yourself saving a lot of money and learning a few things as well. However, if it's an internal problem it's probably best to take it to a shop to have them look at it instead as they would be able to do something with it. Let us know what the shop says!

 

[jimmbo]

Well most of your cowl is a 1976 or 1977, the front faceplate is from a 1980 - 83, the gearcase is pre 79 , so I'm confident saying it's a 76 or 77.

Your saying you are getting a watery Mocha out of the exhaust? What gas oil ratio are you using?

 

[ippielb]

Well most of your cowl is a 1976 or 1977, the front faceplate is from a 1980 - 83, the gearcase is pre 79 , so I'm confident saying it's a 76 or 77.

Your saying you are getting a watery Mocha out of the exhaust? What gas oil ratio are you using?

Okay, it's good to have a ballpark figure on year.

You are correct, I build my own sled motors, and the one was burning coolant and it produced the same mocha/chocolate milkshake looking crud. It never did it before. When I idled up the motor in the tub it really pumps out water out of the top two exhaust ports.

I am using a 50:1 ratio, mixed with 91 octane with no ethanol. It was all fresh gas I burnt about a tank full Over the weekend. Refilled to half a tank of fresh gas/oil mix.

 

[ippielb]

7010852 is the serial number for my Mercury 1150 outboard.

 

[clueless75]

Comes up as a Canadian model 1973..? That doesn't seem to make sense...

 

[ippielb]

Where can the water be getting sucked into the engine come from? The exhaust plates and the lower crankshaft seal?

 

[ippielb]

Okay, so I finished working on the boat on Saturday. Rebuilt all three carbs, set the needle floats to spec. New gaskets, cleaned the carbs with an ultrasonic cleaner. Rebuilt both triangular fuel pumps with new diaphrams and gaskets. Replaced the water pump, changed the gearbox oil. Rebuilt a power trim cylinder, and then greased it up all nicely.

Managed to get out to the lake for a few minute drive on the water, accelerates nicely, and goes a lot faster, for 7 seconds, then it feels like the carb bowls get drained and it falls on it's face and dies sometimes. But starts up immediately like nothing happened.

I'm guessing its a fuel line issue. I squeeze the primer and it never gets firm. I can sit there squeeze and squeeze and squeeze and it always feels like it's sucking air and keeps putting air and not much fuel into the carbs. Had someone squeeze the primer bulb while I went full throttle and it didnt help the bogging.

Water pump was extemely overdue, thing pushes out way more water now, great piece of mind.

 

[clueless75]

Replace the fuel line for sure, that's almost definitely your issue as that happens to me often. Won't prime or get hard, runs great for a few seconds then slows down and dies. Replace the fuel line and it won't suck air anywhere and you should be good to go! Also, before you buy a new line check the old one for cracks or loose connections, and make sure it's plugged all the way in before you buy a new one.

 

[ippielb]

Replace the fuel line for sure, that's almost definitely your issue as that happens to me often. Won't prime or get hard, runs great for a few seconds then slows down and dies. Replace the fuel line and it won't suck air anywhere and you should be good to go! Also, before you buy a new line check the old one for cracks or loose connections, and make sure it's plugged all the way in before you buy a new one.

I went an looked inside the boat when I was working on it, but it was getting dark outside so I couldn't see everything. But the line from the gas tank(in the closed bow) to the gas line barb at the motor on the hull. Is a Hardline, they used copper pipe and put it the way through, but did not secure it properly so it can wiggle and move around. I have a feeling that it's going to be the suction line inside the tank itself. When I squeeze the primer I can hear something inside the tank.

Is there a such thing as nylon gas line? Like the air tubing used on semi tractors? That would be an easier substitute and would be flexible and resistant to collapsing when having a suction put on it.

 

[Chris1956]

There is a BIA-certified fuel line for outboards. Around here auto parts places sell it by the foot. I would recommend you use the correct stuff.

 

[ippielb]

Went under the front in the closed bow, the compression fitting for the copper pipe for the fuel line wasn't tight. It was really loose. I tightened it up as best I could, and then started to squeeze the primer, the more air I got out of the line the more solid the primer bulb started to feel. Excited to try it out again.

 

[ippielb]

With the boat in neutral, if I slowly engage it into forward gear and start idling forward trolling. If I go full throttle all the way forward. The boat dies.

What could cause that?

 

[ippielb]

https://youtu.be/0q4pahru4eY

67km/h on the gps app on my phone. Sustained.

 

[ippielb]

What is the largest prop I can safely run on my boat? 13-1/4" is what is on it I believe, 19 pitch. Seen a few 14-1/2" stainless that I would really like.

 

[thomas15]

Do you have an accurate tachometer? What are your RPMs at WOT?