pekstrom
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2015
- Messages
- 490
Hi everyone,
I have a 1980 Mercury 25HP outboard with electric start and remote controls. I have posted about this outboard before, but last year I managed to get it to run good thanks to some good advice here. Well, last fall I decided to follow the manual's procedure for running it dry for the winter.
Since the weather has finally cooperated this weekend I decided to get it running so we could go to the lake for a bit. It started ok, but only ran for a few seconds and then acted as if it didn't get any gas. If I primed it, it would start again but die a few moments later. I noticed that the cup for the fuel filter was about half full before it ran, and after it had run, the cup was full. If I pumped the prime bulb the level in the cup went down. One thing I didn't try was to pump the bulb while the engine was running. Based on how it was behaving though I would think it would have kept running as long as I kept pumping. Since there isn't much in between the connection for the fuel line and the carburetor, I'm leaning towards something with the fuel pump. It doesn't seem like it pulls gas from the tank like it should. Would y'all agree with that as a place to start? The pump is basically a thin rubber membrane in the carburetor so I'm wondering if I have a tear in it or something.
How do y'all winterize smaller engines like this one? Would it be ok to leave ethanol-free gas with stabilizer in it over the winter?
I have a 1980 Mercury 25HP outboard with electric start and remote controls. I have posted about this outboard before, but last year I managed to get it to run good thanks to some good advice here. Well, last fall I decided to follow the manual's procedure for running it dry for the winter.
Since the weather has finally cooperated this weekend I decided to get it running so we could go to the lake for a bit. It started ok, but only ran for a few seconds and then acted as if it didn't get any gas. If I primed it, it would start again but die a few moments later. I noticed that the cup for the fuel filter was about half full before it ran, and after it had run, the cup was full. If I pumped the prime bulb the level in the cup went down. One thing I didn't try was to pump the bulb while the engine was running. Based on how it was behaving though I would think it would have kept running as long as I kept pumping. Since there isn't much in between the connection for the fuel line and the carburetor, I'm leaning towards something with the fuel pump. It doesn't seem like it pulls gas from the tank like it should. Would y'all agree with that as a place to start? The pump is basically a thin rubber membrane in the carburetor so I'm wondering if I have a tear in it or something.
How do y'all winterize smaller engines like this one? Would it be ok to leave ethanol-free gas with stabilizer in it over the winter?