120 Sport Jet Mercury has spark, fuel, compression but wont start ***FIX****

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Nismo400r

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The reason i am posting this, is because i found 20 different forums with the same issue and the last post was always the same "taking it to the shop tomorrow"..

So lets start with the boat...

I own a 95 Regal Xp with a Mercury 120 Sport Jet.

And the problem....

I ran this boat two weeks before i bought it off a friend and it ran great, then after i purchased the boat i trailered it an hour to my house and it would not start.

So the first thing i checked was each spark plug had great spark (bright blue spark) so since i had the spark plugs pulled, i checked compression and it was solid on all 4 cylinders.

Next up was the timing, and the spark plugs were igniting at top dead center (piston at it's upmost position).

Last i checked the fuel and i could smell the fuel coming out but it was still not starting...

So i pulled the boat off the lake, removed the plugs again and turned the engine for a couple seconds to blow out all the fluid in the engine and ran it out of the bilge.

When we removed the bowls we noticed some junk in the bowls so we flushed the fuel lines and more junk came out each time until finally the bowls were clean and so was the fuel filter, however the vacuum tube for the fuel hooked up to the air box was plugged so we cleaned that out as well and yet still no start.....

When i say "no start" i mean this engine was turning over strong and not giving us a single spudder.....

The last time we removed the bowls we took a mirror and noticed the top carb needle was closed tight, no mater what we did with the float and the bottom was stuck open which is why the engine was flooding (each time we removed the spark plugs, you could see fuel on the lower two plugs).

After we sprayed some starter fluid in the cylinders and worked the floats over and over by hand, the needles freed up and we were getting good mixture but STILL NOT STARTING

Finally we used the oldest trick in the book, pulled out the plugs, ran a wire brush on them all, checked the gap (.40) and super heated the plugs with a propane torch while they were sitting in the socket (WARNING!!! DONT BE A MORON AND DO THIS IN THE BOAT), with the plugs hot, we quickly installed them. What this does is, when you turn over the engine and gas hits hot plugs, it turns the gas into a misty vapor which is way easier to ignite then liquid fuel and the engine turned over instantly, and as i have no way of running the engine in my driveway without burning up the water pump or a way to cool the engine we turned it off instantly.

After taking it to the boat launch it started no problem over and over again.


Again, i hope this has helped someone as i exhausted the internet trying to find this info.
 
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achris

More fish than mountain goat
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... What this does is, when you turn over the engine and gas hits hot plugs, it turns the gas into a misty vapor which is way easier to ignite then liquid fuel and the engine turned over instantly, a....

Sounds like a glow plug in a diesel engine.. :lol:

Nice fix, and nice write up, thanks...
BTW, I moved the thread (have to get used to calling them 'Topics') from the Mercruiser forum to here, the Merc outboard forum...
 

DaveG55

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Nice, never seen that trick. But what does it tell you? That the plugs are bad? Simply fouled? The spark is not as hot as it should be, even though it looks good? Wouldn't a longer term fix be to replace the plugs. I maen, they caused problems once, won't they do it again - especially after being super heated?

On a similar note, worked on a buddys Toyota van, wouldn't start, good fuel, good spark on tester, no codes. New plugs, correctly gapped, and it ran perfectly.

Thanks for the write up and solution!

Also curious why this thread wss moved to outboard, I thought we were talking about an inboard engine, just powering a jet pump instead of a conventional outdrive.
 

Nismo400r

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Nice, never seen that trick. But what does it tell you? That the plugs are bad? Simply fouled? The spark is not as hot as it should be, even though it looks good? Wouldn't a longer term fix be to replace the plugs. I maen, they caused problems once, won't they do it again - especially after being super heated?
On a similar note, worked on a buddys Toyota van, wouldn't start, good fuel, good spark on tester, no codes. New plugs, correctly gapped, and it ran perfectly.
Thanks for the write up and solution!
Also curious why this thread wss moved to outboard, I thought we were talking about an inboard engine, just powering a jet pump instead of a conventional outdrive.
Well from constant failed attempts at starting it starts to load the cylinders, even after "dumping them" you will never get all the fuel and oil out. the boat runs like a champ now, that was not a fix just to get it running once, that's a trick to get the boat to fire under poor air/fuel ratio due to the amount of settled fuel. my lower 2 cylinders were being loaded with over a cup of gas after trying to turn it over.
This is just a great way, when you are sure you know everything is working good to get it started so your not doing re-work over and over on a "wet" engine.
 

DaveG55

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Nismo, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

And, yes, there are out boards that power a jet pump instead of a prop.
But, I don't think that's what you have, right?
 

wired247

Lieutenant Commander
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Oct 8, 2011
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You do realize that you cant get the plugs installed and the engine fired up before the electrode cools down to ambient temps. Heating the plugs up with a propane torch isnt going to do anything besides clean crap off the plugs and probably damage them in the process. Cleaning them with the wire brush was a better idea. Your method of setting timing is probably is what is causing the starting problems.
 

jaydubya509

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May 19, 2016
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do you have any manuals or diagrams for that motor or the carb set up? i am having trouble replumbing the line and the throttle linkage.
 

jbcurt00

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Staff member
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Jay, its been nearly 2yrs, not likely to get a reply.

Start a topic about your motor, its problems, and you'll get the help you need

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