1980 140 Merc Cold Staring Tips - I Need Your Help!

[007]

Hi: I recently purchased a 1980 glastron with a 1980 140 Merc in-line 6 and am having trouble getting it start easily when its cold or hasn't been run in a few days. It has had a carb tune up and has new plugs and runs great after it starts. BUT...how do I get it fired up easily? I've tried various combinations of choke on & off with part throttle advance....but nothing seems to work well. Is the 140 simply tough to cold start, or do you know of any proven methods I can try. Thanks for any advice you may have!

 

[12Footer]

Re: 1980 140 Merc Cold Staring Tips - I Need Your Help!

What plug number are you running? Is it the gappless plug(Champion L78V)?<br /> I suspect a weak spark or poor compression.<br />Check for equal (withing 10% of each other)<br />compression,above 110PSI.<br />If compression checks-out, go to the L77J4 plug ,and gap it .035". <br />Look for corrosion on the ignition pins of the "quicksilver" connector at the engine,and behind the control. They have been known to corode,and beieve it or not,drive a feller CRAZY (The little voices in my head are now reminding me of THAT one).

 

[ODDD1]

Re: 1980 140 Merc Cold Staring Tips - I Need Your Help!

007, try this procedure for cold starts on inline 6 mercs with choke plates......<br />1 boat in the water, motor at least level or leaning back is better.<br />2 plug in fuel line and prime up with output end [engine end ] of primer bulb held pointing upwards...prime it until the ball is HARD<br />3 back up front,raise cold start lever/advance throttle slightly<br />4 turn key on, push down choke button AND HOLD DOWN while cranking starter.....crank/hold until engine fires and runs....<br />5 once running these engines will generally lean out and stall, to prevent this listen to the motor, if rpm's start to fall, tap the choke until enough fuel is fed in to keep the motor happy.<br />6 warmup the motor @ between 1000 an 2000 rpm's for 1 to 2 minutes.....then should idle and shift into gear without stalling....<br /> If the motor has an enrichener instead of choke plates the only difference is dont advance the throttle until after the motor is running....

 

[007]

Re: 1980 140 Merc Cold Staring Tips - I Need Your Help!

Thanks for your advice! It has a solenoid-actuated choke which distinctly "clicks" when I press the choke button on my remote control. Does fuel enter the cylinders as long as I keep the choke button pressed, or is it a measured "shot" with each "click"? <br /><br />------------------