1988 Mercury 45hp 4cyl "Classic Fifty" Carb Question

[Sammy K]

Hi, The top carb floods out and I want to pull it off and have a look to see what's going on. I removed the front cover from the lower cowl and it doesn't look too bad to get at the top carb's mounting nuts but I need advise on how to separate the upper carb's throttle shaft from the lower carb. I found exploded views online of the carb's internals but nothing shows the actual connecting piece that runs between them. Looks like I could unscrew it from the top of lower carb but there appears to be a threaded connection part way down the connecting shaft just below the top carb. That's what got me baffled and what I don't want to break it by doing something incorrect. Thanks..

 

[racerone]

Simplest is to remove both carburetors and it slides apart.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

As Racer said, pull both carbs. The connecting shaft is a slide fit. The threaded thing you see is double-wound spring, not a threaded shaft.

Might as well rebuild both carbs while you're in there.

 

[Sammy K]

Yes, now I understand. Before I posted I did see the throttle return spring on the carb's schematic but I assumed wrong that it was inside the top carb. But a threaded connection just didn't make sense. Thank you all for the help!!