1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

[Rusty - da - Realtor]

Hello,

I just purchased a 1997 Sea Rayder with a 175 hp Mercury 2 stroke. The boat has been stored for about one year. It has a full tank of gas and I was told it was stored with fuel stabilizer. It won't run unless I squirt a fuel and oil mixture directly into the carbs. I pulled the fuel line off at the carb and have good pressure coming out of the line. Doe it sound as though the carbs are gummed up?

Many Thanks,
Russell

 

[Don S]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

Will it keep running after you squirt gas in it to get it started, or does it die out?

 

[Rusty - da - Realtor]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

Thanks for the reply. It just dies out.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

I pulled the fuel line off at the carb and have good pressure coming out of the line.

Was it pumping when you crank the engine over?

Since you just got the boat, do you know there is a "push to choke" feature on the ignition key? It actually is an enricher valve, but it's still called push to choke.
While cranking, push the key in, after it starts you may still need to give it a couple of pushes to keep it running till it warms up a bit.

 

[Rusty - da - Realtor]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

Thank you. Yes, the fuel was pumping out of the fuel line as I cranked the engine. I was not aware of the push to choke feature. I will try the push to choke. This is the first boat I've ever owned.

Russell

 

[Rusty - da - Realtor]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

Push to choke did nothing. In fact I couldn't get the key to push in at all. Any ideas?

Thanks
Russell

 

[Don S]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

In fact I couldn't get the key to push in at all. Any ideas?

Hard to say what you have. Could be a bad switch, or the boat manufacture added a seperate switch somewhere, who knows.
Since you are new to this boat, and never had a boat before. You might want to spend a few bucks, take it to a Mercury dealer and have them show you HOW to do some normal things like starting, shifting, choaking/priming, kill switch, throttle only button so you can give it some throttle etc. If you are trying to start it like a car that has an EFI engine, you are in big trouble and it won't happen.

 

[Rusty - da - Realtor]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

I suppose you are right. I would hate to do damage to the beast. I spoke to a man (he wasn't very friendly) at a marina/dealer who quoted me $85 per hour to look at the boat. Seems rather steep. Finding a good mechanic is like finding a good doctor - a needle in a hay stack. The fees they charge are similar as well. Please don't misunderstand, a top notch mechanic as well as a top notch doctor are worth their weight in gold. A rare breed in any case.

Thanks For The Advice
Russell

 

[flabum]

Re: 1997 175 HP Mercury Not Starting

Don.....He has a Sea Rayder...... a Jet Boat....... no primer bulb and an auto-enrichener....no push to choke. Seen to many of these.

Rusty..... get a friend to crank the engine while you manually choke the carbs (put a rg over the throat) one at a time. If she fires, the auto enrichener is clogged, if she doesn't fire, carbs are gummed.



BTW, we charge $125/hr down here.