Hi everone. I'm a newbie to boating and just bought my first boat: a used '69 Seaking with an 1983 Mercury O/B. I have no experience with boats/motors and upon taking the boat out on the water the following occurs:<br /><br />-Motor takes many pulls to start. I have no clue how to use the choke. I finally take the cover off the hood and it starts after a full pulls.<br />-Low speed is horrible as there are intermittent periods where if I don't kick up the throttle, engine seems to stall and has stalled on some occasions.<br />-On full throttle, it operates at less than max speed. After a while I get this small speed bursts/kicks and then it opens up to maximum speed.<br />-Engine crackles as if there spark plugs are firing. Sounds like if you put sand inside a laundromat dryer.<br /><br />I have absolutely no idea what's going on and am about to put in into the shop for a tune up but would like to see if anyone out there can provide some insight.<br /><br />This is _exactly_ what I do when I go out on the water. I fuel up at the local gas station with regular unleaded. Add 50:1 oil mixture for 2 cycle outboards in the amount specified. On the water, I twist open up the vent on the gas cap, prime the bulb until the bulb gets hard. I pull the engine cord a couple of times. It smokes as if it's about to start but doesn't start. That happens a couple of times. I pull off the hood, try different permutations of on/off choke and rip the cord a couple of times and the engine starts. I put the throttle on full and it operates as if we're going 10-15 mph. There are small kicks in speed and about 10 minutes later, opens up to maximum speed of ~30-40 mph. I hope these details help and any help would be appreciated.
