Brand new motor, very high idle?

[Kengh]

Hey guys, I just took my brand new 15 hp Mercury out on the lake for the first time today and it was freaking awesome! Only ran into two minor issues with operation of the motor. First of all I noticed that without the choke button pulled out the idle is seemingly very high! So high that when I put the boat into forward from neutral with the choke off it jerks the boat kind of hard. I resolved this by shifting to forward with the choke still on, then taking the choke off and that seems to work, but is this ok for the motor? Also is it ok to have the choke on when I want to go slow, like when I am docking the boat?
Issue number two is that I cannot shift back to neutral from forward without shutting the motor off then shifting to neutral, the handle just resists and won't let it click back to neutral! Maybe this is by design but I didn't read it that way in the owners manual. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[robert graham]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

That's not right at all, better not put the motor in gear again until you get the idle fixed where it's supposed to be, it can tear up your lower end/gears by throwing it in gear at very high idle. If you bought it from a dealer take it back and get the idle adjusted correctly before any real damage is done. Good Luck!

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

Is it ok to put it in gear with the choke on, then take the choke off (for the meantime until I get it looked at)..I bought it from Gander Mountain, the Wal-mart of outboards, so they won't be able to look at it there.

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

So is it OK to run in choke or not? Please help me I know nothing about this type of motor.

 

[jtsailjt]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

So is it OK to run in choke or not? Please help me I know nothing about this type of motor.

Yes, you can pull out choke to get it to slow down enough to shift into or out of neutral and you won't hurt anything.

But adjusting the idle is so simple on most motors that you might as well just do that yourself. Depending on your motor, there might even be an idle adjustment right on the twist grip or front of the motor so you could do it without removing the motors cover. Check your owners manual and look at the front of your motor and twist grip for any mention of idle adjustment before you take it to a mechanic.

But if you're even a little bit mechanically inclined, even if the adjustment is inside the cover, you can probably figure out what needs to be adjusted by removing the cover and with the motor not running, turn the grip to accelerate while watching what moves. The idle adjustment is usually just a stop made by a machine screw with a locking nut on it. Good luck!

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

Thank you for this info.

Is it ok to run it in choke for periods of time like 5 minutes? I ask because there is a no wake area for a few hundred feet before the public boat launch I use, so when I am returning to dock I put the choke on so that boat doesn't go to fast. Because its lowest speed with the choke out is too fast to safely bring it up to the dock.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

can you post a pic of the front of the motor.
most little mercs have an idle speed adjusting screw on the cowl.

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

Running for long periods with the choke on is not a good idea.

I'm surprised that then engine would even do that without loading up and stalling.

The extra gas ingested that way would have some tendency to dilute the oil on the cylinder walls; causing extra wear over time.

Did you check the owners' manual for a solution to the problem?

Chuck

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

The owner's manual has no information on idle adjustment, but its an odd problem because it idles really high in neutral but then when its in forward the idle is pretty modest...anyway I snapped some photos, first one is the front of the motor with the cover on as requested, the second is a picture of the system that moves when I twist the throttle.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

try readjusting the throttle link arm, right now the idle stop arm isnt touching the idle stop screw.
with the shifter in N loosen the phillips screw on that brass block. start the engine makeing sure its in the lake or has adequate cooling water.
adjust the idle stop screw to obtain the correct idle speed then retighten the screw on the brass block.
BAD idea to run with the choke on.

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

I think I understand what you are telling me to do, just to clarify can you look at the drawings I made on the photo and let me know if I have the right idea?

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

Bump. Sorry, just trying to get the confirmed before I head out to the lake today!

 

[Kengh]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

Anyone?

 

[Crazyman1225]

Re: Brand new motor, very high idle?

You are correct with the screw to loosen, but the rod doesn't move sideways. It will slide through the brass block. There are two screws above the brass block with springs on them, the lower one isn't even touching the stop that it sits against. Let the throttle rod slide through the brass block, lock the screw down and then you can fine tune the low idle with the screw just above it by turning it in or out. Just make sure you have the motor in water while running. It isn't hard to do.