Enrichner valve

[spider1255]

Mercury 2000 125HP - won't start unless I manually plunge the enrichner/solenoid valve.
I pump the gas bulb and see gas going into the enrichner valve but nothing coming out. I press the plunger and gas comes out. I've pressed the key in (choke) and still did not see any gas come out of the enrichner/solenoid. Pressed and turned key to start and still no gas coming out. Pressed gas bulb during these test as well. I do not hear any clicking from the enrichner/solenoid. Do I have a bad enrichner/solenoid or an electrical problem
Once I plunge the enrichner it does indeed start.

 

[Chris1956]

Put a voltmeter on the power wire to the enrichener, and see if you have +12VDC when the choke is pushed. If not => wiring issue.

if so => enrichener solenoid is bad.

You could also check the enrichener solenoid with an ohmmeter. I would expect a few ohms of resistance, if the solenoid is good.

 

[spider1255]

Put a voltmeter on the power wire to the enrichener, and see if you have +12VDC when the choke is pushed. If not => wiring issue.

if so => enrichener solenoid is bad.

You could also check the enrichener solenoid with an ohmmeter. I would expect a few ohms of resistance, if the solenoid is good.

I only saw about 5V where the two wires come together when pushing in the switch/choke - does it really need 12Vs? I did not take it apart so did I measure right?

 

[Chris1956]

It could be a short in the enrichener coil, pulling down the voltage. I do not know if that circuit has a fuse.

Pull the wire off the enrichener and test the voltage again. Also, perform a resistance test on the enrichener body to ground. Resistance should be zero.

I have never had an enrichener coil fail. It is most likely a low voltage to the coil issue.

 

[Chris1956]

Of course, you could test it the old-fashioned way. Use a piece of wire to jumper from the positive battery cable on the starter solenoid to the enrichener connection. That will ensure the enrichener is getting +12VDC. If she doesn't work when you do that, either the enrichen is bad or the ground to it is bad.

 

[Texasmark]

I was looking at mine yesterday on a 2002 115. Resistance was 5 ohms and the battery charger measured a couple of amps or so....way down on the ammeter so reading wasn't all that accurate but it told me that the coil was working.

Also I was figuring out the button on top of the unit. After playing with it a bit if the power to the unit was removed, pressing the button required a certain amount of pressure....applying the battery charger, energizing the coil made the button much easier to push which told me that the solenoid was working and opening the valve.