Fuel starved at low idle . . .

[Expidia]

99 25 hp 2 stroke. New OEM carb last week by dealer. said he changed the filter too.

I'm going to replace the fuel line assembly with the OEM Merc one (since the original one is 10 years old anyway).
Runs great but at idle when shifting back and forth it will stall out at times.

I'm guessing it's a linkage adjustment issue but it idles high enough not to be the cause of the stalling.

When we squeeze the bulb it takes many squeezes to get it firm but it never stays firm.

My 2007 4 stroke Merc 40 seems to firm right up with a squeeze or two. I rarely ever have to squeeze it again over many weeks of use.

But the 25 hp seems to lose it's firmness easily.

Do you think this can be a fuel pump issue. I was doubting it because it runs so good otherwise.

If I was losing suction, wouldn't I be able to see gas leaking around the fittings when I squeeze the bulb if the o rings were bad or somewhere on the engine I'm leaking air into the system. How do I test the system for an air leak because that's what I think it is?

Thx

 

[Expidia]

Re: Fuel starved at low idle . . .

Update: even though I received no replies I thought I'd update this thread for others that might have the same issue pop up.

Since the 25 hp 2 stroke merc is 10 years old and we have only owned it for a few months now I had initially had an impeller and an OEM carb installed to head off any issues down the road. I was worried that the starvation issues at idle might be a fuel pump issue.

Yesterday, I finally got a chance to test drive the boat after I put on a new gas hose and squeeze bulb set.

The first one I bought was an Attwood which had the bulb installed in the wrong direction so I ordered a Moeller online for $29.

My daughter was on vacation for a few weeks so yesterday was the first chance I got to put it on her boat and we took it on the river for a test drive.

Result is the motor runs perfect now. Very smooth idle and not a hiccup of the fuel issue I saw before.

My guess is . . . we leave the 6.5 gal plastic tank in the boat all the time and pull up to the gas pump while boat is on the trailer. But, if the previous owners constantly unclipped the gas line from the tank for every fill up the hose end could have been sucking in a little air from 10 years of use.

Or the bulb could have gone bad too! I could never get the bulb firm like it gets on my rig. This is why I figured it was the bulb or an air leak at either end of the hose connection.

As soon as I pumped it a few times the bulb firmed right up!

All is well for now.

Once again I'd like to voice my opinion regarding 0 responses or very few in the Merc 0/B forum. I feel Iboats really misses the boat here . . . This is a forum started by a boating supply store let's face it . . . to sell stuff

Yes this is a free site but it seems to me they are just here to catch the low hanging fruit for those of us who wish to order parts and access. online from them. I see a huge marketing opportunity here but seems they don't have a clue!

I've been in the business world for 30 years and most of it marketing related. If this was my site I would pay professionals that are experienced with most of the O/B brands to pop into threads and help out members with simple repair issue questions.

As an example why not pay a great poster like Tohatsu Guru or offer him a decent discount for his participation in that forum. His answer that I have read save Tohatsu owners a lot of money. There are a few others on other brands who have been great too. But very few in the Merc forum and Merc is the largest selling O/B yet! One would think their was someone out there who could have suggested to me to try a new hose and bulb?

If someone with tech knowledge was being paid to respond to questions in a forum that is owned by a boating supply store I know it would have been answered.

I know moderators are not here for this reason and they do a great job moderating to keep the forums running smooth and also chip in when they know an answer.

But if I owned this forum and wanted to sell parts to us probably 95% of us getting an answer to a problem would definitely order the part from iboats and I for one would not mind paying a little more over the many available online boating discounters.

What's the market for a 100k member forum, well I bought a new rig for 13k and spent another 7k for accessories over the last 2 years. Now we just picked up a 2nd rig and I'm in the market for a 3rd rig. If a site that sells accessories also gave repair advice I for one would shop no where else! My guess is they don't want the liability and figure they pass that off to the members.

To me, this is one of the major reasons why our economy has fallen into such a funk! Anyone else seen a drop in customer service for the things you try and do. When a company goes that little extra step people now days are amazed and loyal too!

But hey, this is just my opinion and what do I know about marketing

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Fuel starved at low idle . . .

[/RANT]

< you forgot to add that. No seriously, I understand, BTW good job finding the easy fix.