hard starting Mercury 9.9 hp

[charleston_sailor]

Great site! I bought a 1989 9.9hp Merc. Cleaned the carb out, bought new hoses, fresh gas and oil, and replaced the plugs. She runs okay, but is very difficult to start. Any suggestions to help an old man out before his arm is thrown out?

 

[corm]

Re: hard starting Mercury 9.9 hp

Hi sailor,<br />Take the hood off and check to see if when you choke the motor the lever pushes down on the tickler valve on the lower right side of carb.(port side of motor) Then observe when this happens that the ss wire rod at the top of the carb advances the stator(spark). If it is enrichen the idle needle 1/8 to 1/4 turn out. i've never seen this motor take more than 2 puls to start when set up correctly.<br /><br />...have fun...corm

 

[Delta Dog]

Re: hard starting Mercury 9.9 hp

i am no boat mechanic but here is the experience I had with a 1994 small Merc. The directions say turn choke knob full clockwise and pump once or twice. Then pull. Well......I pulled until I puked. Come to find out, when you turn the choke knob, you take all the stroke out of the choke (that sounds cool). I started pumping the choke FIRST (to get full stroke and a full shot of gas), then turning the idle up (clockwise). Two pulls every time. Unfortunately it took me months to figure this out.<br /><br />Good luck and take the others advise by looking under the hood and see what is going on under there.