Just hooked up my new outboard and it won't fire up
I recently bought a 2003 Mercury 50hp 2 stroke outboard and just finished hooking it up last night. I bought a new fuel line plug connector and put 5 fresh gallons in the tank. I cannot get the motor to fire up. It is turning over but not firing. There's no gas getting into the cylinders. Here is a list of what I have done/check:
1.) There is spark on all 3 cylinders
2.) The fuel bulb gets hard and I can hear the fuel moving through the fuel pump
3.) I tried squeezing all fuel lines going up to the carb. I am fairly certain that I can feel pressure in them going all the way to the carb.
4.) I tested 2 batteries (The boat battery was reading 12-12.5 volts and sounded strong) (The trolling battery read a solid 12.5 volts and sounded strong as well) I went home and put a charger to the rolling marine battery and it was at 70%.
5.) Motor was definitely in neutral when starting. I checked prop also on this. Killswitch is working fine.
6.) I cleaned spark plugs and they stay clean, so no fuel getting into cylinders
NOW, here is what I know about the motor:
1.) I bought it last weekend and it fired up real nice several times in a row
2.) It is very clean and appears well maintained
3.) Compression was 120 on all 3 cylinders
4.) The man I bought it from used a forklift to lower it into my vehicle. I drove it 2 hrs without any problems and had a buddy help me lift it out of the vehicle. It was heavy but we did not once drop or set it down too hard. We lifted it several times going a few feet each time before lifting on the transom.
5.) My old motor was a 95 Force 2 stroke. The plugs are the same for both motors and it seems they are a perfect connection
6.) Gas was fresh. I pumped an ounce or so in a cup and quality looks good.
7.) The man I bought it from drained all gas and fluids before loading it
Here are my thoughts:
1.) Maybe the battery needs a 100% charge. It sounded real strong and had spark when I cranked it so it makes me think that probably isn't it. I'll try anyway.
2.) Maybe from lifting it out of the car onto transom, the float pin got stuck??? Now, there are 3 carbs?.so what are the chances all 3 got stuck or does just the top one need to be stuck??
3.) It took me a lot of switching and adjusting to get the throttle cables right. Could I have messed something up with the throttle that is not opening the carbs?? I don't recall messing anything up. I just kept taking the cables on and off and moving throttle back and forth a lot.
4.) Could there be an air leak in the fuel lines? I actually saw gas come nicely out of the line before I attached the new Attwood connector which plugs in good. Also, even with an air leak, wouldn't there still be fuel getting into the carbs if I kept pumping the bulb?
5.) I am using the permanent fuel tank for the boat. Used to have a portable one. I cleaned this one real good and inspected for leaks (for gas?not air) and I saw gas smoothly pump out. Could there be an air leak in either the gas tank line or on the pump bulb line? Because the bulb gets hard I would think it could start for a little bit. The bulb does soften after a few minutes though when just sitting.
6.) Water in tank? I tried squeezing bulb for a minute to see if anything was in there. The gas that came out when I lured it didn't appear to have water in it. Also, tank was sealed pretty well and fuel gauge at zero initially.
7.) Water in carbs? Could the seller have had water still in motor that drained into carbs when transporting??
8.) Connection from Force to Mercury not 100% correct??? It turns over nicely and has spark...
Here are things I don't think could be the case but who knows...
1.) Bad fuel pump. Why? Because just a few days ago the motor fired up real good again and again. The fuel pump looks very clean. It wouldn't just fail and from lifting the motor out of car, I can't see it getting messed up.
2.) Gummed carbs: I don't think so because the man said they were cleaned not long ago. Also, it ran great a few days ago. It would be too odd for that to be the case now.
3.) Air Box: How could that be damaged all a sudden? That seems doubtful
Please, if anyone has an idea what this could be or how I can narrow the problem down please let me know. I will call the seller in a couple days if no luck. I have a 90 day warranty but don't want to drive 2 hrs if I can fix this easily.
I am thinking maybe it is something really simple due to the fact I just hooked this motor up and switched from Force.
Thanks in advance!
I recently bought a 2003 Mercury 50hp 2 stroke outboard and just finished hooking it up last night. I bought a new fuel line plug connector and put 5 fresh gallons in the tank. I cannot get the motor to fire up. It is turning over but not firing. There's no gas getting into the cylinders. Here is a list of what I have done/check:
1.) There is spark on all 3 cylinders
2.) The fuel bulb gets hard and I can hear the fuel moving through the fuel pump
3.) I tried squeezing all fuel lines going up to the carb. I am fairly certain that I can feel pressure in them going all the way to the carb.
4.) I tested 2 batteries (The boat battery was reading 12-12.5 volts and sounded strong) (The trolling battery read a solid 12.5 volts and sounded strong as well) I went home and put a charger to the rolling marine battery and it was at 70%.
5.) Motor was definitely in neutral when starting. I checked prop also on this. Killswitch is working fine.
6.) I cleaned spark plugs and they stay clean, so no fuel getting into cylinders
NOW, here is what I know about the motor:
1.) I bought it last weekend and it fired up real nice several times in a row
2.) It is very clean and appears well maintained
3.) Compression was 120 on all 3 cylinders
4.) The man I bought it from used a forklift to lower it into my vehicle. I drove it 2 hrs without any problems and had a buddy help me lift it out of the vehicle. It was heavy but we did not once drop or set it down too hard. We lifted it several times going a few feet each time before lifting on the transom.
5.) My old motor was a 95 Force 2 stroke. The plugs are the same for both motors and it seems they are a perfect connection
6.) Gas was fresh. I pumped an ounce or so in a cup and quality looks good.
7.) The man I bought it from drained all gas and fluids before loading it
Here are my thoughts:
1.) Maybe the battery needs a 100% charge. It sounded real strong and had spark when I cranked it so it makes me think that probably isn't it. I'll try anyway.
2.) Maybe from lifting it out of the car onto transom, the float pin got stuck??? Now, there are 3 carbs?.so what are the chances all 3 got stuck or does just the top one need to be stuck??
3.) It took me a lot of switching and adjusting to get the throttle cables right. Could I have messed something up with the throttle that is not opening the carbs?? I don't recall messing anything up. I just kept taking the cables on and off and moving throttle back and forth a lot.
4.) Could there be an air leak in the fuel lines? I actually saw gas come nicely out of the line before I attached the new Attwood connector which plugs in good. Also, even with an air leak, wouldn't there still be fuel getting into the carbs if I kept pumping the bulb?
5.) I am using the permanent fuel tank for the boat. Used to have a portable one. I cleaned this one real good and inspected for leaks (for gas?not air) and I saw gas smoothly pump out. Could there be an air leak in either the gas tank line or on the pump bulb line? Because the bulb gets hard I would think it could start for a little bit. The bulb does soften after a few minutes though when just sitting.
6.) Water in tank? I tried squeezing bulb for a minute to see if anything was in there. The gas that came out when I lured it didn't appear to have water in it. Also, tank was sealed pretty well and fuel gauge at zero initially.
7.) Water in carbs? Could the seller have had water still in motor that drained into carbs when transporting??
8.) Connection from Force to Mercury not 100% correct??? It turns over nicely and has spark...
Here are things I don't think could be the case but who knows...
1.) Bad fuel pump. Why? Because just a few days ago the motor fired up real good again and again. The fuel pump looks very clean. It wouldn't just fail and from lifting the motor out of car, I can't see it getting messed up.
2.) Gummed carbs: I don't think so because the man said they were cleaned not long ago. Also, it ran great a few days ago. It would be too odd for that to be the case now.
3.) Air Box: How could that be damaged all a sudden? That seems doubtful
Please, if anyone has an idea what this could be or how I can narrow the problem down please let me know. I will call the seller in a couple days if no luck. I have a 90 day warranty but don't want to drive 2 hrs if I can fix this easily.
I am thinking maybe it is something really simple due to the fact I just hooked this motor up and switched from Force.
Thanks in advance!