Re: Mercruiser engine hot does not start and floods
What Bondo meant by "more than a little cleaning" and "a complete teardown, +rebuild" is EXACTLY that. You haven't indicated that you put any fuel stabilizer in the gas before you last used the boat, so it's assumed that you did not. Your carburetor, after sitting with old gas in it for two years, needs to be taken apart, thoroughly cleaned and cleared of the varnish that has accrued in it (gasoline will begin to degrade and deposit as a type of varnish on the metal parts within just weeks after your motor's last use); the idling and flooding problems you've described are classic symptoms of a fouled carburetor; the no-idle could be clogged jets and the flooding could be a stuck choke or a clogged fuel vent hose. If you took the carb out and cleaned every possible part, you were halfway to a rebuild. If you did not replace all of the gaskets, the accelerator pump, the carb fuel filter and some other small parts that come in a CARBURETOR REBUILD KIT (runs about $50 on average), you wasted your time. The gaskets, especially, cannot be reused, as it is impossible to avoid damaging them in the process of removing and disassembling the carb. The carburetors in these marine motors are remarkably accurate but also remarkably sensitive. Regular maintenance, including regular fuel conditioning and treatment, is very important to keeping your carb in top condition. A new carb will run you $400-500. A good quality remanufactured carb can be had for $200-300. It sounds like you have access to good skilled labor to do your own carb work - I recommend that you order a carb rebuild kit, take your carb apart again, soak the metal parts in solvent to remove the varnish, replace the appropriate parts from the kit and put it all back together and back on the motor. You'll be happier with the results.<br /><br />Re: the starter - was it not among the "every possible thing" that the mechanics replaced? It should have been the first of all of the electric accessories on the motor to be replaced after a submersion event such as you described.
