mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

[cheryll]

could somebody please tell me what they think the problem might be?????
I have a mercury 25 hp 4 stroke outboard. Only had it out 3 times this year and it was running fine. I have the oil changed every year when I have it winterized along with spark plug replacement.
The last time I had it out, I started it up, and I heard some sort of alarm. I shut it off, started it back up, same thing, about 15 seconds after starting it, some sort of an alarm went off. Checked, had plenty of water discharge. Shut it off, started it again, no alarm. took it out, on the water, went to full throttle, and it bogged down. Could not get it to power up to full throttle. N oticed a sort of knocking noise. Took hood off, checked oil, could barely read it on the stick. Added oil the next day, only took about half a quart. Still, would not power up to full throttle. Will start right up, and idle all day long. Boggs down at full throttle, with a knocking type noise. Also, I notice what seemed to be some sort of a black grease all over the shaft of the motor right under the exhaust. Took it in for repair, explained everything to them....they cleaned carb, charged me $70 to do so, told me it was good to go...... took it out, and still bogs down at full throttle, and still has a knocking type sound to it.
Can you PLEASE help????? I'm begging anybody for some advise!!!
If you can help in any way, I certainly would appreciate it.
The motor is a 2000, I think.
Thanks for your help

 

[miker-gr]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

Once they charge you 70$ and nothing happens you sould go back again and ask to repair it again!

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

I took it back today, and they are going to take it out on the water today. I was just wanting some ideas from people as to what might be the matter so I don't get taken again. They never mentioned refunding the 70 dollars, they just said they would re-look at it.
Thanks...I am just looking for some advise so I can stick up for myself, and hopefully get this issue resovled.
I appreciate your response!

 

[miker-gr]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please help!!!!!

Did you use fresh gas???

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Yes, I dumped out what I had in the tank, and re-filled it with new.

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

I can understand how bad gas could keep it from running full throttle, but could it cause the knocking sound??? And what about the -(what appeared to be) black grease all over the shaft of the motor under the exhaust????

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Come on people, please don't let me down....I know there are allot of great outboard motor mechanics out there......PLEASE, help me out, if you can!!!

 

[miker-gr]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Maybe a gasket is loose and oil is coming out?

 

[woodchip]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

the bogging down sounds like a carb issue or plugged fuel filter but i don't think that would set off the alarm.it worries me.did the shop look at it again.around here the dealers are too worried about selling new boats to do any service work.hope you fair better

 

[MrGED05]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Cheryll,
If the engine runs fine at idle and bogs down at full throttle, that typically indicates a lack of fuel supply. Since you also get an engine "ping" or "knock" and a warning tone, that reinforces the idea that you've a fuel supply problem (too lean a fuel/air mix at full throttle, lots of air flow in, insufficient fuel). There are a couple of potentially cheap and easy fixes that might work for you.
First, check the fuel filter. Some filters clog up and fail to pass fuel if only exposed to a tiny bit of water. If, when emptying the fuel that you had, you sttirred up some water that had built up in the tank from storage air condensate, you could have allowed that water into your fuel filter and thus impaired its function. Try baking the filter element in a 350 degree oven for five to ten minutes. If your filter element is such that it won't be happy in an oven, just replace it, they are cheap.
Next, be sure that you don't have any obstructions or loose fittings on the fuel supply side. Kinks in hoses, hose clamps loose, cracked hoses, things like that. If you do, that could be the cause of your problem.
Last, you could have a fuel pump problem. You can check this by running the engine at idle until warmed up. Pull the engine cover, remove the fuel outlet line from the fuel pump and have someone repeatedly try to start the engine, you should see fuel being pumped out of the line. If you don't see that then either repair or replace the fuel pump.
Good luck, let me know if any of these helped you.
Gary

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Hey Gary, stopped by the shop where I took my motor, and its not good news. They said the motor is blown up. They said there are two bushings, one of which was totally desinigrated and the other one is worn, but not as bad. The crankshaft is ruined, the pistons are scored and its a mess. What I can't understand is that this motor has very low hours on it, I would be surprised if it had 50 hours on it. Every year at the end of the season, I have the oil and spark plug changed, and have it winterized, proffessionally.
They insist that the motor has to have been run without oil in it to cause that kind of damage. I have never run the engine without oil in it. When this trouble all started, I checked the oil, and it was 1/2 qt low. As soon as I saw it was low on oil, I didn't even start it back up, and I used my trolling motor to get back in. 1/2 qt. low is not enough to have caused all this damage. So my guess is that it had to have been done when I had it serviced at the end of last year. And why was it a half qt low after only having it out 3 times, (about a half hour each time), if they put enough oil back in it after the oil change, in the 1st place. I had only had it out 3 times this year before all this happened, and I probably didn't even have 3 hours on it. I just don't understand the whole thing. There is no way I can prove that the place that winterized it ran it without oil, so I am so screwed. I am litterally sick over it. I really can't even put into words how I feel. I am so sick of getting screwed by people doing work for me who are supposed to be proffessionals, and really don't know what they are doing. I only wish there was a way to prove what happened to this motor.
I am feeling hopeless, and thouroughly disgusted with people who are supposed to know what they are doing, but don't. I realize there are much worse things going on in the world right now, and I'm thankful for allot of things, but that still doesn't help the way I feel about this right now.
I'm guessing this is going to cost me around $2000.00, for something that someone else did to my motor. I am terribly sad about it. I have a fishing trip scheduled for next week, now I have no boat, or should I say, no motor for my boat.....I could go on and on, but why......really JUST STINKS!!!
Thanks for your help, and opinion, I wish it would have only been that, but no such luck.
Thanks again,
Cheryll

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

screwed again!

 

[steelespike]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

Probably should have taken it in when the alarm sounded.I have to wonder if there was a oil pump failure.

 

[Mn Warrior]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

A friend of mine had that happen to his motor after taking it into a DEALER, turned out they put on the wrong oil filter. Check your paperwork and see what they billed you for and look at what is on your motor. They could have done something wrong or could just be bad luck. Good luck....

 

[cheryll]

Re: mercury 4 stroke--can somebody please, please, help!!!!!

I did take it in after the alarm sounded. I took it to the shop that has my motor now, and we started it up, no alarm, pumping water, he said to go ahead and run it, said that I couldn't hurt anything.