Redlioncookie
Recruit
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Messages
- 2
I am relatively new to boating and need some help. I have a 20 foot pontoon with a 1998 Mercury 60 2 stroke motor. I bought the boat through a private sale at the recommendation of the owner of a marina. He told me he had sent the motor out to be rebuilt 2-3 years prior and it had essentially zero hours on it since the rebuild. He said when it came back it even had a warranty but that had since run out. I trust this guy and I believe he is telling me the truth about the boats and motor. This is the second season I have had this boat and other than a few minor issues it has been relatively reliable.
A couple of weeks ago we were using the boat and the wires going to the starter solenoid melted together and bypassed the solenoid. I have a master kill switch for the batteries. As soon as I would turn the kill switch on the motor would try to start. The mechanic at the marina determined that there was a sharp piece of metal that had rubbed the wire caused it to bare the wire and caused the problem. He replaced the wire, cleaned up the sharp metal and told me I was good to go.
Sine then whenever I try and use the boat, it runs well for the first 3-5 minutes at 70-80 percent throttle and then it just shuts off. Just before shutting off the motor will change pitch just slightly (I can tell when it is about to happen). The motor will start right back up but then it doesn't seem to have as much power, it will only go a short distance and then shut off again. It seems to run longer when I use less throttle. I guessing my problem is either fuel related or electrical/sensor.
The alarm is going off but it has always gone off. The mechanic at the marina told me it was because the floats in the oil tank had become weighted and were sinking to the bottom of the tank causing it to think it was low on 2 cycle oil.
I don't think my problem is fuel related because it starts right back up. I don't have to crank it like it had been run out of gas.
I need some input from "the experts". What do you think anybody have a similar experience?
A couple of weeks ago we were using the boat and the wires going to the starter solenoid melted together and bypassed the solenoid. I have a master kill switch for the batteries. As soon as I would turn the kill switch on the motor would try to start. The mechanic at the marina determined that there was a sharp piece of metal that had rubbed the wire caused it to bare the wire and caused the problem. He replaced the wire, cleaned up the sharp metal and told me I was good to go.
Sine then whenever I try and use the boat, it runs well for the first 3-5 minutes at 70-80 percent throttle and then it just shuts off. Just before shutting off the motor will change pitch just slightly (I can tell when it is about to happen). The motor will start right back up but then it doesn't seem to have as much power, it will only go a short distance and then shut off again. It seems to run longer when I use less throttle. I guessing my problem is either fuel related or electrical/sensor.
The alarm is going off but it has always gone off. The mechanic at the marina told me it was because the floats in the oil tank had become weighted and were sinking to the bottom of the tank causing it to think it was low on 2 cycle oil.
I don't think my problem is fuel related because it starts right back up. I don't have to crank it like it had been run out of gas.
I need some input from "the experts". What do you think anybody have a similar experience?
