New to Boating, and got stuck

[rescue99]

Hello everyone.<br /><br />I am very new to the boating world. Grandpa passed his NorrisCraft Mercury 90HP boat on to me a few weeks ago. <br />Sunday the better half and I went out for a afternoon of boating. after 3 or 4 hours of boating, we started heading back to the dock. I pushed the lever to 4000 rpms and traveled about 100yds when the boat stalled and became hard to start again. after severval minutes it kicked over. After another hour of slow idle 1500rpms, I was maybe 100yds from the dock and decided to try 4000rpms again I was able to travel about 30 yds when the engine stalled and refused to start after that(ended up paddling in). Any ideas on what would cause this? I have taken it to the local boat shop for basic maintance. But I would love to fix my own motor in time of need.<br /><br />James

 

[rogerwa]

Re: New to Boating, and got stuck

I would look at fuel issues first.. Was your tank low on fuel? When it was hard to start did you pump the bulb hard again?<br /><br />Do you have a water/fuel separator/filter. This could be full of water and not letting enough fuel in. <br /><br />Just some initial thoughts..

 

[twwmm]

Re: New to Boating, and got stuck

You mentioned very new to boating, are you aware of two stroke fuel? when you say hard to start was it hard to crank or just wouldnt fire ?

 

[Spidybot]

Re: New to Boating, and got stuck

Agree on the fuel issue. Sounds as if the motor runs out of gas when the demand is high. Check if tank ventilation is working. If insufficient, the tank will build up a vacuum preventing fuel from reaching the motor. Remove the cap and see if it solves the problem as this will provide unrestricted ventilation.

 

[Deerdog]

Re: New to Boating, and got stuck

I agree also. Just how long was the boat sitting before it was passed to you. It definitley sounds like something is stopped up.....or not vented. Get a repair book and go through the fuel system. <br /><br />What is two stroke fuel anyway? Are you referring to the 50 to 1 mix requried for most outboards (2 stroke) outboards without oil injection?