Reed petals

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

I am replacing the reed petals on 2008 50hp Mercury 2 stroke.
What is the direction of the 3rd hole on the petal. I'm assuming it goes on the right side over the small open channel, but does on the top or the bottom? Thanks

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

Anybody ever change these reed petals?

 

[racerone]

They are very durable and rarely need changing.----What is your motor doing / not doing ?----Why are you working on these reeds ?----Any pictures of what you are describing ?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Never had a 2-stroke that ever needed reeds replaced.

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

No pictures at the moment. Not sure why I need to explain why I'm changing them but here it goes
I'm not a professional but I'm willing to work on anything. The motor "sneezes" at low idle. After researching, I found that the reeds could be the problem. I didn't want to tear it apart and not have the parts on hand so I went ahead and ordered them. So since I had them, might as well put the new ones in. Although I did find that the check valves on the intake face are bad and that could be part of the problem. They should be coming any day.
Back to the reeds. There are 3 holes. 2 of which are for 2 pins that hold it in place. The third sits over a small channel that connects a shallow chamber to a deeper chamber. This hole is offset from the other 2 holes and I don't know if it should go towards the top or towards the bottom. Or if it makes any difference.

 

[jimmbo]

Sneezing at Idle is usually just a Lean Carb. What other symptoms was the engine displaying?
Any pics of the old Reeds, preferably still mounted?
In over 45 years, I have never seen a Reed that needed replacement, except for those that were damaged by someone.

 

[racerone]

Have seen some " chipped / broken " on the outer edges of the Mercury 110 model 9.8 HP.----Likely due to over revving.

 

[jimmbo]

It is amazing how durable those thin sheets of Metal are. At 5500rpm, they are opening and closing 90+ times each second. So if an engine gets to 1000 hours, the reeds may have done over 300,000,000 cycles

 

[racerone]

Have never seen a stainless one on a Johnson 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 cylinder that was broken.----Stuck open by a screw , sound blanket and mouse nest on occasion.

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

I was unsure what was causing my issues. I just came across something that mentioned reeds could cause the same symptoms. So I thought I would check them. Before tearing into it I just went ahead and bought new ones so I would have them on hand. The biggest mistake I made was not paying attention to the placement of the old ones. It's not a big project so why not?
Don't mean to be rude here but I guess I don't understand why so many people have to nit pick and judge everything people do.
I just had a simple question of which way they are placed.

 

[racerone]

Somebody will come along to assist you soon I think.------I have looked at lots of reed valves.-----But have never changed any on a 2008 Mercury.----Sorry.

 

[jimmbo]

Not familiar with the 2008 50hp, but does the reed plate look like this?

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

Here is mine

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

I'll get another picture for you to better understand.

 

[merc850]

Here is mine

Interesting that there are no reed stops in the picture.

 

[racerone]

Mercury parts books do not show reed stops on this style of induction set-up.

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

The odd hole goes over that channel I'm pointing at. Either on the top or bottom. Maybe it doesn't make a difference and that's why it doesn't really show in the manual.

 

[jimmbo]

Being that that hole is covered by the Retainer, I don't think it matters. FWIW, if the 1st pic were the Reeds that were in the engine, they looked from this angle, fine.
Don't forget to install new Locking Tab Washers, and use Locktite on the bolt as instructed in the Service Manual

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

Yes, like I said before, I had gone ahead and bought new ones just in case and since I had them, might as well put them in. Thanks

 

[BOWTECH.JUSTICE]

Being that that hole is covered by the Retainer, I don't think it matters. FWIW, if the 1st pic were the Reeds that were in the engine, they looked from this angle, fine.
Don't forget to install new Locking Tab Washers, and use Locktite on the bolt as instructed in the Service Manual

I didn't know why up or down would make a difference but I never gave it a thought about it being under that retainer. Good observation. I'm gonna go with that. Yes, the old reeds were fine, but since I was in there and had the parts. Never hurts to have new parts. Thank you sir.