somethings wrong with my MerControl

[rodawg]

I took my boat out for the first time since I bought it the other day. I used the recommended start procedure:
Gear in Neutral
Neutral Lever full fwd
Neutral lever back down before going into gear

Ater starting and letting it warm up I put the neutral lever back down before putting the motor in gear. Everytime I did that the motor died.

After attempting numerous starts I left the neutral lever in the fwd position and gear lever in neutral. With the neutral lever in the fwd position I shifted the gear into fwd and the for some reason the only way that I can get power to the prop to produce enough thrust was through the neutral lever and not the lever on the left (I assume the actual throttle). The lever that controls the fwd and reverse gear did nothing except control the gears.

Also I noticed that with the neutral lever in the full fwd position and the throttle (gear lever) in the fwd position, my 15ft tri hull was only able to go 8 mph on the gps. I can hear the RPM's in rev up really high when I advance the neutral lever to the full fwd position while the motor is in neutral.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I have no experience in the matter.

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: somethings wrong with my MerControl

I left the neutral lever in the fwd position and gear lever in neutral. With the neutral lever in the fwd position I shifted the gear into fwd

Don't do that anymore unless you want to replace the Mercontrol unit. The fast idle lever is intended ONLY to be used when in neutral. The mechanism is not designed to allow both levers to operate at the same time. Something is going to break or bend or ??? Somewhat of a poor design on Merc's part.

 

[rodawg]

Re: somethings wrong with my MerControl

Thanks for the heads up. Im going to take the boat in to have a mechanic look at it.

 

["G"]

Re: somethings wrong with my MerControl

Often the trouble is in the hook up at the engine. With all the cables off, try to shift etc. If that works then yup... there is a problem. Next is what's the Mercontrol look like... box type or unseen behind the blkd variety???

Box type controls have a sheave that wears out as do the bushings etc. The other variety is more simple but stuff still gets worn out. That you mention a throttle lever tells me you have a control box... Must be an old one and it's really old if it's white. Get a new box or buy a bunch of new parts and make it new.

Good luck!

 

["G"]

Re: somethings wrong with my MerControl

Often the trouble is in the hook up at the engine. With all the cables off, try to shift etc. If that works then yup... there is a problem. Next is what's the Mercontrol look like... box type or unseen behind the blkd variety???

Box type controls have a sheave that wears out as do the bushings etc. The other variety is more simple but stuff still gets worn out. That you mention a throttle lever tells me you have a control box... Must be an old one and it's really old if it's white. Get a new box that doesn't have the throttle lever or buy a bunch of new parts and make the old one new. I'd go with a new if I were you, not that expensive and they are better.

Good luck!

 

[jake505]

Re: somethings wrong with my MerControl

I would dump that old mercontrol if I were you I went through 2 of them very bad design that doesn't hold up under any amount of stress. I just put one of these on my merc 800 and its really nice because it uses the stock mercury cables and mounts to the side just like the mercontrol. shifts nice and throttles up nice I wish I would have put it on a long time ago. very easy to install to all you need is a flat head screwdriver and a drill

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Uflex-Single-Function-Black-Dual-Lever-Control-P216-B49_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d24168686QQitemZ400037414534QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear