mark_gober
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2009
- Messages
- 76
Hey everyone, I've need some insight into what might be going on with my 1985 XD 18 Merc. This engine was given to me free and with the exception of a new carb kit, hasn't needed much. We took it on the river for our first test drive and it was disappointing to say the least. It started right up and idles fine, but with full throttle only managed to achieve about 7 mph. (checked with GPS) We were in a 14' aluminum v-hull with about 600lbs of people/equipment in it. Being that it was our first trip, we just assumed that that was all the little engine had in it, but we certainly wanted more. About an hour or two later, we finished putting around and I told my brother to open it up and when he did, that boat shot out of the water. She was instantly on plane and we achieved 22 mph. We loved it. Later on, it started running poorly again.
We took it out the other day and was doing it again. One time it would run great, the next time it started, it would run slow. It had the original fuel filter on it and I am not sure when it was last changed, so I bypassed it hoping that might fix the problem. (we had a new tank so I wasn't concerned about debris) It didn't. While my deadbeat brother was fishing, I tried looking into the motor and I noticed that the ground wire on the switchpack was not tight. I removed it, cleaned it up and reseated it tightly. When we started it up, it ran great...until we were 100 yards from the boat ramp and it started again. We were almost out of fuel and running late, so I couldn't further troubleshoot it. Can anyone give me some techniques to troubleshoot the switchpack or the coils or the stator? What voltages should I be seeing? I look forward to hearing back from everyone and getting back on the water....the bass are fixing to spawn.
Mark
We took it out the other day and was doing it again. One time it would run great, the next time it started, it would run slow. It had the original fuel filter on it and I am not sure when it was last changed, so I bypassed it hoping that might fix the problem. (we had a new tank so I wasn't concerned about debris) It didn't. While my deadbeat brother was fishing, I tried looking into the motor and I noticed that the ground wire on the switchpack was not tight. I removed it, cleaned it up and reseated it tightly. When we started it up, it ran great...until we were 100 yards from the boat ramp and it started again. We were almost out of fuel and running late, so I couldn't further troubleshoot it. Can anyone give me some techniques to troubleshoot the switchpack or the coils or the stator? What voltages should I be seeing? I look forward to hearing back from everyone and getting back on the water....the bass are fixing to spawn.
Mark
