new guy here with a question

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dblbrldave

New member
Joined
Oct 11, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone,
Stumbled upon this great site just yesterday. Took some time to browse around to see how it looked before i joined. I will, say that i am impressed with knowledge and helpfulness of those on here, that is why i joined.
That said, my name is dave and i am located in northeast ohio. I have a 85' sylvan backtroller with a 85' merc 9.8hp and an 82' merc 18hp. I bought the 18hp a about 4 years ago because i was tired of pushing water instead of riding on top.
My question here is i have started having an issue with the 18hp. It ran great when i got it the first 2 years. Boat would run mid 20's full throttle. Started very easy, 2 clicks on the choke, couple pumps on the ball, 2-4 pulls of the rope.
Season 2 ended and i thought i should winterize it right. I had some older(not sure how old) fogger. used it according to the directions. When spring came, motor would not start. Gave it a quick spritz of ether and it fired right up. This is my constant problem now. First thing i do before trying to start is pump the ball, then a spritz of ether, full choke, and then it starts. Restarts after it is warm without an issue. I can no longer get into the 20's speed wise unless i empty things out.
I have done all new fuel , rebuilt the carb, tried 5 or 6 different sets of plugs, replaced plug wires. Ohm readings on everything i could find in the mercury manual which checked out ok. Compression is within a couple pounds of each other and right at where the book says it should be. Fuel line from tank holds pressure and has no blockages.
I am not an ace mechanic but have worked on cars, tractors, and small engines with success. i just don't know all the ins ands outs of an outboard.
I don't know what else to do, i have posted to local forums without any results.
I was hoping someone here might have seen this, or a better idea.

Thanks
Dave
 
Can you get it to start with a shot of premix down the carb throat?

Does this motor have a "cold start"?


those crappy black motors... oh, did I say that out loud? :D
 
No expert here but have headed you can make a 2 stroke dependant on starter fulied and then its all down hill from there to the point of rebuild or new motor as the SF has no lubrication in it. This sounds like where your headed to me.
 
SDG - I have tried to shoot fuel right in the carb but it did not start

RR - i have heard that about the ether as well that is why i am trying to figure out what is wrong

Thanks
Dave
 
If it starts with a shot of starting fluid but won't start with a shot of fuel, I would suspect weak spark or low compression. You said you've verified that the compression is good so what about the spark? Is it a strong blue spark or does the spark look more white or orange? Have you checked the spark with a tester to see how much of a gap it can arc across?
 
i don't have a spark tester. I will need to get one and try it out.
I have to go out of town so it will be a couple weeks before i can do anything.

Thanks
Dave
 

Latest posts

Top