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I guess it was my turn for motor troubles

john lamon

john lamon

Well-known member
I went out today and the boat was running great for about 5 mins, I got 67 gps with the 24 trophy plus and was going back to the dock at about 45-50mph to change props when it started to cut out, it will drop rpms and then pick up again, I was gonna keep running it to see if it would clear up but I didn't have any paddles and there was no one else on the lake so I decided to load it up and head home.

Every time out it seems to need something, now the trim is also leaking down, I dropped it off at the dealer on my way home and am debating whether or not I should get him to through the 06' 225 HO E-TEC he has there with 40 hrs on the back, I don't want to be dealing with problems all summer.

I just have to figure out where the money is going to come from. :lol:
 
i feel your pain:poke: i have been down that road a few times!!!! when you run these o/b's as hard as we do you are looking for trouble;) but thats part of the fun-pushing your luck:eyecrazy:
 
It was just winded from running that hard. You know we all put on winter fat and well you know what happens when the fat kid tries to run, he gets a lil winded:lol:
 
ndaniels said:
Those fishin motas don't get winded....:poke:
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Your right on the money there, they don't get winded, I drove my 200 Venom HO johnny for over 900 hrs and she never missed a beat.

I've got around 220 hrs on the 90 e-tec on the pontoon with no problems

I've put 4 hrs on my Merc and it's been back to the shop 3 times now.
I kind of expected this a little because it was only used a few times a year, and now I'm bagging it every weekend :D I'm sure once I get all the bugs out it will be fine.
 
John, I might be all wet but your symptoms sound exactly like what happened to me a couple years ago when I got some bad gas. By the time I got back to the dock my engine wouldn't even stay running to put the boat on the trailer. I took it home and tried to run it on muffs, wouldn't stay running for more than a few seconds. First I changed the plugs, no difference. Thent I rebuilt the carbs, no luck. Rebuilt the fuel pump, no difference. An 'expert' told me it sounded like the flywheel key had sheared, so I pulled the flywheel to check that, it was fine. Finally a gear-head friend of mine asked me if I'd tried running it on fresh gas. It took awhile before all the old crap worked it's way through the fuel system, after it did all was well. After that I got religious about using a spin-on fuel filter/water separator and gas treatment.
 
Thanks GL, I don't know what the problem is, it ran fine the last three times I was out and it has all new fuel in it, maybe it is bad fuel, the old EFI system seems like it is pretty finicky, the dealer thought it was probably the tps (throttle position sensor) out of wack a little, like I said in one of the posts this boat was only used a few times a year by the PO and I have warranty until the end of this year so I'm hoping I get a the bugs worked out using it lots before it's over, from my experience with other stuff, alot of problems can be caused by a lack of use.

If it gives me problems all year I will re-power next year- this is my first Merc and so far I'm not impressed.
 
john lamon said:
Thanks GL, I don't know what the problem is, it ran fine the last three times I was out and it has all new fuel in it, maybe it is bad fuel, the old EFI system seems like it is pretty finicky, the dealer thought it was probably the tps (throttle position sensor) out of wack a little, like I said in one of the posts this boat was only used a few times a year by the PO and I have warranty until the end of this year so I'm hoping I get a the bugs worked out using it lots before it's over, from my experience with other stuff, alot of problems can be caused by a lack of use.

If it gives me problems all year I will re-power next year- this is my first Merc and so far I'm not impressed.
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:eek: WOW,That hit me right in the Mercury!!! (J/K)

Sorry to hear of the issues, I would check the fuel first as well, It is amazing what even the smallest amount of water will do to make these run poorly, especially with the crazy weather you have been having up there, Warm,cold,warm,cold = condensation. So If you can get a fuel sample out of it into a glass jar and let it sit for a short time you could see if there is water in there. It may be as simple as that, I hope.
 
john lamon said:
If it gives me problems all year I will re-power next year- this is my first Merc and so far I'm not impressed.
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Where is CheckThis when we need him....:poke:

I forgot you still had warranty- thats really cool! I'm sure that you'll have it licked in time for spring/summer boating.:bigthumb:
 
john lamon said:
Your right on the money there, they don't get winded, I drove my 200 Venom HO johnny for over 900 hrs and she never missed a beat.

I've got around 220 hrs on the 90 e-tec on the pontoon with no problems

I've put 4 hrs on my Merc and it's been back to the shop 3 times now.I kind of expected this a little because it was only used a few times a year, and now I'm bagging it every weekend :D I'm sure once I get all the bugs out it will be fine.
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Wow, being in the shop 3 times with a brand new motor is disappointing.
 
xsive said:
Wow, being in the shop 3 times with a brand new motor is disappointing.
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It's a new power head but everything else is old, I feel a little better now,I knew I wouldn't be able to relax not knowing what is going on with it so spent the morning at my dealer going over things, the first time at the shop was to adjust the tps, second time was water pump impeller and this time we found that the tps is shot, I think it's been faulty ever since I got it.

The first thing we checked was compression and it is a even 110- 115 on all 6 and I decided to change the plugs because they were still the one's from the break in period and they looked dirty, we went and dropped it in the water ski clubs pond and it was still doing the same thing so we headed back to the shop and pulled out mercs first diagnostic machine(reminds me of a atari, lol) to check what was going on with the EFI.

I changed a faulty trim solenoid last fall and today I changed the other one because I don't want to have any problems down the road.

Hopfully this will be the end of the problems for a while, better this stuff goes now while he's covering it. he had to order the tps so it will be a week or so before it's in.

You know your addicted to your boat when you take the day off work to make sure it's alright :o
 
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motor problems

ive had several mercury engines and had very good luck they have to be used and the water seperator is a good idea as well as running good quality oil dont use the cheap stuff and i use the seafoam down the throat of the intake on mine at start of each year to clean out carbon and keep the rings free . crc also makes a great product part number 06121 i think carbon cleaner.
 
john lamon said:
It's a new power head but everything else is old, I feel a little better now,I knew I wouldn't be able to relax not knowing what is going on with it so spent the morning at my dealer going over things, the first time at the shop was to adjust the tps, second time was water pump impeller and this time we found that the tps is shot, I think it's been faulty ever since I got it.

The first thing we checked was compression and it is a even 110- 115 on all 6 and I decided to change the plugs because they were still the one's from the break in period and they looked dirty, we went and dropped it in the water ski clubs pond and it was still doing the same thing so we headed back to the shop and pulled out mercs first diagnostic machine(reminds me of a atari, lol) to check what was going on with the EFI.

I changed a faulty trim solenoid last fall and today I changed the other one because I don't want to have any problems down the road.

Hopfully this will be the end of the problems for a while, better this stuff goes now while he's covering it. he had to order the tps so it will be a week or so before it's in.

You know your addicted to your boat when you take the day off work to make sure it's alright :o
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Dude go bigger :bigthumb: Thats my plan for next year.
 
speegt said:
ive had several mercury engines and had very good luck they have to be used and the water seperator is a good idea as well as running good quality oil dont use the cheap stuff and i use the seafoam down the throat of the intake on mine at start of each year to clean out carbon and keep the rings free . crc also makes a great product part number 06121 i think carbon cleaner.
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I've had family members that have had good luck with mercs as well, I just always seem to end up with johnrudes, I do have a fuel/water separator and I only use good quality oil, this boat was only used a few times a year( I know this because it has been 5 cabins down from my parents since new) and I just need to get the bugs out of it, the reason the engine blew up before I got it was the PO lent the boat to his son-in-law and daughter and they he ran the oil bucket out ignoring the buzzer that was going off, LOL

That was in July of 07' and he had it rebuilt and it sat in his garage for two years before he traded it in on a new mate and I bought it, like anything that has been apart or sitting there are bound to be a few issues.

I get the boat back tomorrow so let the prop testing begin.:D
 
I'm glad I'm not paying for this, changed spark plugs, that didn't work, changed throttle position sensor, that didn't work, stuck a new ECM on and she runs like a top, weird because we weren't getting a fault code from it. I won't be able to do a water test until the weekend but it seemed good in the test tank, way more power than ever.
 
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