boat motor runs fine when neutral, dies in drive

[Guest buick14]

Hi all,

 

I have a 1999 115 hp ELPTO mercury which I just had serviced from a mechanic

 

Now the mechanic said he would take it back and repair it, which I will bring it to him when I can...but until then , I am racking my brain trying to figure out the problem...

 

 

When i get it going, it idles nice etc. etc., and when I put it into gear, it stalls out right away....then I crank it over, no problem...idles fine, then will die if I put it into gear(this is when the motor is warm or cold, I could drive it for 30 mns, turn it off for 1 min. and the problem still occurs)...So I have to choke it a few times and pump the ball, then the motor stops bogging out and spings to life...

 

It does not do it in reverse

It starts fine

It drives fine once its choked hard etc., it doesnt bog out or anything

perfect 130 compression in each cylinder

 

He had the carbs out because they were clogged

 

What is strange, is this did not happen before it was in to the mechanic, it was only difficult to start before.........

 

Any guesses? Mine is the carb isnt set up properly..??

 

thank you!

[Fisherman]

Okay, how about the fuel ine into the tank, kinked maybe?, how about crud at the fuel line intake inside the tank, or weak fuel pump on the motor. The motor doesn't need as much power in reverse to run the prop, that's why it runs okay in reverse. It's jut fuel starvation, possibly the float needle(s) are stuck. Is it a multiple carb? Did he set them up properly to get equal flow.

[Guest buick14]

I beleive there are 3 carbs

he had them out for cleaning

 

my guess is that he tuned them in the shop in neutral and it worked for him there so he thought it would be fine?

 

is having to over choke it bad for the motor..??

 

thanks

[Garry2Rs]

Buick14;

I think you are spot on. You see this quite often when the motor was set-up with no load using muffs etc. My guess is that if you open the cowl you will find an adjustment collar on the throttle linkage...give it a couple of twists and see if that cures your problem.

[Guest buick14]

I will check it out Garry2rs

 

BTW is having to over choke it bad for the motor..??

[Garry2Rs]

A lot of choking can foal the plugs but that's about all...

Here's another thought I had when I reread your post. If it will run for 30 minutes, but to restart you need to pump the ball, that spells air leak. Check all the fuel lines and the clamps from the tank to the injectors.

[ptmpete]

Had this problem on a older 15 hp It was a bad fuel pump

[ColdH20guy]

had the exact same problem with a 20hp Merc; it was the carb all gummed up..use premium fuel as well once the carb is 'de-gunked'...

[POLLIWOGG]

It doesn't by any chance have a stall switch in the shifter like the mercruiser inboards did. The idea was to cause the motor to missfire when shifting gears to make for smoother shifting. Sometimes this switch would stick and stall out the motor.

[DRIFTER_016]

It sounds like the mech. messed up when doing the link and sink after reinstalling the carbs.

When I got my boat new in 1999 it had not been set up properly and I had all kinds of problems keeping it running.

[fishermccann]

My 9.9 would do the same thing, it was a fuel filter problem, when you pumped the bulb it would push enough fuel through to keep it going. if I stoped pumping it would die from lack of fuel. Changed filter no more prob.

[NAW]

I also have had this problem, However, mine would stall out only in reverse, and run fine in neutral, and forward.

 

I found it was gunk in the carb caused by a degrading diaphram. The rubber diaphram was falling apart, and little chunks of rubber where flowing into the carb, causing me nightmares.

 

Probly not the case if it's a 1999 model.

 

Be carefull when adjusting the carb settings. 1/4 turns at a time, and count them as you go so you can get back to the same point you started at if need be. I've tried adjusting carbs before, and just made things worse. If there's something jammed in your carb, adjusting things may bandaide fix the problem, but will not solve it. Running the motor with a bandaide fix can cause big problems down the road.

[JPD]

The Merc 115's can be a real pain since they idle in 2 cylinder mode and run under load in 4. The idle rate should be 750-800 in neutral and 600-650 in gear so look at that when it is idling and in gear and you will know if it needs to be sped up a little.

 

A carb adjustment will be the best thing for it by the sound of things. Using the choke sends a spurt of fuel into the carb throat so it won't do anything that would damage it.

 

JP