Need a Mercury mechanic

[ioiosoiwork]

Anybody know a Mercury outboard mechanic?, that does work on the side ?, reasonably priced ?   I have a 2001 40 HP 3 cylinder Mercury outboard that has been diagnosed by no less than 5 NON mechanics, and 1 Frog Hollow marina mechanic that my carbs need to be re-built, long story short.......after listening to everybody.....I added a fuel additive to combat the horrors of ethanol fuel .......in doing so I'm informed that I have "let the hounds of Hell loose" that were peacefully living in my fuel lines and other parts of my fuel system....... other pertinent info: first trip of the season, motored away from the dock, set up doing 2-2.3 ish GPS speed trolling, freshly tuned , plugs, oil change, filter, lower end, gas filter, new primer bulb and new tank to engine line, new gas with additive (Mercury quicksilver something or other)(at the house) decided I would hit the bluff, forward ho ! up on plane, maybe 2 minutes of full throttle, starts to break up, stalls, Hmmmmmm....re-starts right back up, idles GREAT !, high idle no problem, put in gear stalls, restart, stall, restart shove it forward it's running, but only about 7 1/2 MPH, (top end on a calm day, I can get 26 out of her) other tests done, check for spun prop, put in gear see if it turns easily, does not, I can turn it but it's against engine compression, in both forward or reverse....Frog Hollow guy says kits are $100 for each carb, I'd be looking at $600-$800........in the past, with anything I have owned "marine" or "aeronautical" it ALWAYS exceeds what I'm told >sigh< Anybody ? ? ? ?  

[rolmops]

It does not sound like your carbs are the problem. My guess is fuel supply. Check your fuel filter at the pump and the pump itself. To check this, run your engine and start playing with the choke (fuel enrichener). If you pick up more speed while choking you can be sure that the problem is not your carburetor.

[ERABBIT]

....fuel pump diaphram !!!!!  pump bulb as you put it in gear................

[ERABBIT]

hard to beat barrets in geneva

[Sk8man]

You have a PM

[Sk8man]

In addition to the info I sent as PM.... Ed is right (as much as I hate to admit it )   Fran Barrett is good about Mercs and he and his wife Deb are honest as the day is long...great folks you can trust to give you an honest answer.

[Meals-On-Reels]

Didn't read if you had a built in tank or portable, but... check for an anti-siphon valve and remove it. Built in tanks sometimes have them built into the hose barb or 90* hose barb coming straight off the tank. Portables will sometimes have them built in where the line exits the tank or in the line itself (or both like my Tohatsu's do).

It's just an idea, as it will usually die at low rpm and be good at higher rpms (opposite of your problem I know), but may be worth a shot. Mine failed and almost put my boat on the rocks. Of course- you "should" replace them to be EPA friendly and not just remove them, but I will never have another one on any boat I own.

[ioiosoiwork]

Ha! pumping the "bulb" had no effect at all, I did try that out on the lake, I also tried the "choke"......made it stall immediately .........that wasn't my idea, but the other guy in the boat, and as far as fuel supply, portable tank that came w/ it no anti siphon valve, line out, bulb, line into engine, vent is in cap, took cap completely off 

[lakebound88]

Although I am a member at frog hollow, I am getting nothing out of this but to tell you if hanks too far a drive, the two mechanics at froggyy hollow are one of THE best mercury guys in the finger lakes area. Both Brian's are dang good mechanics. I trust everything to them. However I do agree with you.. the labor sucks!

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[ioiosoiwork]

Although I am a member at frog hollow, I am getting nothing out of this but to tell you if hanks too far a drive, the two mechanics at froggyy hollow are one of THE best mercury guys in the finger lakes area. Both Brian's are dang good mechanics. I trust everything to them. However I do agree with you.. the labor sucks!

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

"the two mechanics at froggy hollow are "one" of THE best mercury guys in the finger lakes area"  .................which one do I ask for ?    labor does suck, BUT I guess everybody must eat

[Kuba]

It sounds like it is not having enough fuel under the load.

Sent from my Lenovo P770 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[ioiosoiwork]

Well it's in the mechanic's hands, I'll post a follow up with the results, Thanks Jason ! for taking time and stopping by and trying to help me figure it out 

[Nessmuk]

Frog Hollow guy says kits are $100 for each carb, I'd be looking at $600-$800........in the past, with anything I have owned "marine" or "aeronautical" it ALWAYS exceeds what I'm told >sigh< Anybody ? ? ? ?  

 

Might be able to buy a small outboard for that much moola.   The joys of boat ownership.   Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't cost so much.

[SMC481]

u could try snake creek down in montrose its a haul but hes an excellent merc mech and honest. i think he charged us a couple hundred to rebuild our carb for a 150 merc outboard.

[lakebound88]

Hey I saw your boat at marina this weekend.. any updates yet?

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[ioiosoiwork]

Hey I saw your boat at marina this weekend.. any updates yet?

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

No, no updates yet  I'm wishing I covered it with all this rain And I'm hoping it's as secure as the owner assured me it was

[lakebound88]

Yea, things there are very secure. I would of recommended one thing however.... pm ya

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Chas0218]

....fuel pump diaphram !!!!! pump bulb as you put it in gear................

I second this. We had a old Johnson that would run great but as soon as the boat got on plane she would die right out. I had a buddy pump the bulb as a revved Her up onto to plane and she ran fine. Also she ran fine on muffs and high idle.

Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

[A*M]

Had same problem last year on 135 merc.  Merc mechanics wanted to tear apart all six carbs to start with.   Told me it was the ethanol for sure.  Googled it before they started work on it, and and there were quite a few responces that it was the stator.  Brought the boat home and called Alan at Snake Creek Marine.  Told him what it was doing, and he said sounds like the stator. 

 

They diagnosed the problem and replaced the stator all for one hour labor charge. It's run fine every since. Don't know if this is your problem, but they do know how to diagnose first. 

[ioiosoiwork]

UPDATE: Mechanic just called, carbs need to be re-sync'ed ?  and rebuilt, parts need to be ordered,   holiday week    (of course) says I'm looking @ next week..................HOPE he's right........jonesing I will be just in time for fleas and full blown vacationers  THANK GOD I CAN AT LEAST MOW MY GRASS.......  >sigh< 

[Sk8man]

Kinda of a downer timing wise Marty but at least you know what the problem is now and it's going to be on its way getting fixed. Good luck with it.

Les

[gwpjr]

Whatever happened with this? I missed this thread prior to you taking it in, but I would have suggested taking a look at the stator and making sure that it wasn't advanced all of the way at idle. I had this happen once while I was cleaning under the cowl. You'd think that the springs would be enough to make it return to idle timing, but amazingly not. I happened to notice it while I was still on the water, gave it a tap to reset and the engine ran fine afterward. Of course, this issue would certainly be noticed and corrected during a link and sync adjustment.

[ioiosoiwork]

Picked it up this morning, carbs were re-built, re-sync'ed (?) $608, got all the gel cells on the chargers, I'm going to attempt an late afternoon/evening run on Seneca ( I see Lodi is open till 7:00, is it somehow gated after that ? Ed ?, anybody, Bueller, Bueller ) Sunday (got the Grand Daughter Saturday), SOMEWHERE Monday AND possibly Tuesday,   ........I'll let you know after that  

[Sk8man]

Good luck with everything Marty.

[ioiosoiwork]

Thanks Les