A friend of my mother just gave me a boat with a 1963 Mercury 650S hanging off the back. After recharging the battery, I decided to see if I could get her to start. Pump the gas ball, flip the fast idle lever, crank and viola! I let her sit for a while, on a fast idle, and then try to kick it down to regular idle speed... sputter, sputter, die.
Mind you, the boat's probably been sitting for about 2 years. The gas could be bad or the mixture could have been wrong, to begin with. I'm thinking about doing a carb cleaning, tomorrow and I'll take a glance at the plugs.
Any other suggestions on where to look first? I don't (yet) have a service manual, so I'll be going about this (for now) with the knowledge I've picked up from carbureted cars and bikes, which will probably only get me a little ways.
Mind you, the boat's probably been sitting for about 2 years. The gas could be bad or the mixture could have been wrong, to begin with. I'm thinking about doing a carb cleaning, tomorrow and I'll take a glance at the plugs.
Any other suggestions on where to look first? I don't (yet) have a service manual, so I'll be going about this (for now) with the knowledge I've picked up from carbureted cars and bikes, which will probably only get me a little ways.