This is a 2 part problem, please read both parts. Any advice or input is highly appreciated. THANKS!!<br /><br />PART 1: My 1976 Mercury 1150, 115hp engine fires right up from a cold start after priming the engine with the priming bulb. About 20 seconds after starting, the engine slowly begins to die as if not enough fuel is getting to the engine. I checked the 3 carburetors and nothing was plugged up and everything in there seems fine. Could it be that the fuel pump isn't working??<br /><br />After the engine dies it won't start up again until I prime the engine again using the priming bulb. Same thing, it dies about 20 seconds after it fires up. I try to keep the engine from dying by raising the throttle. It works for a little bit, but then the engine slowly dies at full throttle. Could it be an electrical problem? Sounds to me that the engine is starving for fuel. As if the fuel pump has gone bad and the engine dies because there is no fuel being pumped into the engine to keep it running. <br /><br />PART 2: Here's the latest update on my problem. Well I went outside tonight and replaced the priming bulb with a brand new one. The old one was kind of old and cracking. Anyways, from a cold start, I primed the engine and it fired up on the second try. About 20 - 30 seconds later it started to putter as if it was gonna die. I ran over to the priming bulb and sqeazed it 2 times, and all of a sudden the engine purked up and began to run good. So, I am pretty sure it's the fuel pump not pumping gasoline to the engine. <br /><br />Here's where things got interesting: <br /><br />After pumping the bulb to keep the engine from dying, I wait another 45 seconds or so until the engine sounds like it needs more gas. All of a sudden after I pump the bulb more, then engine sounds good, then all of a sudden without warning, the engine just stops. I mean, no puttering, just DEAD. So I go to fire it up again, then its just cranking and cranking. Finally I think to myself that the engine isn't gonna start, so I let go of the key, and the engine fires up and scares the hell out of me. It was weird, the engine fired up as soon as I let go of the key. Hmmm... Sound weird to you?<br /><br />So anyways, I let the engine run for a bit, but then I noticed the engine didn't sound like it was gonna die. It was running on it's own now. I didnt have to sqeeze the bulb to keep it from dying. As if the fuel pump was working now. The engine normally idles at 1100 RPMs. Now, the engine was running on its own now but the idle would be at 1100 RPMs, then it would drop to about 800 RPMs. But it wasn't dying completely out. The RPMs were going from 800 to 1100, up and down. About 10 secs at 1100, then 10 secs back to 800. At that point I turned the engine off and let it sit for about 5 mintues while I gathered my thoughts. After about 5 mins, the engine fired right up with no priming. It was idling at 1100 RPMs and was staying there! The engine sounded great and it wasn't dying. It was as if there was no problem at all. SO FRUSTERATING!!<br /><br />So, I am going to wait til Thursday and I am going to try and fire it up again and see what happens. Could it be that the fuel pump isn't completely dead yet and decides to work occasionally?? Please give me some input on this, I highly appreciate it!!! I'm trying to trouble shoot as much as possible before I decide to go out and buy a new fuel pump. Does anyone know how much one sells for on a 1976 Mercury 1150?? Let me know if you have any ideas or input. THANKS!!
