1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Tim Wagner · Sep 8, 2003

This motor is a true runner, up till now. It still runs but its a little shakey. It seems to miss throughout its throttle range. When you punch it, it acts like it wants to go then it boggs and goes and boggs and goes until it finally gets wide open and goes. It usually runs at about 51-5300 RPM's and eventually gets up there. The highest Ive seen it since this crap started was almost 5100 and the longer you're on it, the rpms drop off to about 47-4800 while the whole time it sounds like its missing. Its gotten me where I was going the whole time It starts with no problem, I put new plugs in it since. The old ones were definately fouled. They didnt help. I checked the fuel filter screen and there wasnt any crap in it. The linkage on the carbs and stator seem to be working right. (but then again I dont know what to look for) This all started on a fishing trip to Canada. I dumped in the correct amount of oil (Super Tech from WalMart) and filled it up with gas. (you can only get 86 octane on the lake up there and last year I had no problems) We blasted off out of the marina and it completely stalled out at full throttle. It took a little bit of tense effort but the motor started Its missed ever since. I ran it for 3 more full days like that. My kicker motor (a 93 10 hp merc.) has never skipped a beat. It just runs fine. Where do I look from here?

The Marine Doctor · Sep 8, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Please check your compression. TMD

Tim Wagner · Sep 9, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Ill check it here in the next couple days. I need to go get a tester. I guess buying one was inevidable. Ill report back with the details. Thanks a lot!

jim dozier · Sep 9, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Its not the octane or the oil.

Tim Wagner · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

First, the octane that I mentioned was 87, not 86 like I stated in the original post. I always, absolutly, without a doubt run 89. I am very carefull to mix the oil correct. Always 50:1 (16 oz's to 6 gallons) I put fuel stabilizer in the tank every time (sta-bil, mixed to the instructions on the bottle. 1 oz to 2.5 gallons.) This time when I did put in the oil, my buddy brought a quart of Qicksilver oil to donate to the cause and I added it in there with that tank when the problems started. Somehow or another, I noticed extra weight in the empty bottle and investigated. I found a large chunk of paper towell inside the bottle. I could have choked the life out of him. (we did a bit of arguing about it, but is was "spilled milK" at that point). He assured me that it was "good oil". I dont know why that paper towell was in there nor do I know how long. I worry that it may be the cause of my problem....................but I intend on flushing the tank and fuel lines. Remember my 10HP kicker never skipped a beat. Now I did check compression. It was top 105 psi, middle 110 psi and bottom 117 psi. I also did some probing in the wiring and did find a couple of somewhat bad crimp connections on the terminal block under the coil/cd module bracket. I corrected this but have not been able to give it a test to see if it helped. It started and seemed to sound ok but its out of the water and no load on the prop so its not a real valid test. (it did start though, and it hasnt conked out..........yet) I bought a couple cans of Merc Power Tune and intend on Decarbing here in the next day or so. Last year I ran a can of decarbing stuff in the gas but never did the nasty! I also bought the diaphrams and such for the fuel filter and pump. Ill at least have them and will do the rebuild at last resort after the decarbing. I have read on other posts that you can leave the stuff in the motor for 1-10 hours. The guy at the marina said 45 minutes. What do you think? Again its Merc, Power Tune. Expensive stuff! I bought 2 cans as recommended in this forum. Also, do you think that the decarbing will clean up my compression readings? Ive never done it since I got the boat in Sept 01. I use it till at least Thanksgiving before it gets put in storage. (winterized and fogged) There are a lot of hours on it. Before I got the kicker, I did a lot of 5 mph trolling with it. Hours on end. Thats like 1200 rpms. Now it just gets run balls to the wall and I use the kicker to troll. It saves a bit of cash on gas. Anyway thats where Im at for now

The Marine Doctor · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

The longer you can leave the powertune in the engine the better. As for expensive..sells for $5.55 a can at our shop. I would say thats cheap. TMD

Tim Wagner · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

I paid 7.15 a can! If it works, its a cheap fix. Do you think it will tighten up the compression? I dont have a clue what to expect except some greasy, grimey funk being expelled. Im gonna go through the initial carb spraying, stall and a good blast in each spark plug hole the night before and when I get to the lake the next morning, Ill use the kicker to get out away from the marina before I fire the big one up. I dont want any long faces at the launch, nor do I wanna be sitting there screwing around while others are impatiently waiting. Nothing like a good smoke screen, I guess

The Marine Doctor · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

DO not breath the stuff in...I have had throat problems since using the product. It should loosen the rings up and have them seat better against the cyl walls. TMD

Tim Wagner · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Stop the presses! Found the problem. I pulled the flywheel at lunch and BAM, there it was. A wire burnt off the stator! Soooooo, gonna need to replace that. But luckly, I have a spare. Managed to horde a couple electrical parts and other goodies from one a freind of mine had that had a blown power head! I guess it pays to be a scavenger! Hope it works, if not Ill be in the market for one! I dont understand how it managed to run as good as it did with that wire burnt off! Anyway, I appreciate the help and advise. Still gonna decarb. Hope this helps others someday. Over an out

Tim Wagner · Sep 10, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

I would like to ask the question that these 85's used all the parts for the bigger 4 cylinder models, right? I know there is an extra output for another cylinder. Im sure that will give me a spare if I need it. With that in mind, I think that there is an extra signal coming out of the stator that isnt being used. Right? If this is the case, can I use that or is it spaced for the correct timing of the would be 4th cylinder? It almost makes me believe that the one that isnt used is the one that fried for the way the motor behaves when its running. I cant beleive that it would even get to plane if it were only running on 2 cylinders. Its my guess that the wire that burnt off would just flap around in there while running, intermittently shorting out one of the coils on the stator. Anybody know if this is possible. Its a brown wire with a yellow stripe (I think). Its paired beside a yellow wire. I would think that either you can or cant.

The Marine Doctor · Sep 14, 2003

Re: 1989, 85 HP MISSING.

The 3 cyl's used a different stator and trigger than the larger 4 cyl's. You do though have a spare side on one of the powerpacks. TMD

1989, 85 HP MISSING.

Petty Officer 1st Class

Commander

Petty Officer 1st Class

Lieutenant Commander

Petty Officer 1st Class

Commander

Petty Officer 1st Class

Commander

Petty Officer 1st Class

Petty Officer 1st Class

Commander