80 HP motor won't start

[sti1471]

I want to start off by saying I am new to Iboats.com, and I have just obtained my very first boat. It is a boat I will use for fishing, and some water fun with the family.

Here is it's back ground as I am sure it helps.

I have a Versa Craft 16ft fiberglass boat. The guy I just got it from had never started it, and he has owned it for 2 months. He did some work for a guy, and he could not pay him, so he paid him with his boat. They guy has a pontoon boat, and did not need it so I traded him his boat for my sandrail as he lives on a a farm. The boat has an 80 HP mercury outboard motor S/N 7153084 (can anyone tell me the year or anything about this motor). When removing the engine plates, it looks very clean. It was licensed in 2010 so i know it was on the water then. I have tested everything such as lights, bilge, steering, throttle cables, and the boat seems in great condition.

I finally got to the point where i can test start the engine. I bought a pair of engine muffs and turned on the hose and turned the key. The engine turn over fine, and sounds healthy but it will not start. I pressed the electric choke on the key a couple times, and still nothing. I pumped the primer bulb 1-2 times and turned the key again, and nothing. At this time the wife said dinner was ready and that was the end of my troubleshooting.

here is some more information.

When I got the boat, it already had 3/4 tank of fuel in it. I removed the gas tank and the gas smells good, and it is "bluish" in color. From the smell I thought it was fine and hooked the tank back up.

I pulled plugs 2 and 3 and they are the "flat head" type with no end gap. They appeared clean, but they had a little "mositure" on the tip of them, so i cleaned them off and put them back in.

When i got the boat, it did not have the keys, so I bought a seadog 3 position 6 terminal ignition. The hookup was roughly the same as the stock key, but the seadog had an "I" on it for ignition and the old one had an A instead of the I, so I was alittle confused with the wiring.

When I turn the key to the "run" position and press in the choke, I hear a "click" from the engine. Everything with the new key appears to be hooked up fine with 1 exception. Since there was 2 "M" terminals on the key, I just guessed which one was for ground, and which was for the other wire.

I am not sure how to test if it is getting spark or not.

Do I need to prime the engine more than 2 pumps? I was not sure if the engine had a air filter on it anywhere so I have not looked at that. I know there are several things I need to do, but I want to get it running so I can take it to the lake to see if it floats / works before I pour money into it to get it perfect as the boat season is coming to an end.

Thanks for any help guys.

 

[pbgeneral]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

I think you need to pump the bulb on the fuel line until it gets hard. I also would not trust the old gas in the tank. Replace with new fuel. I have not looked up your serial number for the year yet, but that sounds like a fairly late model. Why is the fuel blueish? is it from stabilizer in the fuel or has the fuel been pre mixed (with oil)? You can pull spark plugs and check for spark, I use an air gap tester.

 

[sti1471]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

I am not sure why the Fuel is blue. I imagine that it is from a premix oil / fuel. I am not sure if it is a stabilizer or not. However if I need to pump the primer ball until it gets hard then that could for sure be my issue. I only pumped it 1-2 times as I thought this was pumping fuel into the carb for a good start. (like the gas push dome on my weed wacker). But if this primer is intended to fill the bowls and be hard then I will give that a try after work.

Thanks.

 

[pbgeneral]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

I am not sure why the Fuel is blue. I imagine that it is from a premix oil / fuel. I am not sure if it is a stabilizer or not. However if I need to pump the primer ball until it gets hard then that could for sure be my issue. I only pumped it 1-2 times as I thought this was pumping fuel into the carb for a good start. (like the gas push dome on my weed wacker). But if this primer is intended to fill the bowls and be hard then I will give that a try after work.
Thanks.

Yeah if the boat, or motor has not been run in quit some time then you may have to pump the bulb many times in order to prime the carbs. Just prime it until it gets hard or you feel gas flowing each time you press the bulb. I can see my fuel filter on the motor fill as I pump the bulb. The blue tint to the fuel could be fuel stabilizer, which is good, or it could be a gas already mixed with oil. Take the hood off the moter and if it has a small oil tank on it above the carbs, it is oil injected. Shouldn't need to pre mix the fuel, unless the previous owner new of an oil injection problem, and was using premixed for testing reasons

 

[Coloradolakeboy]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

Make sure the battery connections are clean and tight. Start with a fully charged battery.

 

[ricohman]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

Make sure the battery connections are clean and tight. Start with a fully charged battery.

What a coincidence. I was just having the same troubles. My battery (12.3v) and the priming bulb not being pumped enough was my trouble. After pumping a few more times and installing another battery it fired right up.
My engine is 7153166. Very close to yours. No idea when is was built though.

 

[smittyplugs]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

Im going to say your motor is a 1984 based on the numbers......

hope all works out for ya.....

 

[sti1471]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

OK, so I went home after work and pumped the primer bulb until it got hard. I then turned to key to the "on" position and pressed the choke 5 times, and turned the motor. It still would not start. I then turned the key again, and pressed in the choke while turning the key and IT STARTED.... What a great feeling to know the boat runs. After that I turned it off and turned the key again and it fired right up again!!!!!

Thanks for all your help guys!!!

However I have another question..

I removed the "vent" screw for the lower unit, and I could not see any gear oil in there. So i then looked for a fill / drain screw and i cannot find one anywhere on the lower unit. I looked on the bottom, upper, lower on both sides and cannot find it anywhere. There is only 1 vent screw. Do I just add the gear oil through the vent screw. I picked up some 90 quicksilver marine gear oil today for 11.00 for 32 fl oz. I thought I heard somewhere this was enough to fill it.

Thanks everyone.

 

[pbgeneral]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

OK, so I went home after work and pumped the primer bulb until it got hard. I then turned to key to the "on" position and pressed the choke 5 times, and turned the motor. It still would not start. I then turned the key again, and pressed in the choke while turning the key and IT STARTED.... What a great feeling to know the boat runs. After that I turned it off and turned the key again and it fired right up again!!!!!

Thanks for all your help guys!!!

However I have another question..

I removed the "vent" screw for the lower unit, and I could not see any gear oil in there. So i then looked for a fill / drain screw and i cannot find one anywhere on the lower unit. I looked on the bottom, upper, lower on both sides and cannot find it anywhere. There is only 1 vent screw. Do I just add the gear oil through the vent screw. I picked up some 90 quicksilver marine gear oil today for 11.00 for 32 fl oz. I thought I heard somewhere this was enough to fill it.

Thanks everyone.

Sti, you will need a lube filling hose/pump available at a marine supply store to pump the gear lube into the lower unit. The vent hole which you found, is what we will call the vent/overflow hole. On the same side of the lower unit as the vent hole but almost at the very bottom of the foot around the cone of the foot is another screw, this is where you will drain the oil from (gravity) make sure your vent hole is open. After all the old oil is drained place the hand pump on your new bottle of lube and screw in the end of the hose into the DRAIN hole, and pump new oil until it begins to come out the vent/overflow hole. ALso when you remove the drain plug, it is magnatized and you may see some small metal shavings, small amount is normal. Also you want to take note of what the oil looks like that comes out of the foot.

 

[sti1471]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

Thank you for the replies.

However when i was looking at the lower unit yesterday, I did not see a screw or even a place for a screw anywhere. The only place I saw a screw on the entire lower unit is the vent screw. other than that, there were a few bolts that hold the lower unit to the rest of the motor.

I might be over looking it, but I looked over the lower unit for 25 minutes trying to find it and never was able to find the screw.

 

[pbgeneral]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

Keep looking, it is a little hard to locate at times. It should be there. Run your hands around the front of the cone (bullet) and feel for a depression. I have to trim my motor full up to even see mine. Good Luck

 

[sti1471]

Re: 80 HP motor won't start

ok, I will look when i get home to try and locate it. I noticed that it did not have oil at the vent line so I wondered if it was drained when it was winterized.

I guess I just assumed but my motor is black and says "Mercury 80" on a blue stripe about the motor. Does this mean it is an 80 hp motor?