Re: 86 Mercury going dead
That usually means it is in need or repairs. Unless you envision yourself as an aspiring outboard mechanic you might consider taking it into a shop and allowing them to evaluate it for you.<br /><br />If you feel you have the expertise and a manual at hand (they are available on this website), then start by<br /><br />Do a compression check, while you have the plugs out look to see if they all have a nice cocoa color to each and every one of them. A black or very clean plug might lead you to suspect something.<br /><br />Do a carburator adjustment, <br /><br />Check the timing adjustments. <br /><br />If you have low compression (a variance of more than say 10-15% between cylinders) that can be problematic.<br /><br />If any of the carb adjustments seem to make no difference, go through the carburation rebuilding process.<br /><br />To check timing might be a bit more involved than you have tools to do it with and might be something a shop could help you with.<br /><br />Stalling when put into gear will usually indicate a motor not running evenly on all it's cylinders. This can be caused by poor compression, ignition, carburation, or a number of other thing that can be more technical in nature.
