Re: mecury 60 3-cyl difficult to start
Yes you can loose timing adjustment. Facing the stern on the starboard side of the motor is the idle and throttle adjustments. This is where the cables from your control come in. Right above the throttle adjustment is the timing adjustment. If any of the jam nuts have come loose, your idle or timing will be off. I discovered a loose nut when I was having issues starting the motor at slow idle, although it would fire right up with the fast idle lever in the engaged position. <br /><br />If you are getting consistent spark, then try to start the motor at idle with the butterfly valve slightly open. You can do this by removing the cover for the carbs and gently opening the butterfly valves with a screw driver. <br /><br />If it fires up on slow idle then you will want to adjust you slow idle stop. Loosen jam nut and turn bolt 1 turn CW or CCW (depending on motor year). You can figure out which way to turn stop bolt by looking at position on linkage at idle, then engage to WOT, observe change in linkage. It will either be pulling or pushing linkage to get to WOT. Turn bolt accordingly once throttle is set to neutral.<br /><br />I had a 1976 Chevy Vega with a stubborn, below 32 deg., carb. Confused about carb settings and idle problems I talked to my Dad about my experiences with it and I applied it to my 1987 60 HP Mercury. Local marine mechanic, said I did it right. I obliged his input by purchasing parts from him.
