Just bought myself a 1985 (about?) mercury 650 outboard--2 stroke 3 cyl. It starts up great (takes a couple tries the first time but kicks right in anytime afterwards), but seems to idle kinda high. I dont have a tach hooked up yet, so I cant give the exact RPM but it definetly doesnt purr, it sounds like its running really high. When I throttle up (this is the first problem) I have to push the control arm WAAAAY forward before it even begins to move. I can hear the engine shift into forward right away after pushing it out of neutral, but there is a good 45 degrees before I get any throttle into it at all. Once that gets in, it kicks in and out, like it wont stay at a particular speed. If I push the throttle all the way down it will rev up and down, giving a lot of power, but then just a little... it wont stay in either place. I had a mechanic check out the engine before I bought it and he said it was fine. I'm thinking he either didnt know what he was doing or he didnt realise some problem in the control cables/box (which he didnt check). I took the control box and cables off to see if that was the problem, and the shafts moved at the ends of the cables when I moved the arm (but the throttle one didnt move till way late like I said earlier). Where is my problem and how can I fix it?? Please help, the summer is coming to an end!!!
