Merc 9.8 rough idle

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
This is my second attempt at posting this message. I haven't seen it show up yet (it's been two days), and apologize if this is a duplicate.<br />-------------------<br />Hi: I posted earlier about a '74 Merc 110 (9.8 hp) that I recently acquired. The thing starts and runs tolerably well, just a little rough. My previous post mentioned that partly for this reason, and partly "for the fun of it", I was going to rebuild the carb. Probably will, but...<br /><br />I'm wondering a little about trouble shooting sequence for a rough idle. Here's what I've done:<br /><br />Checked compression - 125 both cylinders<br />De-carbed using spray method<br />Fresh plugs (plugs that came with it were not the right type; changed to spec'd plugs and it helped a little).<br />Fresh fuel, mixed correctly<br />Cleaned little fuel filter screen that is mounted on carb. Had quite a bit of crud on it.<br /><br />Fiddled with carb. idle adjustment. My understanding is that this is the rich/lean adjustment for idle - out for rich, in for lean, the idea being to adjust both in and out until the idle worsens and then set to the spot halfway between those two.<br /><br />The idle adjusment doesn't seem to do anything - it might improve idle a *little* at full-in, but there is absolutely no effect at any other setting.<br /><br />The idle in neutral is rough, and I need to keep the rpms fairly high or it will kill. It's hard to shift into gear without killing.<br /><br />In gear, the idle is worse in the sense that it won't even go as low as when in neutral without quitting. At a little higher RPMS (like trolling speed), it will idle all day OK, but kind of rough.<br /><br />It seems to work fine at high speed.<br /><br />There is no overt cough or sneeze or miss, but the idle is rough and the motor shakes quite a bit.<br /><br />I'm wondering if the carb rebuild/cleaning is next or if there are other things I should look at like fuel pump, ignition parts or timing? I know the basics of how a small engine works and have a factory shop manual, but I'm not real experienced at it. I feel comfortable I can work through almost anything on this motor.<br /><br />Thanks, as usual.
 

Barnacle_Bill

Admiral
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
6,469
Re: Merc 9.8 rough idle

Usually when the idle jet makes no difference, the carb needs to be taken apart and cleaned thoroughly. Put it back together with a carb kit that includes new needle and seat. If it has the original float, I would replace it too.
 

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
Re: Merc 9.8 rough idle

Thanks - that's what I was thinking. Was wondering if it could be ignition, timing, etc. I'll probably check all that stuff out after I rebuild the carb, just for the sake of top to bottom learning experience this winter.
 
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