Mercury 50hp dies and then lives

[slangley]

I am quite new to this so would appreciate any help you can give me on this problem. Took my new rib out for the first time. It started first time and seemed fine. Used it for about 10mins at varying throttle then it started to hold back on me and eventually cut out. Got it to start again but it only stayed running for a few minutes before cutting out again. This time it would not start again. It turns over and occasionly fires and stay running for about 5 seconds then dies. Took it out the water and got it home. Tried the engine again and it started an ran perfectly. The thing I noticed was that the purge bulb was rock solid for a number of days before it went down. Is this normal ? Does anyone have any ideas of what to check. All I know is, the switch box was replaced shortly before I got it ( previous owner gave me the receipts ).

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: Mercury 50hp dies and then lives

welcome abaord,<br />sounds like a fuel delivery prob. I would change<br />the primer bulb and go from there. post results.<br />good luck,<br />M.Y.

 

[slangley]

Re: Mercury 50hp dies and then lives

It appears that firstly, I had some sort of airlock in the line. This has now cleared and the engine seems to run again. I tried to tune it but it seems that the the mixture adjustment on the top carburettor has no effect. The bottom carburettor works fine. Does this sound serious or is there something I am missing.<br /><br />Thanks in advance.

 

[Merc90HPnewbie]

Re: Mercury 50hp dies and then lives

I'm a newbie to boats too but not two stroke engines and I would agree it sounds like a fuel delivery problem. See if there's a fuel filter in line that might be clogged, check the primer bulb and check valve, also make sure there's an open vent so air can replace gas in your tank or else it will lock up due to vacuum.

 

[Just Jed]

Re: Mercury 50hp dies and then lives

Maybe a long shot but there is a moral to this.<br /> My little "kicker" o/b would always start and run great. Never coughed or farted even after a long troll. Then one day as I was dragging a flat line for some lakers, the engine sputtered and quit. "What the ?&*\" ? I thought to myself. When I primed the fuel and gave a tug the little lady fired right up and ran great for an hour or so and then "sputt sputt cough" dead again . I primed and gave a short tug and away we go again like nothing was wrong. <br /> Back on terra firma I overhauled the entire fuel system; carb, pump, lines, etc. I did't do the ignition as it is a twin and seperate coils etc. and failure of one would not kill the engine compleatly and then allow for a clean restart.<br /> Tank tested the girl and she ran great so back to the lake only to have the same thing happen again and again. Turned out that a little piece of stretch wrap type plastic got into my premixed tank , I think maybe from the tear off tab from the 2 cycle oil bottle. This little piece of plastic would just drift around in the tank untill the suction in the fuel line stuck it over the screen on the pick-up. when the engine quit the piece would come free allowing it to drift around waiting to bugger my day up again at some random time in the future.<br /> Moral? All problems no matter how serious they may seem at first, are not necessarily caused by a major equiptment failure.<br /> So look close and sometimes you get lucky and find something simple.<br />Good Luck and Good Boating.+