Mercury Adjustments

Oats05

Cadet
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
9
Has anyone ever had an engine run at 1/4 the speed it should when the throttle is all the way down. Thats what my Mercury 35, 84' is doing. Most of the time it runs great but once every few trips it will bog down and run really slow. It sounds like something isn't letting the engine get the enough rpm's to run at full speed. I've taken a lot of the engine apart and I can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary. Usually after about 20 minutes of running at about 5mph, I'll hear the engine start to kick up. I'll then rev it up and it will run normal again. The boat shop in my area have scalped me before at 70 pascos an hour. Any recomendations?
 

AMD Rules

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
1,707
Re: Mercury Adjustments

Sounds like maybe it is dropping a cylinder. Instant loss of power. Time to check the electrical system.... plug/wires/power pack/stator etc.... there are many posts in these forums about how best to troubleshoot electrical problems. A service manual is also a great help.<br /><br />Good luck.
 

Oats05

Cadet
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
9
Re: Mercury Adjustments

AMD thanks for the advice! Does anyone know how to address a dropping cylinder?
 

Yepblaze

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 1, 2001
Messages
1,686
Re: Mercury Adjustments

Dropping a cylinder refers to one of the cylinders not running.<br /><br />Could be lack of fuel, spark, or compression.<br /><br />Check compression with compression tester. Check all cyclinders and compare numbers attained. should be no more than 15% variance.<br /><br />While you have the spark plugs out look them over for indication of lean condition (very light coloration) or fouling (oily residue)<br /><br />Check fuel issue by squirting some premixed gas/oil into the carb(s) while it's acting up. If it comes to life momentarily you know it's a fuel issue.<br /><br />Check spark with a spark tester, or by placing a good plug in wire and holding to engine ground.<br /><br />If it is trully an intermittent issue, you may have difficulty finding a problem if it's not acting up when you try testing.<br /><br /><br />After you have done these tests, report back with results.
 

Oats05

Cadet
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
9
Re: Mercury Adjustments

Found out that the CD box or switch box was fouling which caused the RPM problem.
 
Top