striker1211
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
- Messages
- 43
So I have a noodle scratcher here. My 1996 Mercury 115hp 2-Stroke (0G386904) gave me some troubles last weekend. It seems to run fine now. I installed a 360W amplifier and all new speakers in my boat before this last trip. At night time, when the temperature of the air had dropped roughly 10 degree the boat would not start nicely. When it did start it sputtered and sounded almost as if it was doing a no-gas cough. I could hit the throttle in neutral and it would go away for a second but then keep coughing. It stalled out once at idle. I ran the boat around in circles and it seemed to go away for about a half hour. The performance was great while doing circles, got to top RPM/speed fine. While putzing around shore it started coughing again after a few minutes.
The only thing I had changed was the new amp and speakers. I added new power/ground wires and did not use the old wires at all. The fish finder never read less than 12V. It did it when the lights were off but started when the lights were on. I even connected a 12v car jump pack during the spitting/sputter to the terminals and it did not clear up the misfire. Could the amplifier just be a red herring? The half tank of gas before we filled it up that day had been sitting for only 5 days. I use 87 unleaded. One thing to note is that I heard ticking noise through the speakers even with the RCA wires disconnected all day until high RPMs. The clicking/ticking increased with the engine speed. It went away with key off. I think this is due to non-resistor plugs but could it be the alternator/coils? Thanks in advance, once again
The only thing I had changed was the new amp and speakers. I added new power/ground wires and did not use the old wires at all. The fish finder never read less than 12V. It did it when the lights were off but started when the lights were on. I even connected a 12v car jump pack during the spitting/sputter to the terminals and it did not clear up the misfire. Could the amplifier just be a red herring? The half tank of gas before we filled it up that day had been sitting for only 5 days. I use 87 unleaded. One thing to note is that I heard ticking noise through the speakers even with the RCA wires disconnected all day until high RPMs. The clicking/ticking increased with the engine speed. It went away with key off. I think this is due to non-resistor plugs but could it be the alternator/coils? Thanks in advance, once again
