Hard to start 87 mod Mariner (merc) 135HP

[fender22]

Just got a new, or secondhand boat and I've always had OMC motors. Most of them have there own quirky preference for starting but generally I've always found, a good few squeezes of the primer bulb, a bit of choke until it kicks and usually starts without choke next go. Had a fair bit of trouble with the Mariner this morning. I'd give it choke until it kicked then it would try to go and stall, gave it more choke then not etc. I have had a lot of motors and have a reasonably good feel and didn't feel like I was flooding it. There is a switch on the gear control where you can disengage the gears but still give it some throttle which the guy I bought it off said to use when starting. Once I eventually got it going, after turning it over what seemed like about 20 times it eventually sprung to life and started first pop for the rest of the day and idled and ran perfectly. Obviously if I had to do that every time I'd end up running the battery flat. Does any one have any experience with these older Mercs? Am I missing something? Should I use extra throttle or just in the neutral pos with a bit of choke the go to start? I was a bit apprehensive once we got to where we were going if there'd be enough kick in the battery to get it going again but like I said started first pop as it did when I got home and flushed it. The funny thing was when we were leaving I was sqeezing the primer bulb and couldn't feel any pressure? Like I said it started first go but I expected it to die after it exhausted the fuel in the lines but went like a charm for the rest of the day. It had been to the mechanics for a full service three weeks before and hadn't been used since but he said it was purring like a kitten. Can you oversqueeze the primer bulb flooding it or something?

[tez1]

hi fender22,i have a merc 90 blueband, with mine to start i give it 4 pumps with the primer,throttle lever next to gear select about 1/4 way up,push key in for choke holding key in ,start, mine can be a bit fussy but always starts like yours first pop when warm,theses motors put out around 13-15 volts of charge when running depending on rpm,so a good 20min run should charge your battery pretty good.if you over squeeze the primer on mine fuel will spill out of the bowl vent so pretty hard to flood. just remember to push key in when turning the key for choke to stay on.

cheers tez

[fender22]

So do you keep the choke pushed in even after it kicks, starts?

Thanks a heap! Rgds Craig

[tez1]

yes m8 i do just for a few sconds until the throttle lever takes over,ie your rpm picks up to where you set the lever,just be careful not to set your throttle lever to high othrwise she will over rev when going.

tez