Posted by Anne Post on 08/20/11 - 1:58 PM
#1
Help! Finally sunny in Seattle and well maintained 40 HP mercury engine won't start - running fine yesterday and serviced in June. Husband trying to do simple things - Inc checking fuel lines - but so far no luck. Suggestions? Thanks Anne
Posted by Derwd24 on 08/20/11 - 2:29 PM
#2
First thing I'd check is the safety tether if the set up has one as those can disable the spark and prevent the engine from starting.
Other things are the orientation of the fuel line, the vent on the tank cap, tight battery connections (sounds like it cranks OK but doesn't run?).
Failing that, I'd pull a plug and check for fuel being present, then check for spark while cranking.
Posted by Fishmore on 08/21/11 - 1:57 PM
#3
Is the engine in neutral?
As mentioned before kill switch check.
There is a fuse on the starting circuit next to the starter to check. Had that fuse break for no good reason once.
Replace fuel filter (don't just look at the bowl) check to ensure fuel is flowing to the engine.
Had a buddy put a new fuel filter on his boat last week after changing the filter the boat ran fine. Next day it even ran for about 10 minutes before the filter clogged. We bypassed the filter and boat ran fine. So we changed the filter again and blew out all the passages with air.