Loss of power or interupted power

"I was out today on a glass li

"I was out today on a glass like lake doing about 33mph when all of the sudden it felt like we lost half the power, so I pulled back a bit on the stick and stayed about 15 or so thentook it out of forward, then shut it down checked my vent it was open all the way the fuel ball was not colapsed, all looked ok, had new gas plugs were new, started the 1985 85hp force back up and ran it the rest of the day with no problem. Any idea what could of caused it? it has happened before."

"Jerry, check the fuel filter

"Jerry, check the fuel filter - could have a bit of crud in it that possibly even worked itself into the carb and partially blocked the jet for a second or two.

Usually when you are just running along and the motor kinda dies back, it's normally a fuel related problem. Hopefully, it's just a bit of water/crud or the like - sometimes it's an early warning of a fuel pump going bad...."

can i buy a new fuel pump or k

can i buy a new fuel pump or kit and if so where?

"Jerry, if you want an OEM kit

"Jerry, if you want an OEM kit, Merc will still stock what you need. If you will use aftermarket parts, Andrew who runs this site sells sierra parts and may have what you are after. (just have a look in the parts section - upper right of this screen)...

The Sierra parts work just as well and are usually somewhat less than a Merc part..."

Is the kit or replacment parts

Is the kit or replacment parts hard to pt in? I have in the past rebuilt quaddrajunk on GM and Holley etc AFB etc.

"Jerry, if you have any mechan

"Jerry, if you have any mechanical skills at all it's a very simple job - but well worth picking up at least a repair manual (Selocs) for reference."

"Here a little while back I wa

"Here a little while back I was cruising around at about the same speed with my 85 chrysler (mid 70's model) and it died twice and then just about died again one more time, then I changed fuel tanks and it never happened again. After each occurrance of that, I stopped and restarted the engine and some black smoke was emitted while it cleared up and then ran normally. The tank I had the problem with was one that I "experimented" with by using some 15W40 automotive oil. It was not a good idea. I don't think it was trying to sieze, because it's performance now is still very good an actually can turn almost 6000 revs at 38 mph. I'm thinking that the automotive oil didn't get scrubbed and burned completely, causing the rings to try to sieze. It's just a guess and has never happened again after abandoning my ill fated experiment. Maybe it was a piston siezure, but I still have full compression readings on all three. Maybe someone else has an idea of what I experienced. After that, I researched two cycle outboard oil articles and papers and found out why those oils are specified for outboards. Pretty interesting stuff. In any case, I found a 75 hp chrysler with 40 hours on it and no corrosion that runs great, just in case I fall prey to another stupid experiment hehehe.

In addition to what Graham said, make sure you aren't sucking air somewhere between your fuel source and the engine connection. Air leaks can be intermittent and diabolical in as far as when they want to rear their ugly heads. Good luck.

Bob"