1996 Mercury 115 Hard To Start

"I just bought a '96 sea r

"I just bought a '96 sea ray with a 115 2 stroke on it. Runs very well except the transition from 2 to 4 cylinders around 1800-2000 rpm. Problem is I can not find any info on how to correctly start the motor. I was told to put the throttle in nuetral and move it forward until it hits the first notch that you feel. From there move it back a bit and turn the key while you push it to operate the choke. Once it starts bump the key switch a few more times. When the motor is cold this works fine. I found that when it's hot, semi-hot ar anywhere in between it doesn't. We have tried everything and can not find out what the secret is. Is this common for these engines or is it possible that something else is wrong? Some guys have said that mercurys like alot of throttle when starting so we tried that and it did not help either. Any help would be appreciated. Also the dealer told me that the max RPM for that motor was 4250. Had it out twice now and that seems low. I think he may have meant 5250. I have looked around and it seems like that is what most people are running it at. If anyone knows for sure or where I can get the info please let me know. Bryan."

"Normal operating range for th

"Normal operating range for that motor at WOT is 4750-5250 RPMs. Normally once you have started a cold motor like you have been doing, you don't need to choke it any more that day."

5250 is the max. RPM. If it wo

5250 is the max. RPM. If it won't restart hot then is it set too rich.

Thanks for the help. I thought

Thanks for the help. I thought 4250 RPM was low. Maybe I need to lay off the choke once it has been started for the day. I will give it a try.