1999 mercury 40 2 stroke

[oodard4]

"I just boat a 2000 fisher fre

"I just boat a 2000 fisher freedom 180 with merc 40 2 stroke
we took it out this weekend and it seemed like the max rpms it would run was 3000 rpm,
but when we were just trying to idle into the dock the motor doesnt want to idle right, it starts shaking until i either put it in neutral or increase the throttle any thoughts ???"

 

[galamb]

"An awful lot of boat for a li

"An awful lot of boat for a little bit of motor.

Two issues - unrelated - first off, unless the motor was serviced, like the day before you got it, you have to assume it was NOT ready for the water.

Worst thing you can do with a used rig is just launch it and fire it right up.

You have to assume, unless you have reciepts to prove otherwise, that it needs a waterpump service, new gear oil and a general tune up.

The "shaking" could be due to dirty carbs, old gas, old plugs etc.

So first off, service the engine (either yourself or have a shop do it) - you have to assume it has been sitting "unused" and "unmaintained".

Secondly, that is a big heavy boat (1520 pounds dry) with a total payload of another 1600 or so pounds - that's alot of weight (over 3000 pounds) to potentially be pushing with a 40 horse.

To make things worse, it a pontoon, so not even a planing hull to try and help out the motor - it's like trying to power a dock through the water.

It is rated for a 75 horse motor. Somebody skimped when they bought her. A knowledgeable rigger or salesman would have suggested that it be powered with a 60 Bigfoot at minimum.

The 40 may have been the cheaper alternative, but it has left the rig significantly underpowered.

If you are not in a position to replace the motor, at the very least you should get it running properly and then invest in a substantially lower pitched prop, matched to the way you will use the boat (normal payload etc).

This is never going to be a speed demon, but it should allow you to putt around the lake without overloading the motor if it's tuned and rigged correctly..."

 

[oodard4]

"It was last in the water last

"It was last in the water last fall
and that is the motor that comes on the boat from the factory
changed plugs and gap them to 0.040 which the motor calls for, all new high test gas plus a bottle of sea foam,
after you get it up above 1500 rpms it runs smooth"

 

[galamb]

"I don't doubt that the bo

"I don't doubt that the boat was packaged at an "extremely low price" with the 40 hangin' off the back.

Companies do that to get you into their showroom (tracker and legend come immediately to mind).

You can get a 16' boat/motor/trailer for 12K - of course that is the budget trailer and a 50 horse 2 stroke Merc hangin' on it - when really you want the deluxe trailer and either a 90 4 stroke or a 90 Opti to power it properly (of course that's a 6-7K "option").

But then they couldn't print the flashy 12K advertisement, because if you kit it out properly the pricetag now is more like 20K and they don't look any better than the competition (and don't have the "status of Lund or Princecraft etc to have "starting prices" in the 20k range).

Boats are sold "underpowered" to keep costs down. My point was that the 40 was the absolute minimum you could hang on that - and if they could have got away with a 25 instead, that's what you would have on the back. It doesn't make it right, just the way it is.

The new gas and seafoam are great, but if the low speed jet is clogged or varnished up there is nothing in a can that will fix that. You can fiddle with the carb adjustment and maybe buy a season, but sooner or later the carbs are going to have to come off, be disassembled cleaned and possibly rebuilt...."