2020 Lowe pontoon with a 60 hp Mercury EFI motor.
I’m the second owner of this boat. I’ve had it for nearly two seasons, now. It has only like 20 hours on it.
Here’s the problem: when “cold”, it’s terribly hard to start. The starter works fine and the engine turns easily. It will quickly fire then instantly die while cranking. I do this with the shifter in neutral and while pushing the key in to “choke”. It takes NUMEROUS attempts, with various throttle positions to get it to start. Eventually it seems to like the throttle high when it starts, at which point it suddenly SCREAMS to life and I have to QUICKLY throttle back down to idle where it purrs like a kitten. It works flawlessly after that. It restarts immediately afterwards, too.
I had a problem with water intrusion to the gas tank which apparently killed the high pressure fuel pump. I replaced the pump and all filters. I emptied and cleaned out the gas tank and refilled it with ethanol free fuel (which I use exclusively). I then purged all of the remaining air and water from the system. I even removed the injectors and pumped fuel through the lines.
Even after all of this, the old hard starting problem exists. I’m at my wits end. I suspect a sensor or ECM problem, but don’t know where to look, next. BTW, I took it to the local Mercury dealer over the winter to fix it. All they said was, “It worked fine for me.” So, I see little point in taking it back to them.
I’m the second owner of this boat. I’ve had it for nearly two seasons, now. It has only like 20 hours on it.
Here’s the problem: when “cold”, it’s terribly hard to start. The starter works fine and the engine turns easily. It will quickly fire then instantly die while cranking. I do this with the shifter in neutral and while pushing the key in to “choke”. It takes NUMEROUS attempts, with various throttle positions to get it to start. Eventually it seems to like the throttle high when it starts, at which point it suddenly SCREAMS to life and I have to QUICKLY throttle back down to idle where it purrs like a kitten. It works flawlessly after that. It restarts immediately afterwards, too.
I had a problem with water intrusion to the gas tank which apparently killed the high pressure fuel pump. I replaced the pump and all filters. I emptied and cleaned out the gas tank and refilled it with ethanol free fuel (which I use exclusively). I then purged all of the remaining air and water from the system. I even removed the injectors and pumped fuel through the lines.
Even after all of this, the old hard starting problem exists. I’m at my wits end. I suspect a sensor or ECM problem, but don’t know where to look, next. BTW, I took it to the local Mercury dealer over the winter to fix it. All they said was, “It worked fine for me.” So, I see little point in taking it back to them.