Hello,
I just bought a 1998 Nitro, w/ a 150 hp Mercury outboard. The boat runs great when cruising, but the problem is getting it started sometimes.
We trailer the boat, so everytime we put it in the water the engine starts up great. Occasionally when trying to back it off the trailer, it doesnt seem to have any acceleration. After a couple seconds it seems to kick in, and runs fine. Same issue when first moving in gear going forward to get on plane. It is sometimes slow to accelerate, but then the power kicks in and it runs smooth as ever.
My real issue, however, is after anchoring down for a while (anywhere from 15-mins to 2 hours), I'll try to start the engine, but I can't get it started. For example, we had the boat out yesterday, the engine started up right away and ran fine. Then, we anchored down for about 2 hours with the engine off. We couldn't get it started then. The engine would turn over a couple of times, but then cut out. We would keep ignition turned, but it wouldn’t crank anymore. It almost seems like the engine thinks its started, so it won't crank anymore. Occasionally it will crank for a while, but the engine won't fire. Luckily, we are usually able to get it started after a few minutes.
I do have a video I took, which shows exactly what is happening. It said it is too big to upload to this forum, but if anyone is interested in seeing it, please let me know. It does a lot better job of showing the issue than me trying to explain it.
We've taken it back to the dealer we bought it from a few times now, but go figure, it always runs fine when they look at it. I recently took a video of it, so you can hear exactly what is happening. They claimed to have changed out the fuel pump, and said the fuel filter is fine. They seem very hesitant to take the engine apart to get to the carbs. Could these be an issue? spark plugs? something electrical?
We have been using fresh gas, 93 octane, so I would think vapor lock would not be an issue, but I have no idea.
I appreciate any help you can give!
Thank you!!
I just bought a 1998 Nitro, w/ a 150 hp Mercury outboard. The boat runs great when cruising, but the problem is getting it started sometimes.
We trailer the boat, so everytime we put it in the water the engine starts up great. Occasionally when trying to back it off the trailer, it doesnt seem to have any acceleration. After a couple seconds it seems to kick in, and runs fine. Same issue when first moving in gear going forward to get on plane. It is sometimes slow to accelerate, but then the power kicks in and it runs smooth as ever.
My real issue, however, is after anchoring down for a while (anywhere from 15-mins to 2 hours), I'll try to start the engine, but I can't get it started. For example, we had the boat out yesterday, the engine started up right away and ran fine. Then, we anchored down for about 2 hours with the engine off. We couldn't get it started then. The engine would turn over a couple of times, but then cut out. We would keep ignition turned, but it wouldn’t crank anymore. It almost seems like the engine thinks its started, so it won't crank anymore. Occasionally it will crank for a while, but the engine won't fire. Luckily, we are usually able to get it started after a few minutes.
I do have a video I took, which shows exactly what is happening. It said it is too big to upload to this forum, but if anyone is interested in seeing it, please let me know. It does a lot better job of showing the issue than me trying to explain it.
We've taken it back to the dealer we bought it from a few times now, but go figure, it always runs fine when they look at it. I recently took a video of it, so you can hear exactly what is happening. They claimed to have changed out the fuel pump, and said the fuel filter is fine. They seem very hesitant to take the engine apart to get to the carbs. Could these be an issue? spark plugs? something electrical?
We have been using fresh gas, 93 octane, so I would think vapor lock would not be an issue, but I have no idea.
I appreciate any help you can give!
Thank you!!