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VaSalty

New member
Hell everyone,

I have a 2002 ProLine with a 200 HP V6 Mercury (carbed) that is very temperamental. Yesterday evening my brother-in-law and I wanted to go for a quick run but the motor took a while to get started. Once I got it going I left the slip and idled through the no- wake zone with no issues. Once I cleared the docks I got her up on plane and headed toward the river, however, after about 20 seconds the motor started to hesitate, almost like a hiccup. I slowed down and let it passed then sped up again. The boat ran fine for the next 20 minutes or so , but "hiccuped" one more time. After that it was smooth sailing all the way back to the marina. I immediately blamed it on water in the fuel so I dumped the contents of the water separating filter into a jar expecting to see evidence of moisture. Surprisingly the fuel looked pretty good. Now I am wondering what else could have caused the motor to act up. The weird thing is that when I put the boat in the water a week ago to take it to the slip it ran perfectly. I had the carbs rebuilt the season before last and have only put about 30 hours on the motor since then. I stored the boat with a full tank of gas and added the recommended amount of Stabil for storage last November. I also fogged the motor before I put it up for the winter. This spring I ran the fogging oil out of the motor then changed the water separating filter, the fuel filter, and replaced the spark plugs.
 
This could be a large number of things. When you say hiccuped can you be more specific?

I have personally changed plugs and cracked one of them in the process which would act up under certain conditions. It was hard to notice and was caused me using a socket at the bottom of the cowling. I have also had a new plug fail on me out of the box under certain conditions. If it ran fine with the old plugs maybe put them back and see if it happens.

If that doesn’t work the next thing I would check is the fuel lines and vents and make sure you don’t have a something restricting the fuel. When the hiccup happens look at the fuel bulb. If it’s flat you may have a blocked vent. When last did you replace the fuel “bulb” They can fail although rarely.

I would then move onto the fuel pump as a potential culprit. When last was this serviced? If the springs and diaphragms are aged they may not be working correctly and this could lead to a hesitation, bog when you open it up.
 
Allow me to try and clarify what I mean by “hiccup “. While underway the motor revved down and kind of stalled for a split second. The first time it happened it was a series of 3 “hiccups”. The second time it was a single “hiccup “.
 
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