Mercury 9.8 mystery

[Paultijo]

We are at our wits end… perhaps someone can solve our mystery? I’m no mechanic… maybe it’s obvious to you. I’ll describe in detail: our 1985 2-stroke 9.8 was running a little ragged so I took it home and (following YouTube guidance) tried to service it myself. Changed the plugs & gear oil, packed the impeller… then it wouldn’t start for me. So I took it to local Mercury mechanic/dealer… after $800 work (he’s a good guy, lowered cost to 500 when I went into shock) we took it back up to the lake & put it on the boat. Wouldn’t start. Maybe I should mention that we’ve been transporting it on its side 180 miles each way. Brought it back down. Mechanic rebuilt the carburetor (replaced a float and a needle?). We brought it back up, put it on the boat… and again it won’t start. It actually DID start very easily and purred quieter than ever… for about 30 seconds, then died. I dumped the gas (which had been stored, with preservative, over the winter) purged the line and got new fuel @ 50:1. Again, no joy. So we’ll go back to the mechanic again next week, feeling either stupid or very unlucky.

 

[racerone]

Need to find another mechanic.-----Does not matter how you lay it down for transport.----Test with another tank and hose.

 

[fitz73222]

What exactly did your "mechanic" do for $800? Did he give you a running engine? Did you see it run?