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New Mercury 8 hp, four stroke, hard starting

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frustrated2

New member
I purchased a new Mercury 8 hp motor (four stroke) and it takes about 15 pulls to start it when it's cold. I was told it normally takes 5 to 10 pulls to start it because the EPA required closer clearances on the carburetor jets. I have had a number of 2 cycle small outboard engines and they all started with 1 or 2 pulls.

If Mercury or the dealer told me that the new four stroke was hard starting, I would have bought an electric start outboard.

Does anyone know if a Mercury four stoke (cycle) is inherently hard starting (10 pulls is ridiculous) ?

Thank you
 
Non-sense - take it back to the dealer and if you get "no satisfaction", call Merc directly and bug them until they fix it or replace the motor.

This particular "Merc" is actually a Tohatsu (100% built by Tohatsu, not a Merc part, save the decals and paint on the entire unit) - (or a Nissan (also Tohatsu) if you change the paint and decals).

If it doesn't start on the second or third pull (properly primed/choked when cold) then there is an issue.

Make them work for the dealer "prep" they charge as part of the price of the motor....
 
I brought the new motor to another Mercury dealer ,where they took it into the service shop. I watched a mechanic try to start it. It took him 13 pulls to get it running and he said it was flooded. He said I must not push of gas priming bulb on the motor or it will flood. Since then, it starts (when cold) on 3 pulls. The owner's manual said always prime it with 2 squirts. One Mercury customer service rep said 2 squirts are necessary . Another rep said to do 5 to 6 squirts are required. What is interesting, which I have never seen on a small outboard, is this motor has a special lever that allows you to start the engine in a fast idle mode to clear out the gas in a flooded motor. I should have recognized that flooding is not an uncommon problem with this motor.

I made the mistake of reading the owner's manual and calling Mercury twice.
 
Mine used to be hard to start until I found that one of the plug wires was almost off the plug, just pushed it on all the way and now it starts in one or two pulls
 
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