Mickey

mickey

New Member
I am a senior citizen, planning my retirement next spring, and recently bought a used boat, motor, & trailer to occupy my time fishing (my first ever watercraft). I immediately started having engine problems, and hope to get some useful advice here.
 

nathan

Active Member
:welcome: what issues are you having? also have you had a tune up done on the motor. That causes a lot of engine issues.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
The worst thing about boating is having an unreliable motor. You don't want to be stuck out on the lake and have to paddle back or try and wave down passerby's to ask for a tow. It's a safety thing too.

Now, old motors are fine but, old problematic used motors often seem never to be cured as the history of what has been done (or not done) is unknown. you throw good $ after bad to chase never ending problems. At that point a rebuild is necessary. Regardless of the path you choose, I recommend a reliable certified marine tech (mechanic) to either go through the motor top to bottom or re-build/remanufacture it.

If this seems like too much of a hassle (and it can be), It might be more prudent to sell the old motor to someone that likes to tinker, and convert the proceeds towards a new reliable motor (with warranty and regular service at the dealer) for peace of mind.
 

mickey

New Member
used motor not running

First off, thanks to all who responded.
A little story about the motor. It's a 6 hp, Mercury twin 60, serial# 1435688. I bought the boat, motor (not original to the boat), and trailer on Aug 1st. The boat title says it was manufactured in 1972. Naturally before I agreed to buy the outfit, I wanted to see/hear the motor run. It started on the 2nd or 3rd pull, was quiet for a Merc., ran smoothly with not a lot of vibration.
When I got home, I filled my drum with water so I could let my wife and grand kids see and listed to it. It ran fine. On Memorial Day we took it to the lake started it up and started to leave launch area. After 3 to 5 minutes it stalled. Pumped the primer bulb, started on the first pull, ran less than a minute, and stalled again. Pulled the cord, started, ran 10 seconds, and hasn't run since (sort of).
After getting home I started trouble shooting. I discovered the connections did not seal tightly on either of the 2 metel, 6 gal. tanks. One says it is a Johnson and the other is a OMC. With a helper depressing the connection tightly to the tank, it started on the 3rd pull, let loose and it died. I bought a new tank (Atwood), new hose barb tank connection, and a new twist connection for the motor.
The fuel is not getting to the filter/float chamber. Before the filter area the fuel enters into a chamber attached on the engine block, gets into the lower half, but does not go any further up, which would allow it to go to the filter area. If any one can follow my rambling, any advice.
 

Chris

Administrator
Staff member
When you pump the priming bulb, does it get hard?

When you are you able to get it running, have you tried to keep pumping the bulb to see if that will help keep it running?

It sounds like you might have a bad hose, perhaps a plugged up fuel filter or a bad fuel pump diaphram.

I've had this happen before and more than a few times I just went and bought a new hose and it corrected the problem.

Before you do that though, I would confirm what connections you have on the tank end and on the motor end. It's possible someone changed out the original Merc fittings to OMC.

-Chris
 

nathan

Active Member
I would check the fuel pump. also Be careful with the new atwood tank as they are no longer vented tanks. most of the older motors have to have a vented tank or it will create a vacuum and will not flow gas.
 
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