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The engine is starved for fuel, and won’t start. But more often than not, after this treatment the tell-tale will be spitting water again. After three or four tries if there’s still no flow, blame the impeller and call it a day. Once you’re convinced it won’t go any farther pull the line out, and start the engine up. Choose the largest diameter line which fits into the tiny tell-tale hole, and thread it as far in as possible. This is a lot simpler than it sounds, as long as you have some fishing line on-hand.
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QUICK FIX: Ream the tell-tale, from the outside in. If you don’t know which is the cause, you’ll have to pull the boat and head for the mechanic.
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But more often than not, the issue arises because the tell-tale is clogged with grit, mud, or a bit of seaweed the engine picked up. This could result from a ruined water pump impeller, which will require service. Disconnect it, and try the key again-there’s a good shot the engine will fire right up. You're looking for the black one with a yellow stripe. Get to the back of the switch panel, and look at the wires. QUICK FIX: You need to disable the emergency kill switch. If the switch is mounted horizontally in a spot where water can pool on it and cause damage, this is a particularly common and annoying issue. It acts as though the lanyard clip has been pulled off, and it prevents the engine from firing. This could be due to a number of reasons (before you do anything check to make sure the shifter’s in neutral, of course), but when it doesn't even seem to try to catch, there’s a good possibility your emergency cut-off switch has gone bad. Your engine cranks and cranks, but never attempts to catch.
Mercury motor wont start how to#
Today's outboard motors are far more reliable and fuel efficient than those of yester-year, but you'll still want to know how to fix these common problems-and fix 'em fast.