"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Captain A. Gore" wrote in :


"new boater....kinda" wrote in message
news:0d9316bf-0256-4c38-8cd7-510e0dd8dfa3
@a7g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
I have an arrow ski boat with a 74 115 horse mercury in it. it has 3
carbs and from the looks of it i have carb problems. how much should
it cost me to get this fixed?

'Bout a bazillion drachmas




Clear off the dining room table and cover it with newspapers.

Take the carbs off and don't lose the linkages.

Take the float bowls off and clean out the obvious gook and other junk
with carb cleaner AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. Soak the carbs in carb cleaner
for a few days to let it melt that shellac that's clogging up the jets.
Use a fine wire to ream the crap out of the jets. Be careful not to
make the holes larger though.

Now clean as new, reassemble it all and thank the wife for the dining
room table usage.

Put the carbs back on and let the primer pump fill the bowls back up.
If there's spark, she should start right up. 2-stroke engines aren't
rocket science.

If it still won't start, remove the flywheel with a puller and inspect
the stator the magnets whirl around to make all the power. Curse
Mercury when you find the totally unprotected soft iron core of the
stator has rotted into rust and shorted out your magnetism that makes
the power. Buy an aftermarket stator and coat all the exposed soft iron
surfaces with heavy axle grease to protect it forever under the
flywheel. Why an American outboard motor company can't figure that out
never ceases to amaze me.

After replacing the rotted stator, don't let your fingers get anywhere
near those ignition coils or you're gonna pay bigtime! It can't help
but fire, now, unless the crankshaft is frozen.....

After you get it running, every time you're putting it back on the
trailer shut off the fuel while the engine is still sucking cooling
water on the trailer and let it run until it stalls. When it starts to
stall, hit the choke to suck out all the gas from the carbs you can. If
the other owner had done that, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
The boat was stored with gas in the carbs, which evaporated and left the
shellac behind...same as every other gas motor ever stored.

Nice engine...SIMPLE so mere humans can fix it on a dining room table.
Splurge and buy it a new water pump impeller so it doesn't overheat.
The old one's trash.


--
-----
Larry


That was the conventional wisdom for older two strokes, but my 2003 Johnson
25 2 stroke says this....

OFF-SEASON STORAGE

You must protect against natural environmental

conditions that can be damaging to an outboard

motor. Temperature and humidity changes while

your outboard motor is not in use can cause corrosion

of internal engine parts when they are not protected.

Fuel remaining in your fuel tank and in the

engine will oxidize and weather which can result in

loss of octane and can cause gum deposits in the

fuel system. Your warranty does not cover engine

failure caused by these conditions. We strongly recommend

that you have your DEALER prepare your

outboard for the off-season.

To do the off-season storage preparations yourself,

gather the supplies and perform the following steps.

2+4 fuel conditioner

Triple-Guard grease

Ultra-HPF gearcase lubricant

Storage Fogging Oil spray can

Stabilize the engine's fuel supply with 2+4 fuel conditioner

during the last hours of operation to ensure

proper stabilization, following instructions on the

container for mixture. Be sure to run the engine

long enough for the treated fuel to reach the engine



**Note: no mention of running the engine dry.