Difficult Starting - Mercury 3.5 1983 2 stroke

[EnglishLes]

Real problem getting this to start from cold.

I think it is a choke problem, as covering the air inlet on the carb got the engine firing but soon died ran a bit longer by letting some air in but found it very hard to get the balance right. Needed the choke lever in to get any firing.

Eventually heated plug on gas stove and then it would run.

Once the engine had ran for a few minutes started easily and ran slowly but not quite idle.

The fuel is old (at least the month I've had it but may be a lot older).

Most grateful for any suggestions.

[9D280]

Plug probably a good place to start based on what you said there. Also check your choke. Take the lid off the air box (if it has one) & check the lever is actually moving the chokle plate. If no visible choke plate you probabyl have one of the older carbs where the choke was an enrichening valve (i.e threw more fuel in). Post back if that's what you find, but try a new plug first. Nothing will happen if there's no spark!

1 month old fuel might cause something new & highly tuned to go in the huff, but to put it in perspective when I ran my Merc in after the rebuild, I used fuel that had been lying around for nearly 2 years, then added more oil to make it 25:1 & it started first go!

For the cost of a spark plug, give it a try. If you have a spark friend, ask him / her to megger both it & the new one (insulation test) - it's a good demo of how the insulation eventually breaks down.

[Poly]

9d280 - I think he's saying "the fuel came with it" in which case I'd assume it could be very old and get fresh fuel in there - if only to eliminate that.

Les, Was the carb drained when you got it? If not you it might be gunked up which would explain the idle problem.

[john goatcher]

Hi. Just got an old Mercury 3.5hp. Any Idea where I would get info/parts list/spares? as I seem to have a dodgy coil or something as no spark. John