BKeith

Clean/rebuild the carbs. The fuel is leaking buy the needle/seats. Either the needles are not sealing good on the seats or the float level is too high. Be sure the float levels are set right, some Mercs can be a PITA to get them right. If it's doing it when it's shut off, it's not the fuel pump. No way it can over pressure the fuel and force the needles off the seats when the engine is not running. It's not a 92 - 95 Johnson v-6, those were the ones with the carbs that flooded out when the motor was trimmed all the way in. If you had any other model doing that, the floats were not set right.

Looks like it might have been run hot, or oil starved. If oil starved, you might find a whole lot more damage when torn down. Many times it takes out the crank. A few more words of wisdom that will save you a bunch of money. It's very common and an acceptable practice to only bore and replace one piston if the other sleeve is good. Also, you might be surpised at how good that sleeve will clean up. You can easily take it .005 over size and still work just fine. Anything more than that will give you a piston skirt tick when cold. I've seen some mighty ugly sleeve clean up to like new with a little bit of honing. Now, I'm talking about a real cylinder hone, like a Sunnen, not one of those three fingered glaze buster of ball hones. Being a blind hole, you have to be very cautious about making it a tappered hole. If you think you can do it yourself, you should easily be able to do everything for less than $500, if the crank is good. If interested, I can give you my cell phone number and talk you through the whole process and all the do and don'ts. If you can build a car engine, you can build an outboard, but there are some things you need to know that are unique and you can end up with a big, high dollar piece of scrap metal if you do it wrong. I'm actually not that far from you but I don't build engines for other people.

Ok, a little more geewizz info. The only bearing that normally needs replacing is the bottom main. It's extremely rare for any of the other to need replacing. These are not like your car motors, the needle bearings last an extremely long time. The only time I replace one is if it's blue, showing signs of extreme heat or is pitting and both of these conditions are extremely rare. You always replace the lower main because it's a roller bearing and is the one that keeps the crank from walking up and down. You will find that even some of the best engine builders in the country feel the same way. The only time all the bearings are replaced is when it's classified as a Remaned power head, and that's where some take advantage of you because the sell them as Remaned but they are really just rebuilt. I've seen some crooks that replace the rings and gaskets and call it remaned. Bore it, install the new pistons, gaskets, seals and lower main bearing. Those are the only parts you noramlly need in the power head. Everything else is usually just useless money spent. You can buy an aftermarket full gasket set almost as cheap as BRP sells just the head gasket. The carbs are easy enough to build and setup. However with that said, I have a set I rebuilt twice and they still didn't work so I bought another set, rebuilt them and they worked fine. Timing and all that other stuff is a piece of cake with a little guidance to help you understand what you are doing. The primer solenoid, you can get just the top section for about $20. One word of caution, do not have the block bored at the standard machine shop, unless you know how to chamfer the edges of the ports. If the ports are not chamfered, the sharp edge can grab a ring and break it.

Still outrageous. Fuel pump without oil injection is approx $165. Water pump is about $45, carb kits about $15. A little geewizz info, you don't have to replace the fuel pump to do away with the oil injection. All you have to do is uplug the 4/5 pin connector (depends on year model) so the alarm doesn't sound. Everything else can stay and it won't hurt a thing. If you want to take the oil tank out of the boat for the extra room, you can do that also. You can leave the oil hose or take it out. If someone tells you the pump has to be replaced, and you can't just quit using it by unplugging the connector, they are blowing smoke. There are thousands of them that's been running for years with just unplugging the connector. The extra labor for doing the carbs and water pump is ony about 1 1/2 hours and there is no extra labor for replacing the fuel pump because it's already off and it takes about two minutes to take the mounting bracket off the old one and install it on the new one

I'm not sure who you got the quote from but that is one outrageous price for a two cylinder motor, even if the motor needed a new sleeve, parts and labor should not be more than $1,000. If you can rebuild a auto engine, you can build a two stroke with a little good guidance and it would be around $500.

I was only referencing to how technical outboard motors have gotten and expensive they are to repair when they do break. I WAS NOT bashing the technological advances in the newer automobiles. Some people seem to make an issue out of anything, (and managed to make a full page post out of it???). Yes, in the 60's a car was considered pretty much worn out at 100,000 miles, and consumbed gas like there was no tomorrow, but they were very easy and much less expensive to repair. Many of the newer models today easily go 200 to 300,000 with minimal maintenance but are very expensive to repair when the do break. Which is pretty much what you can say about the outboards also, so get a life.

Yep, and the bigger the boat, the bigger the hole for more money. If you are mechanically competent, it saves you a lot of money and down time waiting on repair shops. However, one can still be very expensive when you have a major motor malfunction/breakdown. It's very easy to spend hundreds and even several thousand on a motor break down. It's getting like the new cars, where they take a lot of specialized equipment and computer diagnostics to work on the newer motors, and there are not a lot of service technicians that really know what the heck they are doing with them.

I would offer to help, but I can't understand exactly what you are talking about. As for that second switch you refer to, I'm figuring that must be something with the boat, I know of no such switch associated with OMC/BRP motors. When you refer to the fact that it won't start, does that mean it's cranking over and just won't start? Or is not cranking over. Normally when an engine won't start, that means the starter is spinning the motor If the starter is not spinning the motor, that means it's not cranking. So, won't crank means starter is not spinning the motor and won't start means the starter is spinning the motor.

Yes, all interconnect cables in a series setup are from the from the positive of one battery to the negative of another battery. You never connect positives to positives or negatives to negatives when connecting in series. Remember the current has to go through each battery in one post and out the other and then in and out the next battery. Every cell in each battery sees the same amount of current, that's why they have to be the same size, make and age. Each cell has it's own internal resistance and that changes with age, size and manufactor so if some cells have more resistance than others, they over heat to the point they an actually boil the water out and other things. Usually, the newest battery is the first to go bad.

You don't have a battery cable on that one battery. The only thing I see is the onboard charger cable. Are you running a two battery 24V setup or a three battery, 36V setup? You only show two in the pic. Are you running the cranking battery as the third battery? If so, this could leave you stranded on the lake if you are playing around with replacing just one bad battery at the time. Also, the cranking battery has to be the exact same battery as the two TM batteries. Here's how it will connect if you are running 36 volt. With an onboard charger, every battery will have at least two cables on each post. You will have a red to each positive post and a black to each negative post from the bank cables from the onboard charger. We will identify each battery as A, B, and C. Battery A will have the positive cable (usually a large red) from the TM connected to the positive post. Battery C will have the negative cable (usually a large black) going to the negative post. The negative post of battery A will have a large cable going to the postive post on battery B The negative post on battery B will have a large cable going to the positive post on battery C. It's hard to tell from the picture but the interconneting cable looks smaller than six guage battery cable. For that size TM, I would strongly recommend these cables be at least six guage or the resistance they creat could cause some performance loss. Also note, if you are running the cranking battery as part of the 36V TM setup, you will have at least three cables going to that one because of the engine cables and probably more since they normally have all those accessory wires going to it.

That somebody that told you to just swap out one apparently doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground and gave you some bad advice, but it's up to you if you want to keep chasing battery problems. Sounds like hooked a battery or two up wrong when you reconnected everything, but since I don't like giving wasted/unwanted info, good luck. Go hear and then about half way down you will see a bold NEVER, read that and if you do some research, you will find all kinds of info on the subject. http://www.thebatterygenius.com/battery-maintenance/how-to-maintain-deep-cycle-batteries/ Series batteries must be matching because if not, there can be big differences in cell resistance and this will cause a number of different problems, including ruining the new battery you just bought after extended use.

First, check and clean connections, if it's slowing that much, any bad connection should be creating a lot of heat so feel all them after running on high for a few minutes. If you have a DVM and know how to use it, you can measure voltage drops and easily identify the problem. Just remember, you can't replace just one of the batteries, you have to replace the set, both if 24V and all three if 36V.

I would find some way to double check that 100:1 recommendation. There is a little more involved with over oiling than just the extra smoke. It causes excess carbon buildup on the pistons and heads, which over times breaks loose and works just like course sand paper on the pistons and cylinders. Cheap oil even adds greatly to that problem. Carbon is extremely hard and when those little chips come loose, they are little grinding stones. This greatly shortens an engines life. I would run one tank with two ounces of SeaFoam per gallon every 15 - 20 hours and make some WOT runs with it to help keep the piston domes clean. This is if it's really rated for 100:1 and you double oil it with 50:1. I decarb one with SeaFoam every 50 hours when using the proper oil ratio.

The very first thing I do on any used motor I buy is replace the water pump. Three years is about the max I will run a water pump. The second is to check and clean the fuel system, and rebuild the carbs. For your problem, it's very common for a motor running on a hose not to spray water out the pee hole at idle. If you really want to see how the water pump is working, it needs to be in a tank. The idle problem you are having could just be caused by the fact you are running it on a hose so do not try to adjust anything, like idle speed or mixture while on it, a hose does not put the back pressure on it that being the proper depth in water does, so everything is screwed up. Now, as for the water pump fixing your problem, I seriously doubt it. I would replace it, but I think you are going to find you still have problems after you do.

Look for the small black tube approx 1/4" in diameter, it will either be going over transome to the motor or down the back of the transome to the pitot. I would think on that motor they pick it up on the leading edge of the lower unit. If so, you will see the tube coming out of the mid section about half way up and just below the anitcav plate, the location is hard to decribe but usually it's a small plastic elbow fitting pushed/screwed in there. The hole is only going to be less than 1/8" diameter and on the very leading edgeof the LU a little way up from the bullet shape. A lot of the time, the tube pulls loose from the plastic coupling they use to connect the piece going into the motor to the piece going to the boat or the nipple gets broken off the motor. It could just be the speedo went bad. find the end at the transome and put about 80# of air pressure on it and see if you get a reading. Also, blow back through the other way, toward the pickup to blow it clear. As long as the tac works, I never get concerned about the speedometer, I use the gps when I want to know how fast I'm going. It'll be accurate the speedo can be way off.

Might want to make sure you have the trim pin in the hole neareast the transome (provided it has one). Also, as mentioned move weight to in front of the front seat. TM battery, cooler etc.

May I make a suggestion. If you haven't already checked, put in in gear, forward and reverse, and see if it starts. If not, you should be good to go, but if it starts in gear, you have a very dangerous operating condition. You don't have to forget but one time and start it in gear with the trottle pushed to hurt someone or wreck the boat.

I have a 1996, 4hp merc I use on my canoe and have used it several times on my 1436 jon. With two people in the boat, it will almost get on full plane. This is with me weighing 180 and a 140 pound passenger. It actually pushes it along suprisingly well, no TM of any size is going to come anywhere near the speed it gets.

Two can load it, no problem. However, double check your truck bed numbers. I've never even heard of a F-250 that had a 10' bed. Most have a 6 1/2' bed that gives approx 8' with tail gate down. The long beds are usually 8' and give approx 9 1/2 of support with tail gate down. 14' would be the max I would want to transport in a short bed, actually, a long be either. To carry it, might consider dragging it as long as it's not on a paved surface.

My first guess would be they went through a neutral start switch in the remote. I would think that even if an idiot did the rewiring, he would have still run them through a neutral start switch of some sort on the shifter so someone would not accidently start it in gear. However, I have come across some pretty big idiots over the years. Like a neighbor that put gasoline in a washing machine to get oil out of some cloths he spilt it on. I suspect the people in the emergency room are still laughing about that one. I don't think I need to say what happened as soon as he turned the dial to turn it on. Oh, and by the way, it shows me being a newbee, trust me, I'm a very long way from that and have a hellavalot of experience.

Regarless of the switch and electrical system, it's a very basic problem. He's gotta get voltage to and through the switch to the Starter terminal of the switch when held in the start position and to the starter solenoid. The other side of the solenoid has to be grounded. The easy way to check that is; if the solenoid has voltage on both small terminals, it's not grounded. If there is no voltage on either small terminal, it's not getting from the batteries positive terminal, to the solenoid. Which is what the switch and wiring is suppose to do so just follow the voltage. If he can't find the wire, just run another one from the switch to the solenoid.

I think my 14' jon weighs 190 pounds with nothing else. Removing everything from it and taking the motor off everytime you need to load/unload really gets to be a PETA. Especially with it having to go in transome first, also, don't forget to double check the width. If nothing else, I would go to Northern Tools or some place similar and get me a cheap trailer kit. It doesn't take a whole lot of trailer for a small jon. As for strange tow vehicles, you ain't seen nothing. When I was in high school (many, many moons ago) I bought a new, 14' Glass Master with 65hp Merc and towed it with a VW Karmann Ghia

If you have a 77 remote, I think freebie is right about the wrong switch. The 77 motor has CD ignition and must have a battery negative lug on the switch so you can turn the engine off once you get it started. Without it, the only way to shut it off is start pulling plug wires or chocking it down. The power packs have to be grounded out to shut if off, there are no electrical wires/cables you can disconnect to shut it off. You need to get a schematic for that model remote/motor and follow the voltage. Make sure you have battery positive on the bat. terminal and that it's going through the switch to the starter terminal, then make sure it's going through the neutral start switch to the starter solenoid. The other side of the solenoid has to go to battery negative (ground), if not, it's not going to energize. If the remote has a kill switch, make sure it doesn't have you grounded out.