Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey Guys,
I took my 2007 115HP Merc 4S out today for the first time this season. It had been serviced back in Nov and has 56hrs total. It seemed normal until I slowed down for a no wake zone. After that, the RPM was showing much higher without running any faster. Tonight, we took her out and the same thing...except this time, I saw the needle go from 4000 to aroun 5000 RPM. The motor did not speed up nor did the boat. I pulled back to neutral and idle was around 1100 RPM. I can not remember what it shold be but that seems about right. I put it back into gear and slowly all the way forward and it easily went beyond 6500 RPM. I installed a new marine battery yesterday. Could I have an electrical issue?

This is a common problem with the faria tach I have. first try the tap method. Tap firmly several times on the face. If it still is not working right, remove it and cycle the settings on the back. It should have a dial in back for switching between 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines.

Thanks. Yes, it is a Faria Tach and for some reason, I did not tap it. I'll be in it again on Thurs or Fri and I'll give it a good rap or two. If that does not work, I will cycle the settings.

If that don't work then tap it again with a large hammer. Then go buy a new tach.

Yep sounds like a bad tach...I've never had a Telefex unit fail, ever.

Happens to me about twice a season, a good tap fixes it everytime.

I'll let everyone know if the two finger tap or the hammer tap works tomorrow.

I'd be gentle with the hammer myself, you may just want to return it....

Limited Lifetime Warranty

It is not enough that you place your trust in the products that you purchase but that the company that manufactured it should stand behind their product.

That's why Faria gauges are built to the highest quality standards. You can trust a Faria gauge to provide years of lasting performance. But, building a world class instrument is not enough. Our service must match our quality.

Should you need it Faria Corporation gives you a Limited Lifetime Warranty for your gauges.

On-Line Returns

Occasionally gauges do fail and need replacement. When you need help, in only a few minutes time we can get the information we need to get you back into the action. Go to the On-Line Returns page and fill out the form.

The On-Line Returns form will ask you to provide information to expedite the warranty claim. The more information supplied to Faria about the problem helps to effectively evaluate your gauge. Once you have completed the claim form, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing return instructions for your gauge.

http://www.faria-instruments.com/warranty.php

Screw that... the hammer sounds way more fun!

Bamby wrote:I'd be gentle with the hammer myself, you may just want to return it....

Limited Lifetime Warranty

It is not enough that you place your trust in the products that you purchase but that the company that manufactured it should stand behind their product.

That's why Faria gauges are built to the highest quality standards. You can trust a Faria gauge to provide years of lasting performance. But, building a world class instrument is not enough. Our service must match our quality.

Should you need it Faria Corporation gives you a Limited Lifetime Warranty for your gauges.

On-Line Returns

Occasionally gauges do fail and need replacement. When you need help, in only a few minutes time we can get the information we need to get you back into the action. Go to the On-Line Returns page and fill out the form.

The On-Line Returns form will ask you to provide information to expedite the warranty claim. The more information supplied to Faria about the problem helps to effectively evaluate your gauge. Once you have completed the claim form, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing return instructions for your gauge.

http://www.faria-instruments.com/warranty.php

Just be prepared to be without it for a few week. My faria trim gauge crack around the bezel. Was going to claim it on warranty and was told it would be a three week turn around. Send the gauge in, then after they looked at it they would fix it or send me a new one. I decided to glue it.
This is on my rinker not pontoon.

limulus wrote:Hey Guys,
I took my 2007 115HP Merc 4S out today for the first time this season. It had been serviced back in Nov and has 56hrs total. It seemed normal until I slowed down for a no wake zone. After that, the RPM was showing much higher without running any faster. Tonight, we took her out and the same thing...except this time, I saw the needle go from 4000 to aroun 5000 RPM. The motor did not speed up nor did the boat. I pulled back to neutral and idle was around 1100 RPM. I can not remember what it shold be but that seems about right. I put it back into gear and slowly all the way forward and it easily went beyond 6500 RPM. I installed a new marine battery yesterday. Could I have an electrical issue?

Just curious, did you figure out what was wrong? My Quicksilver tach started bouncing around. Replaced it and still no worky right. After some research and testing, I think it is the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR going bad.
If the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR goes out completely, you will have no tach and no charge to the battery. A bouncing tach may be an indication it is about to go out. Things that can cause a RECTIFIER/REGULATOR to go bad are a weak battery, running the motor with the charger still hooked up and putting the charger connections on back wards even for a second.
Well....the autocraft battery I had was 6 years old (the best battery I ever had). I bought a new battery hooked it up and started the motor. The tach went up then nothing and the volt gauge showed no charging. So I guess the new battery finished off the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR.
Got a new one on order, hopefully that will fix it. Not sure it mercs are the same, but something to check.

bump

Bamby wrote:I'd be gentle with the hammer myself, you may just want to return it....

Agreed. If it doesn't work, I'd for sure return that hammer. Obviously defective.

toondog wrote:

limulus wrote:Hey Guys,
I took my 2007 115HP Merc 4S out today for the first time this season. It had been serviced back in Nov and has 56hrs total. It seemed normal until I slowed down for a no wake zone. After that, the RPM was showing much higher without running any faster. Tonight, we took her out and the same thing...except this time, I saw the needle go from 4000 to aroun 5000 RPM. The motor did not speed up nor did the boat. I pulled back to neutral and idle was around 1100 RPM. I can not remember what it shold be but that seems about right. I put it back into gear and slowly all the way forward and it easily went beyond 6500 RPM. I installed a new marine battery yesterday. Could I have an electrical issue?

Just curious, did you figure out what was wrong? My Quicksilver tach started bouncing around. Replaced it and still no worky right. After some research and testing, I think it is the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR going bad.
If the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR goes out completely, you will have no tach and no charge to the battery. A bouncing tach may be an indication it is about to go out. Things that can cause a RECTIFIER/REGULATOR to go bad are a weak battery, running the motor with the charger still hooked up and putting the charger connections on back wards even for a second.
Well....the autocraft battery I had was 6 years old (the best battery I ever had). I bought a new battery hooked it up and started the motor. The tach went up then nothing and the volt gauge showed no charging. So I guess the new battery finished off the RECTIFIER/REGULATOR.
Got a new one on order, hopefully that will fix it. Not sure it mercs are the same, but something to check.

Hey Guys,
Sorry, I forgot to post again. It seems the problem was the wing nut on the battery ground post. I had installed a new battery and the wing nuts that hold the cables to the terminals were a size smaller. The new battery had nuts, but during the installation, I misplaced one and could not find it. The old ones were just a little bigger or had a different thread. Anyway, I used one of those on the ground and I suppose it was just loose enough to cause the problem. At least that seemed to be the problem. I put the correct size on and the last time out, the tach was fine.

The new battery had nuts

Well, there ya go!