First trip ever!!!!... Problems..

[Brandon]

So I finally got the boat that I was waiting so long to get, with is a Voyager 18ft. Took some time over the past week to get it cleaned up and do some painting on it and some other odd and end stuff. Well Yesterday, I finally was able to take the boat out on the water, for my first ever trip with my own boat that Ive waited so long to do. So I put the throttle all the way up once in the water and out of the no wake zone... and it never got above 2,500 rpm's. The day that I test drove it it was running at about 5,000. I know it probably has something to do with the throttle cable ( only because people keep telling me that) I adjusted the throttle stiffness on the Throttle body assesmbly but it did nothing. It was so hard to move up I couldnt move it anymore because I thought I was going to break it.

What everyone doesnt keep telling me however is how to fix it, how to check and see if that is the problem, and I was hoping that some of you guys could help me out with that. Everything else went just fine except we were going really slow.

[brumbyvet]

A little info would help. What kind of motor ? What year ? What H.P. ?

[Brandon]

After reading my post again, I guess I did leave out some key information.

2000 Mercury, 60hp.

Once I got to the water ( remember this is my first time ever out with a boat ) I got it in the water no problem. Once we are in the boat I forgot to pump the gas into the engine, So jumped back there and pumped probably 6-8 times ( which im sure is to much ) until the pump was to hard to squeeze, I then started to crack it with no choke and it took me several times to crank it up, once it finally did it was kinda like it just wasnt running at full strength. Well once I got out onto the water I engaged the throttle and it pretty much did nothing at all. I pushed the throttle all the way up until it seemed like it stopped, well a few minutes later I realized that it would go up just a little more ( I was afraid of breaking the throttle cable) and we got a little bit more RPM's out of it but we never got above 2500.

[mike]

It certainly sounds like a throttle cable issue, do you have any paperwork on the throttle? My boat came with the original paperwork and the throttle adjustment guide. That would be where I would start!

[Brandon]

Unfortunately, I dont have any paperwork that came with the boat, the previous owner said they dont have any of the manual's.

[Ghost Rider]

Defiantly sounds like you are not getting enough fuel. Are you sure that the tank is venting correctly.

[Brandon]

As far as I can tell yes, everything is the exact same as when I test drove it and it did perfectly fine.

What leads me to believe it is the throttle cable is, I dont know how all toon's are set up but with mine, When the throttle handle is pointing straight at you it is in nuetral straight up is full throttle and straight down is reverse ( I hope that makes sense)

Well Once I move it forward out of the N position, and the engine engages I still have to move it over half way to the top before I get any speed, at all the way up to the top which should be full throttle is giving me 25 rpm's


I know my explination sucks, but I am at work and it is hard for me to explain in detail because I always have some idiot yelling about something.

[curtiscapk]

Spun prop????

first time we took our used toon out and punched it spun the prop.....

[Parasympathetic]

How long had this motor been sitting before you ran it? 3 months, 3 years? fresh gas, old gas? When you ran it the first time and it did ok, was that in the water or on muffs?

[Brandon]

It had sat all summer long with the same gas the first time I test drove it with the guy, it ran just fine. It probably sit about another week before I took it out, and still old gas that was from last year.

Is it possible that I could have just flooded the motor prior to getting it started which caused it not to run at full speed?

[margaritaman]

Check where the throttle cable connects to the motor and see if your throttle lever is pushing all the way when you push the control lever forward. The cable might have to be adjusted by making it a little longer to push the lever all the way to the open position on your motor.

[cncmaster]

ok ok, i had the same problem a long time ago, and i did everything i could think of, so try this. take a 5 galon portable gas tank with frsh gas and disconect the line from the boat tank and stick it in the portable tank ( make sure to pop open the vent hole ) for me it was like uhhhhhh what a relief. dont know what made me try that but it sure worked. we ended up changing the fuel tank it had a lot of crap in there.

good luck hope it will work for you to.

[Parasympathetic]

what cnc say is a good idea, but your carb may already be clogged with lacquer-like gunk from the old gas, which will require a carb rebuild. Frequently they'll start and idle, but won't go above 2k or so.

[Brandon]

Well... I put new gas in it, and took her out on the lake and the motor would not start, well after all kinds of little checks, all it appeared to be was the battery cable was a little lose and was not giving the started enough juice to spin the flywheel. I got it started and with new gas in it she ran about about 5500 rpms and I had no further problems.

Thanks for the suggestion

[toondog]

Just curious. How were the cables attached to the battery?