2012 Suntracker 22 Regency

[smuckie]

Hey gang I now have a tritoon with a 150 Mercurry 4 stroke and I was out Saturday and running at about 5000 rpm and it slowed to 4000 rpm and wouldn't go faster till I slowed to an idle then it would do it again,had a pretty good load on it 9 adults and pretty rough water, any ideas?

[mpilot]

Hey gang I now have a tritoon with a 150 Mercurry 4 stroke and I was out Saturday and running at about 5000 rpm and it slowed to 4000 rpm and wouldn't go faster till I slowed to an idle then it would do it again,had a pretty good load on it 9 adults and pretty rough water, any ideas?

First thought is a fuel restriction of some type if you aren't getting any warnings from the engine. I'd check the fuel filter(s), primer bulb and lines for restrictions.

[smuckie]

Thanks I thought of that too but I was thinking worst and hoping best I'll change them Saturday

[mpilot]

Thanks I thought of that too but I was thinking worst and hoping best I'll change them Saturday

It doesn't apply to your case specifically but it had similar symptoms so I'll tell the story. A close friend with an older house boat had engines that would run fine all day 1000-1500 RPM's on both motors. If you ran them above 1,500 they would run fine for a little while (sometimes a minute, sometimes an hour, sometimes all day) but would eventually starve themselves and die. Usually you could get them restarted, or if you caught them dieing out you could reduce the RPM's and they would recover, and you could run the RPM's up again and repeat the process. They are pulling from two separate 150 gallon fuel cells so we eliminated bad fuel because of that and the fact the generator ran fine. He changed the fuel water separator filter and the filter at the carburetor multiple times until our mechanic friend came and found fuel pump mounted filters that were so clogged they looked solid black.

All that being said, similar symptoms as yours so I would think the filters are the culprits. It seems like the fuel pump is having time to catch up when you drop the RPM's but can't sustain the fuel flow you need. How often do you change the filters? I know fuel water separators are usually at least every 100 hours or once a season. If it's the new model 3.0 liter 150 Four Stroke with the fuel filter on the yellow handle it's also recommended every 100 hours or once a season according to the manual.

[smuckie]

Just bought it Febuary and have had it out 3 times, I just downloaded a Mercury manual and it shows the gas cap like mine and it has the red vent built in like mine, I'm thinking mine has been shut since I haven't put gas in it but once and I think I closed it after I put gas in tank, would be great if that's all it is but I'm changing filter this week, the dealer "said"they changed oils and impeller , thanks again

[mpilot]

Just bought it Febuary and have had it out 3 times, I just downloaded a Mercury manual and it shows the gas cap like mine and it has the red vent built in like mine, I'm thinking mine has been shut since I haven't put gas in it but once and I think I closed it after I put gas in tank, would be great if that's all it is but I'm changing filter this week, the dealer "said"they changed oils and impeller , thanks again

That could be it too. I thought most newer boats had the fancy epa vent systems but if you do have a vent that closes and opens that could be it.

[Tums]

I have had a similar experience when a gas priming bulb started to go bad.

[smuckie]

Forgot to update, sorry, put in new fuel filter and it didn't do it again all week that I was camping, there was some garbage in filter so I ordered another off eBay

[Bamaman]

Very often, there will be some plastic shards from cutting of fuel lines that get into the fuel systems and clog things up. Since your boat is so very low hour, that's probably what the problem was. You're fortunate not to have gotten stranded.