Mercury 4hp Outboard run issues

 Mercury 4hp not running.

The Outboard is not really that old and has less than 50 hours on it, a lot less. But despite replacing the Carb and the fuel Filters, it's sick. If I can get it running, it will crap out after a minute or so and almost immediately if the gear shift is moved to fwd or reverse.

I was getting ready to bring the engine home, again, and take it to a service center along with my credit card!

But asking the club members, one suggested I check out the fuel pump - what fuel pump???

Turns out there is a fuel pump and change out is a 5 minute job. Two bolts, two hoses, no need to dismantle the engine to get to it. 

I searched for it online and found it for $125 or $21 on Amazon.  Duh!

Ordered it this morning. I should be able to change the fuel pump while the outboard is secure on it's mount - port side aft.  I'll syphon out as much fuel as I can and have plenty of spill pads beneath the engine before removing the fuel pump.

I guess that as we're located in the 'boating capitol' of the world ( hmmmm? ) the local Amazon distribution center has the pumps available locally.

We took a trip up to lake worth around 4pm yesterday. We got home around 8pm, the new Fuel Pump was sitting on our porch when we got home! 

The item looks identical to the ones I've seen online and has the same part number as I found online too. So it looks like a winner. I'm sewing today, so the earliest to get down to the boat is Friday.

The pump is mounted on the Stbd side of the outboard and we mount the outboard on the Port side facing forwards, so the pump is on the Cockpit side of the engine. There's a lot of Stainless steel tubing for the Bimini in that area, so it's not a complete breeze, but pretty close. I'll put a bucket over the prop and shaft, fill it with water so that we can test the engine in situ. 

Peggy will be onboard with me when I work on the fuel pump, I'll encourage her to take a video of the process.

Tools needed:

• Socket Set
• Philips head screw driver.
• Rags to catch any fuel drips from the hoses and to clean the pump mounting surface.
• Hose clamp pliers to ensure the tank doesn't try to drain.

If it really is as easy as it's shown in the YouTube Videos, it should take about 10 minutes - but was done on an outboard engine stand in a Garage, so perhaps add a couple of hours to that guestimate.

Well, that didn't work!

So far I have changed the Carb, Fuel Pump, Spark Plug, Fuel Filter and the Fuel.  Not looking good.

I give up! So I took it to Drummonds Outboards in Deerfield Beach. They cannot work on it for at least a couple of weeks. Staffing issues and swamped with work - nice place to be but.... Anyway, Zack informed me that they have all the parts they might need to service the engine, but it might be expensive. Glum!

See you on the water, but we won't be using our outboard this month.

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