Posted: September 15 2006 at 13:38 | IP Logged

Hi all,

Thought I would share this story. I live in the Northeast and have a Lund 20 Alaskan ss with a Mercury 90 4-stroke o/b. I bought it new in 2002 and never had a single problem. This year I started off the season like all the rest. I had a little less than half a tank of fuel (stabilized) left from last year, like always.  I filed the tank from the road, like always, and launched. Within 3 uses I began to have problems, beginning with kicking and spitting and ending with the total loss of one cylinder, having to drop anchor and swim a line back to the dock on a busy day. Anyway, I brought it to my usual dealer for the first of 4 times. Long story short... The carbuerator was rebuilt around 11 times, the fuel lines checked, the fuel filters changed 5 times (no water) and a total engine diagnostic 4 times. Each time, the number 2 cylinder would not run. Finally, after losing more than a month of the short season and after relaunching several times resulting in the same nightmare, Mercury was contacted. When I called they were less than polite with me. When my dealer called they were told to drop the carbuerator in a solution from NAPA Auto parts for several hours, shake it and soak for the rest of the day. Once the carbuerator was re-installed, the boat ran very well, but still has rough start-ups.  Mercury claims it is NOT the fuel. The jets for the carbuerator are quite small on the 90 and 75 HSP carbuerated 4-strokes made during that time frame. We did not hear about the fuel issuee until we had already MIXED the two types, prior to launching. The dealer was as stumped as we were and worked hard to solve the issues. I still think there are issues and we will have more problems. Hope no one else goes (went) through this silliness.

Harry