Motor decision for my Hunter 240

[Dolphin55]

My Mercury 9.9hp motor has been very unreliable and unpredictable. Works fine tested on land and it either will not start or dies easily on the water. Changed gas, air filter and spark plug but still the same frustrations. Need advice on four alteratives:

1. Replace the carb. Rebuilt on Amazon is $90.
2. An OEM carb is $650!
3. Buy at Mercury 5hp Sail Power for $1805 with a 20 inch shaft. The 25 inch shaft motors are out of stock with 15 week lead time. Does anyone know what length is best for the 240?
4. Buy a Tahatsu 6hp Sail Pro 25 inch shaft for $2000 but soonest delivery is in October! I am finding that lead time on new motors can be months.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[JoeWhite]

Get 25" shaft, you will need it. I had mercury 9.9 on my H25.5 and started on fist pull every time. I would think an 8 HP should be OK as well.

 

[twalker H260]

Did you check fuel lines and quick connects? Small o rings on our quick connects seem to frequently develop cracks that then allow air to enter the system causing the engine to stall unless the primer bulb is constantly pumped.

 

[Justin_NSA]

The carb might get you thru the season while you wait for a new motor.

 

[Dolphin55]

Did you check fuel lines and quick connects? Small o rings on our quick connects seem to frequently develop cracks that then allow air to enter the system causing the engine to stall unless the primer bulb is constantly pumped.

Yes, I replaced them but I will check again.

 

[rgranger]

I had a sailpro until it got stollen. It was absolutely dependable and did everything I needed it to do,

I always disconnect the fuel line when I come into the dock and let the motor run dry.

 

[waterman30]

I've had good luck with OnlineOutboards

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Are you using old gas and/or ethanol fuel? Did you rebuild the carburetor essentially cleaning out the. Jets?

 

[isaksp00]

Don't know your motor, I have a Honda 8. Is it unreliable mainly at idle and low rpm, but once you rev it up it is ok? If so, check the low speed jet on the carb. It may be accessible without removing the whole carb, as mine is (it is on top of the carb and can be removed with screwdriver). Use something like a very thin plastic "wire" to clean the tiny center shaft, and spray carb cleaner through it. It just may idle and run at low speed smoothly after that.

 

[Dolphin55]

Are you using old gas and/or ethanol fuel? Did you rebuild the carburetor essentially cleaning out the. Jets?

Yep, that was original mistake. I tried cleaning the carb and that seemed to work for awhile. Then I tried using ethanol stabilizer and found that does not totally fix the problem. Ethanol is death to small engines! I just need to run it dry and empty the carb bowl at the end of the season or find a source for non-ethanol gasoline.

 

[isaksp00]

I would run it dry by unhooking the fuel hose from the engine end after every use, at least if you are not going to use it for more than a few days.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Ethanol (corn syrup crap) will foul the jets. I use to carry 2+2 carb cleaner and sprayed the jets liberally and it worked. See if the higher octane gas is ethanol free as I buy mine that way for my yard equipment. Otherwise buy ethanol free gas.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

oh, run the gas out after each use by allowing the motor to stop on it’s own

 

[isaksp00]

If you don't have a station nearby that offers ethanol free gas, apparently the gas sold for piston planes at local airports is ethanol free.

 

[rgranger]

I would run it dry by unhooking the fuel hose from the engine end after every use, at least if you are not going to use it for more than a few days.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

One thing to mention. On the older engines, seals and gaskets can be damaged by ethanol gas

 

[shanker]

clean the carb. your issue sounds like plugged up jets. lots of videos on YouTube on how to do. easy to do and will save you $200.

 

[Thaniel]

After some research on why everyone recommends non-ethanol gas for outboards, I found in addition to possible seal or line erosion, gas that contains ethanol needs the air-fuel mixture to be a bit different. No biggie if there are mixture screws on your carb, just tune the carb with the ethanol gas. However if your carb doesn't have a low speed mixture screw (some don't) buying a new carb won't fix the issue and must use non-ethanol gas to get the mix right (or re-jet the carb).

I have old motorcycles, mowers and tractors and I don't bother with finding non-ethanol gas for them. Once the lines and seals are replaced with suitable materials and the carb is tuned it's all good. My tractor (a 1949 ford) has been running on whatever the cheapest at the gas station for 26 years.

 

[rgranger]

The other thing about ethanol is that it is hygroscopic. Some outboards have a bowel in the carb… if it sits full of gas for a while the gas evaporates faster than ethanol and the mix gets rich in ethanol… and that pulls water out of the air.. eventually you have a few drops of water sitting in the bowl… next comes corrosion followed by crud in the jets

so disconnect the fuel line while the motor is still running and run it dry.

A related issue with 2 strokes is the evaporation of fuel in the bowel leaving the mix in the bowel enriched in oil. That is why they are hard to crank if they have been sitting a while… and then that initial blue clouds of smoke

 

[GL-WindPower]

I have had to replace my gas line twice in the last 3 years. It was a Attwood gas line kit. I just replace it this week again because the engine would not idle and stalled pulling up to the dock. It was always the same symptom, not able to idol. This particular gas line has a inner lining that deteriorates, collapse and cuts off fuel to the engine. Attwood says its special line to use with ethanol, so much for marketing. I included a picture that shows the blockage, just a tiny hole remains. This blockage was at the squeeze ball but there were several other areas in the line as well. I have never used ethanol gas and always use SeaFoam gas additive with my REC gas. I think its just shitty hose from Attwood.