Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

BobG,

I have a new pontoon with the same Mercury 115 4 stroke as yourself. Question: Does your throttle stay in the spot you leave it? I just passed the 4 hour break-in period and my only complaint is that that throttle handle wants to keep backing down to 3,000RPMs if I am not constantly pushing it forward. Not the worst thing in the world but it sure would be great to not have to maintain hand pressure on it.

Kramfan: There's an adjustment on the gearshift/throttle that will tighten up your throttle. May have a cap on it. That's a common "problem" that takes about 30 seconds to correct with a screwdriver.

I have owned blacks, whites and blues but no grays! I would love to have a Yamaha F-350 on the back of a new 25' Xplode. Yes, I said Yamaha and Xplode! I love my Verado and Premier, but I think this combination would just be deadly.
Greg VanWagenen of Manitou... Build me something special!

BobG. I'll have one with you!

I took the cover off of my Mercury control this weekend to see if I could adjust the friction. There is nothing obvious to adjust...just some mounting bolts and two very small holes above and below the handle. I couldn't see in the small holes as the steering wheel was in the way.

My throttle looks just like the one in the link below. Any more specifics on what example I am looking to adjust?

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engine-r ... t-question

Think I just figured it out. According to this previous post, hopefully I can reach the nut from the underside of the steering console. Otherwise I will have to remove the mounting bolts from the throttle assembly and pull it up a bit to see the nut.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9868&start=15

Seems like all new boats are being delivered this way. It's a 'safety' item. I told my dealer to fix before I picked it up.

I was able to crawl underneath the steering console this weekend to locate the friction control nut. Looks just like the picture below. I'm a small guy so I was able to reach the nut from underneath and give it about a 1/4 to 1/2 turn with an open ended wrench. Adjustment worked perfect!

Thanks for everyone's help.

wait, my boat does this too, which nut did you turn on your picture?

The nut on the far right side of the picture....just under the fiberglass console with the black wire over it. Depending upon your shifter model, the nut can be reached by either on the top,of the console or below.

And I just want to tighten it correct?

Correct...tighten it and test.

I have had two Mercury Motors and two Yamahas.

Mercury 40HP on Bass Tracker - Seemed to have it in the shop frequently and got stranded a number of times.
Mercury 115HP on 18' Proline - Trouble getting it started often and the steering locked up, if I did not use it frequently.

Yamaha 115HP on 24' Hurricane Deck Boat - Easier to start than the Mercury and ran much quieter.
Yamaha 50HP on 18' Bennington -Best Motor I have ever owned.

Granted all but the last motor were 2 stroke motors and weren't used as frequently as they should have been. (I had a job)
My current Yamaha is a 4 stroke and has less than 100 hours on it.

I probably will never buy another Mercury motor, but I am sure the new 4 stroke Mercs are probably just fine. For me, a lot has to do with the dealer and which motors they service.

So I have the new 2015 merc 115, so far I love it. even with 4 adults and a 15yr old we do 34gps and get there in a hurry. this motor is so quiet even at speed. I know a guy in mich with the exact same boat as mine with a 2015 yami, motor set up at same height, I have stock black max he said his prop was yami stock, I get to 42gps with just me "225lbs" he gets 38gps "215lbs". he also loves the motor. I really don't care about top speed difference, he has not yet put 5 people on so we'll see. these are 18' tri=toons with an 8' beam so they are lighter than most, thus the high top end. I guess the point is there pretty damn good builds with there new generations. we'll see how they hold up, thats the real test. ps merc was substantially less money.

I can say this:

I'm just into my fourth season on my Merc 115. I have over 570 hours, and 3000 surface miles on her, and she's running like a top. I've just done oil changes, and the impeller, and just cleaned the plugs. I might replace the plugs this year, just because. I slip her, with the motor down in the water, with no ill effects.

We are on the 4th year with our 115 yamaha and have nothing but good to say about it. It has always worked as it should. That being said my dealership has made me a yamaha loyal. If they sold Merc or Etecs I would probably be swayed that way. I think dealer service makes the difference in any brand you buy...