Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey gang,
We had to pull out of the water yesterday and call it a weekend tooooo early. First time out this year and our Lazy got a little lazier. I bet we had nearly 50% less power for some reason. Runnin real slow. Does not appear to have an engine miss, just really week. I wonder if my winter fuel conditioner would make this happen. It is a 2005 50 hp Merc. bought in 2004. I know this is slow anyway, but imagine at half power. A friend told me the carb(s) are probably tarnished....................HUH ? I have "0" knowledge when it comes to boat engines, well, and spelling. Any tips from you folks ? Thank you.........have a great weekend !

I have to ask when you put the boat up did you do any winter storage maint?

It could be that your carbs are varnished. That is gas was left in the carbs and dried up and left varnish in there to mess up your day. You can buy a rebuild kit and rebuild them or take it to a shop and get them rebuilt. They are not hard to rebuild, just take them apart slowly and watch what your doing get a can of carb cleaner and soak them for a while and then put them back togather with the new kit. It should only take you an afternoon. Also check and replace your spark plugs they could also cause the problem.

I have a shut-off on my gas tank and run the carbs out of gas before I put it up each winter. This eliminates the problem of varnished up carbs.

The carbs are a lot easier to rebuild than a auto carb. You can also get a motor manual with pictures and directions to rebuild them. This is what I would do. If you take it to a shop you will be waiting for a month to get your boat back.

Hope this helps you.

Is the vent open to the fuel tank.

I am going down (after my coffee) and pulling the cover to have a look. I think my gas cap is vented so I will check that first.....easiest.......I also had someone else at the camp say my carbs are probable varnished but I kinda blew that off thinking it was too new for that to happen. Now that I'm hearing it again I'd better look at that as well. This past winter I did not fog the carbs, no reason, just didn't have the fog on hand. I did put the conditioner in the gas though. I am also going to see if I can find a fuel shut off so when I do fog them I can drain the gas as well. Good thoughts guys...........thanks a bunch !