no midrange

[cobiawayne]

1997 merc 200 carb,went to come in from about 14 miles offshore the other day and my motor idled well all day but when i went to leave it wouldn't run below 4200 rpm(good thing it was flat)it has 86s and 84s main jets because i misunderstood the boysen instructions,but it ran fine for a long time after i changed jets.I have been having to push the key in lately for about the first 3 or 4 minutes of running if that is a clue.I dont know if its fuel or electric so i didn,t know what to search the site for.

[Juggernaut]

if you have to push the key in, then the engine is needing choke to stay running. that usually means it isnt getting enough fuel at lower rpms. clean the carbs, its possible a little flake of dirt got in there when you changed the jets. just my .02

[cobiawayne]

I'll try that this weekend.I did notice the inline filter had a little trash in it.
Thanks for the reply,MERRY CHRISTMAS

[wrechin2]

Just a thought.......Did you get the reed cages good and tight? Remove the air box off and see if you have fuel revering out of the carbs. This would be a indication that the cages are loose and just pushing the air/fuel charge back out. Just need to check what you just done as is usually the first place you need to look.

The key thing may not be a indication of anything.....With the tempatures being cold ( I am pretty close to ya I think), having to push the key in for the first few minutes of operation would be normal until the engine warms up. With a "cold" engine, it requires a large amount of fuel as only small percent of fuel ignites due to low combustion temps from cold air. You find you have to choke more to even get it started. That is why on a older carbureted car, you have a choke that will dump in a ton of fuel, but only a small portion is burned. If the choke doesn't work, it is hard to start and will back fire because of a lean condition until warm. On a fuel injected engine it does the same thing by having a wider pulse width at colder temps because of the same reason, needs more fuel. A fuel injected engine can does better job in colder temps because it is more precise. Hope this makes sense!

[cobiawayne]

took the carbs off,they were full of crap.everything was going good till i got to my last carb and one of my main jets the slot in the jet messed up.how in the world will i get it out

[wrechin2]

May have to drill and reverse easy out. Is it little black rubber particles????

[cobiawayne]

got it out with a easy out and yes some of it was rubber,tha was possibly from before i got the boat i ran all knew hoses. this is the first time i:ve ever cleaned carbs,wasn't too bad but how important is the gasket between the airbox and carb.Oh yeah cranked it up on the hose sounded good.thanks

[wrechin2]

They mainly keep fuel from leaking between the carb and the air box. Will not effect performance. Just make the cowling wet and oily.

[cobiawayne]

o k,I think everythings right I found my old jets and put them in,HOPE THEYRE RIGHT I had to look real close and try to figure out which ones were 82 and which ones were 80s.There is a solenoid looking thing with a little button on top has two hoses one on top of the other and i couldn't remember how they went.I ran the top one to the top carb and the bottom one to the center carb.Is that right?

[wrechin2]

It is only a valve and will work either way. But that is the usual routing.

[cobiawayne]

river test today,ran great 42mph gps @ 4500 rpm itll spin up to about 5600 but i dont want to tear nuthin up.thanx wrechin2.

[wrechin2]

No problem. PM me your email address and I will email you a factory manual on it, if you want.....