200 Mercury

[18Checkmate]

I just bought an 18 foot Checkmate with a 200HP Mercury. The boat is an 84 and so is the motor. My first question is about the tilt/trim. The tilt/trim is an external pump which is not attached to the motor. The tilt/trim works if you use a screwdriver and touch the up/down selenoid and ground it out, but does not work by using the tilt/trim button on the throttle. If you tap the selenoid with a plastic hammer while holding the tilt/trim button, the motor will kick on every once and a while. Does that mean that my selenoids are bad? Has this happened to any of you guys? My second question is about the prop. The boat has a 25 pitch SS chopper prop (it will cut your finger it is so sharp). The boat goes about 70 mph and starts to shake when you go real fast. Should I put standard aluminum or SS prop on instead of this chopper prop? What size and pitch?

To give you guys a little history, I have a 23' CC Seacraft with a 250 HP Suzuki and bought this thing for fun. It is set up for waterskiiing (and going real fast) and I hope to get back into the sport. One last question, is there another forum which relates to these type of go fast boats? Sorry about all the questions, but I figured you guys would be the ones to ask. Thanks.

[Tom D.]

Welcome to S&F! This is the best of the best right here my friend! You won't find a better site for outboards.

Your trim problem sounds like an open in your wiring. The shaking problem with the prop could be an out of balance prop. Try another and see if the poblem is still there.

Tom

[Charlie M]

Eastern Shore MD. Wow thats close to home. I do most of my boating on the Eastern Shore MD on the Choptank River. who would have ever thought ......a Local :D

[18Checkmate]

I ended up fixing the Tilt/Trim motor and have run into another problem, fuel related. I was driving along the other day when the motor started to die like it was running out of gas (started shaking alot and then just quit). The thing is, I have a half tank of fuel. Tried starting it back up and nothing. Worked on it for a little while and just gave up considering it was Monday afternoon and it was time to get some rest before going back to work on Tuesday. Here is the deal. The plugs have not been changed this season, the external fuel filter has been on there for god knows how long, and the ball does not seem to get hard when I try pumping it up. I plan on working on it this weekend by changing the plugs, fuel filter, check the pick up line at the bottom of the tank, and the fuel lines to see if there are any cuts in the line which would cause air to seep in. Do any of you guys have suggestions before I start diving into this. The motor has been running great so I do not think it is a carburator problem. Help me out if you don't mind.

[shadowman]

I would change out the lines, bulb, and check the pickup in the tank. When you remove the old bulb cut it open and if it has come apart inside, Go ahead and pull the carbs. You shouldnt take a chance on small rubber particles makeing there way to a high speed jet. When it shut down was the bulb tight, or sucked down?

Good luck,

Brian

[18Checkmate]

The bulb was not flat, but, it didn't seem like any gas was being picked up when I tried pumping the ball.