> I just inherited a 1984 35hp Mercury outboard.
Physically it's beautiful
> and appears to have been run very little. As most of you know that can
> be bad as well as good.
> On my second outing with this motor, it did
beautifully on about a mile
> and a half run to a bay where I then idled around trolling for about 20
> minutes. Coming out of the bay, the boat idled fine but opening the
> throttle only made it bog down and die.
> After idling all the way back to the ramp (an
hour), I checked out a few
> things back home. I had initially suspected a clogged carburetor jet,
> but upon checking the ignition system, I now suspect one of the coils.
> What I found was that the lower cylinder was not firing. Plug checks out
> OK and the plug wire is OK. But when I tested for spark, I'm getting
> none from the coil for that cylinder.
> Any tips from Merc owners or mechanics would be
greatly appreciated. I'm
> not rich and would like to replace the coil myself if that's the
> problem. On the other hand, I'd hate to replace the coil only to find
> out that it wasn't the coil at all. I've bought Merc's manual for this
> engine and there's a resistance test that can be done on the coil, but
> the manual warns that the test isn't 100% accurate.
> Any and all suggestions will be very much
appreciated. I come from an
> OMC background, and there's a lot about these Mercs that's quite
> different (like venting the fuel tanks).
> Mike Jones
> Louisville,KY