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Started By
Message
Outboard motor help
Posted on 1/17/25 at 7:42 am
Posted on 1/17/25 at 7:42 am
Any experts on here with advice ?
I have a Mercury pro xs 250. Was out fishing yesterday, while trolling the motor killed. Tried to restart and motor would turn over but not start. Checked kill switch position, it was ok. Seems no fire to the motor?
I have a Mercury pro xs 250. Was out fishing yesterday, while trolling the motor killed. Tried to restart and motor would turn over but not start. Checked kill switch position, it was ok. Seems no fire to the motor?
This post was edited on 1/17/25 at 7:57 am
11
Posted on 1/17/25 at 8:45 am to LINOESC
Is it getting fuel?
Posted on 1/17/25 at 9:15 am to LINOESC
Well- if it turns over- you need 3 things to start - air, fuel, spark.
Buy a cheap spark tester and verify all plugs are sparking, if that's good then verify fuel pump is sending fuel etc.
If those don't fix it then you need to compression test and depending if that's good start looking for electronic gremlins.
Good luck
Buy a cheap spark tester and verify all plugs are sparking, if that's good then verify fuel pump is sending fuel etc.
If those don't fix it then you need to compression test and depending if that's good start looking for electronic gremlins.
Good luck
Posted on 1/17/25 at 11:16 am to LINOESC
I had this problem last summer after I changed my cranking battery. Turned out I needed a new ECM (brain that delivers fire). $3k later it was all good.
I hope that’s not your problem.
I hope that’s not your problem.
Posted on 1/17/25 at 11:21 am to LINOESC
Optimax have an ecm and datalink capability, so it's worth having a way to read fault codes if you're going to attempt to fix it yourself.
There's no telling wtf is wrong with it based on this information. Could be fuel, could be the ecm, could be the keyswitch. Could be literally anything.
There's no telling wtf is wrong with it based on this information. Could be fuel, could be the ecm, could be the keyswitch. Could be literally anything.
Posted on 1/17/25 at 3:04 pm to LINOESC
quote:
Tried to restart and motor would turn over but not start. Checked kill switch position, it was ok. Seems no fire to the motor?
If the motor turned over, its not the kill switch, nor is it likely at the key switch itself. If it quit while trolling, my first guess would be fuel as opposed to spark. Either on the supply side with bad gas (unlikely if it were running fine up until it quit), clogged pickup in the tank, or a supply line filter/water separator clogged. Is there pressure on the bulb of the fuel line? If not, does it get tight if you pump it? Unlikely a vapor lock while running but it happens.
If its on the motor side it could be a clogged fuel filter. I would eliminate those possible issues before jumping to digital/sensor issues.
This all from someone who missed a flat morning of fishing earlier and fought a fuel issue for a few hours before realizing he had installed a new fuel line from the tank to the motor backwards. Which meant every time I pumped the bulb to get fuel to the motor I was sucking it from the motor. Which would explain why it ran fine for 4-5 minutes on the gas trapped in the motor and quit once that was exhausted and wouldn't start back up. You would think the gurgling in the tank as I pumped the bulb a few hundred thousand times would've been a dead give away to my dumbass. Nope.
Posted on 1/17/25 at 6:45 pm to TFLEX
wrong
not be a dick, but proper timing matters but you are correct
not be a dick, but proper timing matters but you are correct
Posted on 1/17/25 at 8:08 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
quote:the starter is probably ok
Could be literally anything
This post was edited on 1/17/25 at 8:10 pm
Posted on 1/17/25 at 8:12 pm to LINOESC
Fuse
Posted on 1/18/25 at 12:04 am to LINOESC
Did you try to start it again later in the day? My old one was having identical issues at times due to being "flooded" for something being a tad bit off on the fuel end.
One time I tried using my trolling motor to get like 6 miles back to the ramp when the outboard crapped out thinking it was done for. Ended up starting about an hour later when I the fuel supply got right.
One time I tried using my trolling motor to get like 6 miles back to the ramp when the outboard crapped out thinking it was done for. Ended up starting about an hour later when I the fuel supply got right.
Posted on 1/18/25 at 11:28 am to LINOESC
Yeah man could be anything based on what you said.
If you got a primer bulb you might look at that. Theres a check valve in there thats not supposed to let fuel flow back in the system. If it's bad it can let air in or fuel out.
Also I'd look at fuel quality. Have seen where a blob of ethanol that been floating around in the take gets in the fuel pickup and clogs up your fuel system. You might be good on a full tank but as you burn fuel the probably of bad gas getting sucked in from the bottom of the tanks goes up. This tends to happen in bad weather and the worst possible time.
If you got a primer bulb you might look at that. Theres a check valve in there thats not supposed to let fuel flow back in the system. If it's bad it can let air in or fuel out.
Also I'd look at fuel quality. Have seen where a blob of ethanol that been floating around in the take gets in the fuel pickup and clogs up your fuel system. You might be good on a full tank but as you burn fuel the probably of bad gas getting sucked in from the bottom of the tanks goes up. This tends to happen in bad weather and the worst possible time.
This post was edited on 1/18/25 at 11:29 am
Posted on 1/18/25 at 12:32 pm to John_V
Yeah I tried it. It turns over fine ,but doesn’t seem to be getting any spark. Gonna bring it in next week and have it looked at
Posted on 1/18/25 at 7:52 pm to LINOESC
There are several common outboard problems like the demand valve, primer bulb or fuel pickup that can cause you to lose fuel supply. Those are usually easier to diagnose than engine problems.
Optimax has a compressor and a couple little diaphragms etc that can be finicky. Without the ability to check fuel/air pressures etc they can be tough to diagnose.
Lot of guys waste a lot of time and cash throwing random parts at outboards that they don’t have the proper resources to diagnose.
Optimax has a compressor and a couple little diaphragms etc that can be finicky. Without the ability to check fuel/air pressures etc they can be tough to diagnose.
Lot of guys waste a lot of time and cash throwing random parts at outboards that they don’t have the proper resources to diagnose.
Posted on 1/19/25 at 7:18 am to LINOESC
Start simple, charge your starting battery. Cold weather equals poor battery performance. if you don’t have enough voltage, even though it cranks, the ecm will not work. From another…. Preferably, the voltage should remain at a minimum of 11.5VDC even while cranking/trimming.
Somewhere around 11.1 VDC, weird things.
Somewhere around 11.1 VDC, weird things.
Posted on 1/19/25 at 8:11 am to Nascar Fan
quote:
Fuse
My ProXS's always blew fuses and coils. If the coil opened up, it would not blow the fuse but if it shorted, it would.
Posted on 1/19/25 at 8:43 am to LINOESC
It’s not kill switch if it continues to try and turn over.
Could be anything but my experience with alll my motor issues is that it’s fuel. It’s always fuel for me lol
Check for blocks in fuel system, you can do it first or last but pull fuel line from one of your fuel rails and see if when you prime the engine before starting if the fuel pumps turn on. If you NOT getting fuel then, check primer bulb make sure it’s hard and working, then check fuel water separator, then check the vst and crack it open see what debris you have in the internal thimble style filter, then check high pressure fuel filter
Could be anything but my experience with alll my motor issues is that it’s fuel. It’s always fuel for me lol
Check for blocks in fuel system, you can do it first or last but pull fuel line from one of your fuel rails and see if when you prime the engine before starting if the fuel pumps turn on. If you NOT getting fuel then, check primer bulb make sure it’s hard and working, then check fuel water separator, then check the vst and crack it open see what debris you have in the internal thimble style filter, then check high pressure fuel filter
This post was edited on 1/19/25 at 10:45 am
Posted on 1/19/25 at 9:10 am to LINOESC
Two posters are saying if it turns over, it's not the kill switch. Every 2 stroke Merc I have ever had(6) would crank with the kill pulled. It just would not start.
Posted on 1/20/25 at 3:58 pm to AlxTgr
quote:
Every 2 stroke Merc I have ever had(6) would crank with the kill pulled. It just would not start.
Thats a new one on me. I have never owned a 2 stroke Merc and obviously never owned a motor that did that.
Posted on 1/20/25 at 7:22 pm to Basura Blanco
Until you guys posted, I had never heard of the kill switch preventing the motor from turning over.
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