Re: 80 merc 1984 dies out after 1/2 throttle

[Mumbles]

A friends 80 Merc had a similar problem. It would idle great warming up at the dock but when he punched it to pull a skier out of the water, it would die and refuse to start. After sitting for a while, it would start and repeat the process all over again. The dealer said it was the reed valves acting up and wanted to tear it down but I found the problem right away when he brought it over. It was the choke shutters. They weren’t opening all the way so the motor would flood itself when the throttle was opened. A few seconds with a pair of needle nose pliers and the bent piece of linkage was straightened out letting the chokes open fully again. Problem solved. The only other problem was when he got the estimate from the dealer for a tear down, he figured he could buy a good used motor for the same amount of money, which he did. It was a barely used 115 Johnson lake motor.