Help starting 87 mod 135hp merc

[fender22]

Hi, I've never owned a Merc before and never had so much drama starting? Actually it's an 87 Mariner but apparently it's a Mercury. Once it's going it starts first pop all day, its just cold starts that are a problem. It's just been fully serviced and the mechanic said it's sweet, just my technique.

I've had mostly Johnnos and usually push in the ignition choke button until it kicks then no more choke. Usually next crank you're away
I believe with the mercs they like a lot more choke? I've started mine twice and both times took me at least 15 goes to get it going. Seems to me maybe I was going to easy on the choke worried I'd flood it when maybe I should have given it more? Can anyone give me a basic run through who has experience with this motor? Can someone give me the answers to the basic questions below so I may have a bit more understanding of what I'm doing.

1)What happens when you push the choke / ignition in? Does it start squirting fuel in the carbs even without the motor turning over or it just closes the butterfly to drag fuel through when turning over? Someone told me to push the ignition / choke in for a good few seconds before I turn it over to squirt some fuel in?

2) Should I continue to hold the ignition/choke in (but not turned to the crank position) for a while even after the motor fires?

3) Would it be easier to start next time if I turned the fuel off and ran the fuel out when flushing after a trip?

Any help appreciated!

[Mr__Bean]

I had a similar age 200hp black max Merc.

To start I used to hold the key in as it cranked and just let go as normal once it fired.

- Darren

[blaze]

To try and add a little
On my 115 merc
Pushing the key in operates a solinoid which pulls the choke on, so I need to hold the key in as I turn the motor until it fire then let it out.
Holding the key in and not turning the motor over will do nothing
I dont like to run my outboard out of fuel as you are running the engine with a fuel/air ratio that is too lean and can cause premature failure.
My starting procedure is
pump up fuel priming bulb until nice and firm, push key in as turning engine over until it fires (may take a couple of times, I dont like to wind for to long), then use the warm up lever.
cheers
blaze

[Noelm]

not too sure if an 87 model will have a 'primer" type choke or just a simple "butterfly" choke, but easy to tell for your self, just pop off the cowl (that in itself is a feat on a Merc) and see what type of choke it has, now if it is a Butterfly type, then pump primer bulb untill hard, put the warm up lever at least half way (this may need some experimenting later) hold in the key and turn it over untill it starts, and away you go, if it has a primer type of chke, then you need to prime the bulb till hard, hold the key in for about 5 seconds, lift the lever half way, and turn the key, and once again away you go (hopefully)

[PADDLES]

if it's the same as my old 92 blackmax 135 then it'll have a primer type choke. this motor was a pain in the @rse if you didn't follow the "knack" to starting it. when you push the key thingo in the primer type choke operates by using a solenoid to drip fuel from the float bowl of the upper carby into the throat of the on directly below so for a V6 the extra fuel only goes into the bottom 2 carbies.

mine would start every time by doing the following:
- make sure primer bulb is good and hard (ie. all carbies loaded)
- turn key to get beep (ignition on)
- press key in for "choke" hold it in and count to seven seconds
- let key back out "choke off" and crank the bugger till it fires
- once it fires give her a little hand throttle on the lever to really get her going if required.

they're top engines but cranky to start sometime.

another thing i used to do was to disconnect the fuel line from the motor if i hadn't used it for a few weeks and then pump out a litre or so of fuel into a container before starting it (which i use as a solvent or cleaner around the shed). what i found was that the oil injection system used to weep a bit of oil back down the fuel line and into the fuel filter and this super rich oil/fuel mix used to oil the motor up a bit on start.

good luck with it all.

[fender22]

Spoke to my mechanic today and he says it will be a primer type choke and holding in without cranking will do nothing because the engine has to crank to get the fuel pump to squirt the fuel from the primers. He reckons it's almost impossible to flood these old mercs and reckons if anything don't worry about flooding, just give more choke and more fuel until it fires. Does this sound right?